Programs & Packages
- Arizona’s Destination Food Tours has added a new Old Town Dinner Tour. Following the success of its daytime tours, the company’s first evening tour will introduce visitors to Old Town Scottsdale dining establishments like Malee’s Thai Bistro, Praying Monk, AZ88 and Su Vino Winery. For more information, call 480.293.4096 or visit www.destinationfoodtours.com.
- Hyatt Grand Champions Resort Villas and Spa in Indian Wells, Calif. is offering new lifestyle options for groups, incorporating a three-pronged approach that emphasizes relaxation, fitness and healthy eating. The resort offers 88,000 square feet of meeting space and planners can now select from new spa options, additional fitness classes and menu items featuring Hyatt’s new “Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served” F&B philosophy. For more information, call 760.674.4090 or visit www.hyattgrandchampions.com.
Destination Dispatch
- The University of California Board of Regents approved a $152 million conference center on the UCLA campus. The future Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference and Guest Center will offer 25,000 square feet of function space and 250 guest rooms, allowing the university to boost civic engagement and attract major conferences. Groundbreaking is planned for summer 2013. For more information, visit www.luskinconferencecenter.ucla.edu.
- Portland’s Central Eastside industrial district has rebranded as Produce Row. The neighborhood is now easily connected to downtown by the new streetcar loop and offers visitors an up-and-coming culinary scene that includes the recently renovated Produce Row Cafe, Hair of the Dog brewery and tasting room, and the lauded Clarklewis farm-to-table restaurant. For more information, visit www.travelportland.com.
Kudos
- The Terranea Resort luxury eco-resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., implemented a new food waste recycling program and began collaborating with its local waste management authority to divert waste from landfills. As part of the Reclaimable Anaerobic Composter project, which produces beneficial compost or soil amendments, the program has grown since implementation and is already diverting 75 percent of waste from the 102-acre propert. Placing recycling containers in guest rooms, Terranea aims to recycle more than 1,000 tons of food waste by the end of the program’s inaugural year. For more information, call 310.265.2800 or visit www.terranea.com.