Got a note from Ryan Phalen. In addition to being a brilliant financial analyst and college football prognosticator (though not so much this year...on the football picks, not the financial picks) Ryan is a master road tripper who organized bus trips to Michigan, Temple and Rutgers for any and all interested UConn fans this fall. Ryan has taken the liberty of reserving blocks of hotel rooms in Phoenix for those looking for an affordable Fiesta Bowl trip. . The info...

Chip-

I’ve put together two blocks in Phoenix for the game (no bus trip this time….). I’d greatly appreciate if you could post this information on your blog so we can have two full UConn hotels! One hotel is just north of downtown, and the other is closer to the stadium. Since the more expensive one is nearer to the stadium, I wanted to add a second hotel to the mix to give people some options. Below is the information on both hotels:

Hotel #1
Holiday Inn Downtown North
212 West Osborn Road Phoenix, AZ 85013
$75/night plus tax ($84.95 total/night), good from 12/26 to 1/6
This hotel is right in downtown Phoenix, accessible by light rail from the airport ($3.50 for a day pass), and 2 miles (walking or light rail) to downtown. It’s a 20-25 minute car ride to the stadium from here, all highway- there’s no rail to the stadium. You can either book through the reservation line at 602-595-4444, and asking for the “Connecticut Football Fans” Block (Rate Code: CFF) or you can click on the link posted below. If you have problems with the Booking link please let me know as I haven’t booked my reservation yet (I’ll be staying here).

Connecticut Rate

Hotel #2
Holiday Inn West Phoenix
1500 North 51st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85043
$95/night plus tax ($107.61 total/night), good from 12/29 to 1/2. If you need to book past the 2nd, please let me know so I can have the manager extend the date- currently you won’t be able to access this rate if you stay past the night of the 2nd.
This hotel is right off I-10, the main artery in the Phoenix area. It’s about 10 minutes away from downtown and 10 minutes from the stadium. You can book through the reservation line at (602) 484-9009 and asking for the “Connecticut Football Fans” group rate. I’ll have a link later in the day tomorrow if people need that. From what I can gather this is NOT on the light rail.

Other
Also, for those who enjoy public transportation and don’t want a rental, the hotel in north Phoenix (Hotel #1) is about a 45 min ride on the light rail ($3.50 for a 24 hr pass) from the airport- you take a shuttle bus to the light rail from the terminal.

I'll be looking into getting a bus to take us to and from the game/tailgate from the hotel #1 (possibly stopping at hotel #2) for a nominal fee so there may not be a need for rental cars, but don’t count on it 100% yet.

If there’s any questions let me know. Hope to see you all out there.

Thanks Chip!

Ryan Phalen