Loews Ventana Canyon Resort’s Lakeside Spa is opening up its doors and inviting the public to come sample some of the spa’s luxurious treatments. The Loews Lakeside Spa Happy Hour Open House will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday July 23, 2009. Guests can discover the glow of a truly clean face after trying a mini-facial with the new Clarisonic Skin Care Brush, and learn the “true age” of their skin from a skin analysis from Skinceuticals, a premiere skin care company. In addition, Loews aestheticians will be providing make-up consultations and Loews nail technicians will be offering paraffin dips for feet. Guests will also receive a $10 off coupon for the new Monsoon Pedicure, featuring a creosote salt scrub from Salud Spa Bar that smells just like the desert after it rains. The event will also feature yoga demonstrations, fitness information, tips for living well and healthy recipes.
Loews Lakeside Spa’s “Happy Hour” special prices are additionally discounted for the remainder of the summer. Choose from a Loews Classic Facial, 50-minute Swedish Massage or Loews Classic Manicure and Pedicure combination for $60. (Previous Happy Hour pricing was $75 per treatment. Regular cost for these treatments ranges from $90 to $115.) For reservations call Loews Lakeside Spa at 529-7830. For more about the spa at Loews visit www.loewslakesidespa.com.

Guests can pick their own price for a selection of appetizers, entrées and dessert this summer in the Canyon Café at Loews Ventana Canyon.

The Canyon Café restaurant, the home of the award-winning “Blues Brews and Barbeque Brunch,” has removed prices on several appetizers, entrées and dessert from the lunch menu. Instead of a listed price, the menu simply reads, “Pick Your Price.”

For example, the beef tenderloin, which was $34, is now “Pick Your Price.” The Pizza Primavera was $16, but now you choose the cost.

“This is an “on your honor” promotion, where people can pay a price that they feel is fair for that selection. That may be $10. It may be $5, or it may be $15. It’s up to the guest,” said restaurant manager Laura Conley.

“In this economic slump, we’re all tightening our pocketbooks, and this is a way for Loews Ventana Canyon to give our guests a financial break and at the same time drive business into the restaurant. It’s a win-win situation,” she added.

Diners can also take advantage of a quick visit. The hotel always offers complimentary valet in the front lobby, so visitors can get in and out of the hotel easily (and cheaply.)

The promotion begins June 15 and continues through September 8. Reservations for lunch can be made by calling the Concierge Desk at (520) 299-2020.

Grill Up a Great Time with Dad at the Loews Father’s Day Brunch
Blues, Brews and Barbeque Brunch on Sunday June 21

Father’s Day is the perfect time to take Dad to the Blues, Brews and Barbeque Brunch at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.

This special version of what Tucson Guide called “Tucson’s Best Brunch,” will feature all the fixings of a regular brunch, and the best of what the grill has to offer.

George Howard, a local blues musician and founder of the Tucson Musicians Museum, will be performing. Howard’s stunning black and white photography of local musicians will be on display at the brunch as a prelude to Loews Ventana Canyon’s new Heritage Hall art gallery in the east wing of the building.

“Everyone knows that George Howard is a top-notch blues musician in town, but what they may not know is that he’s also a top-notch photographer. He’s married his two passions of photography and music to create beautiful portraits of Tucson musicians, which will be on display in the Tucson Musicians Museum, as well as Heritage Hall at Loews,” said spokesperson Jennifer Duffy.

Blues Brews and Barbeque Brunch Details
This Father’s Day (Sunday, June 21)guests can indulge on traditional brunch fare in addition to barbeque ribs and other items hot off the grill.

At the Sunday brunch, described as hip and casual, guests enjoy the sounds of a live blues band while sipping on micro-brews from Barrio Brewing, a local Tucson brewery. Try out their Tucson Blonde, Raspberry Ale or Red Cat Amber selections.

In addition to a variety of cold appetizers and salads, interactive food stations include homemade tortillas and guacamole, carvings of mustard crusted prime rib of Angus beef, a grill station featuring Backyard BBQ Beer Can Ribs, chicken and salmon with mango barbeque glaze; a variety of soups and fresh breads and an over-the-top dessert station complete with a chocolate fountain.

This Special Father’s Day Sunday Brunch at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort is $45 for adults and $24 for children, and children under 6 are FREE. Tax and gratuities are not included. For reservations on either the patio or indoors, call the Canyon Café at 520-615-5496.

Couples can snuggle up in the cool air-conditioned Cascade Lounge at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort this summer and watch classic films.
They can also take advantage of the Date Night dinner special available at the Flying V Bar & Grill, which is $38 and includes a shared order of tableside guacamole, a shared full rack of barbeque baby back ribs and a chef’s choice dessert for two. During the movie, couples can clink glasses and toast to a beautiful summer with $7 Bellini cocktail specials in the lounge.

Movies are at 8 p.m. in the Cascade Lounge at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.

Movie Schedule
May 22: His Girl Friday (1940) with Cary Grant

May 28: How to Steal A Million (1966) with Peter O’Toole and Audrey Hepburn

June 5: Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn

June 12: Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1952) with Marilyn Monroe

June 19: One Fine Day (1997) with Michelle Pfeiffer

June 26: The Apartment (1960) with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine

July 3: Chocolat (2000) with Juliette Binoche

July 10: The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn

July 17: Calamity Jane (1953) with Doris Day

July 24: The Awful Truth (1937) with Cary Grant and Irene Dunn

July 31: Pride & Prejudice (2005) with Keira Knightly

August 7: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) with Judy Garland

August 14: Roman Holiday (1953) with Audrey Hepburn

August 21: Singin’ in the Rain (1952) with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds

August 28: Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) with Woody Allen, Alan Alda and Diane Keaton

September 4: Brigadoon (1954) with Gene Kelly

If you’re looking for something fabulous to get mom for Mother’s Day this year, start with Mother’s Day Brunch at Loews Ventana Canyon. Begin to make up for all of those years of hard work poured into home-cooked meals by treating her to a mouth-watering brunch offering, well, everything under the sun. Whether you want to stick to your omelettes and traditional breakfast fare or venture over to the ’90 Miles North of the Border’ station with fajita fixin’s — this brunch has it all.

Brunch is served from 11 am until 2 pm on Sunday, May 10th. The cost of the brunch is $45 per adult and $22 for children 12 and under. Call the Canyon Café at (520) 615-5496, and be sure to book your reservation soon. This brunch will fill up quickly!

If that isn’t quite enough to show your mom how much you appreciate her, give the perfect gift of Loews Culinary Classes. Held at the Flying V Bar and Grill, your mom (and you, too!) can learn to dice and chop like a chef. Spend the day with our award winning chefs who will show her how to combine the perfect flavors with supreme technique. It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving; you’ll be sure to reap the benefits of her soon-to-be pro cooking. Classes begin Memorial Day weekend, May 30th, and will be held once a month until September 5th. Check with the Concierge at Loews for specific dates and availability by calling (520) 299-5107.

One more thing to consider: if cooking isn’t her style but pampering herself is, Spa Happy Hour is ongoing. You can treat mom to one of the three treatments offered for $75 (regularly $120), Sunday – Thursday. Help her indulge in a Swedish Massage, a Classic Facial, or a manicure and pedicure combo. Call Loews Lakeside Spa at (520) 529-7830.

Show mom you’re thankful for her at Loews Ventana Canyon. Happy Mother’s Day!

Times have changed. Where one used to be able to spend more frivolously, they’re now slightly choosier in deciding where to spend their hard earned paycheck. However, the aim should still be luxury, and one doesn’t need to shortchange themselves because they’re short on change this year.

The Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort has already reduced the price of their Five Diamond menu ($42 from $85), and now wine is taking center stage. The extensive wine list, entailing 861 different wines, excluding their collection of dessert wines, has been re-priced as of late.

“Now is the time to become a foodie – and a wine connoisseur,” says Michael Scherzberg, manager of the Ventana Room. Wine prices have been reduced drastically at Loews, and the goal is to keep luxury affordable for the clientele.

The Ventana Room’s array of fine wines features a mélange of both highly sought after wines and more affordable options for the palette in training. The menu is broken down by Sommelier’s Selection of Wines by the Glass, by specific types of wine, and by region of origin. Each region in the menu offers a small story about the delicate process that is wine making and how it varies from country to country. Scherzberg says that “the wine list tells a story of the grape – it allows you to be your own sommelier.” With tangible descriptions of each wine, selecting the perfect glass becomes intimidation free.

At most places, wines by the glass are pricier than purchasing the whole bottle. At the Ventana Room, wines by the glass are now offered for less than what you would pay at a wine shop. Krug, for example, is the “most expensive, least consumed champagne in existence”, according to our Sommelier, Kate Tullar. At the Ventana Room, a glass of Krug “Grand Cuvee” costs $40. It is rare to find a restaurant that offers this particular vintage champagne, but even rarer for it to cost $40 when it typically sells for $75 to $140 per glass.

There are 861 wines on the Ventana Room wine list. Five hundred and six of the bottles cost under $100 – that’s 58 percent of their list. Of those 506 wines, 233 of them are at or less than $50, which makes that 27 percent of their wine list. “We don’t have trophy bottles that we hang on to,” says Scherzberg. “We want to share them and turn over our wine list so we can try new varieties. This is our micro-level stimulation of the economy.”

The goal is simple: to remind people that luxury isn’t beyond their reach. “We want to keep people interested in exceptional dining, and to bring it home by making it affordable.” This is Scherzberg’s goal in infusing his passion into the Ventana Room. “People look at fine dining as a form of entertainment, “says Scherzberg. “It’s not dinner and a movie – dinner is theater.” And for those who are worried that these prices will only be available for a short time, fret not. Michael Scherzberg has reassured us that he has “no intention of raising prices” when the economy is in a better state, he just “hopes that his guests come back more often.”

For reservations call the Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort at (520) 615-5494 or visit www.ventanaroom.com for more information.

Tucson’s Best Brunch (ranked by Tucson Guide in 2008) is serving a special Easter Brunch this year, including some of its signature Blues, Brews and Barbeque touches as well as special holiday treats.

Join us Sunday, April 12 for Easter Brunch at Loews, and be sure to bring an appetite. Feast on everything from omelets and applewood smoked bacon to snow crab claws and green lip mussels to fresh tortillas and carnitas. The full carving station, the sweet and savory salads and the Blues, Brews and BBQ Grill Station should satisfy any other cravings. Make sure to save room for dessert because the ganache coffee tartlets, the lemon ginger tortes and the apple crème brûlée won’t eat themselves.

While there will be plenty of seating indoors inside the Canyon Café, this would be the perfect occasion to take advantage of the beautiful spring sunshine and dine outdoors on the patio. Breathtaking views of the Catalina Mountains will be the icing on the cake. Bring your friends and family - this festive Easter Brunch begins at 11 am and will seat until 2 pm. The brunch is $45 per adult and $22 for children 12 and under.

Children are more than welcome to join for Easter Brunch; there’s something special in store for them as well. Just make sure they’re ready to race for Easter eggs! Easter Egg Hunts will begin at 11 am, and there will be one hunt every thirty minutes on the half hour until 2:30 pm. All the little ones need to do is stop by the hostess stand at the Canyon Café to pick up their complimentary ticket.

Call the Canyon Café at (520) 615-5496 to make reservations for Easter Brunch. For any other inquiries, please call the Concierge at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort at (520) 299-2020.

It’s that time again – spring is in the air! It doesn’t get much better than waking up to gorgeous, sunny weather and amazing eighty degree temperatures. Makes you want to lounge by the pool with a margarita in hand, doesn’t it?

It’s time to get out of winter hibernation mode and prepare to be brazen in that bathing suit. The weather may be setting off little alarms for some, but you don’t have to run yourself ragged at the gym in preparation for this weather. Take a much more relaxing route to get that same glow. Join us for happy hour; indulge at the Loews Lakeside Spa.

Beginning March 15, the Loews Lakeside Spa will be offering ‘Spa Happy Hour’. Three fabulous menu items are being served up for $75. Choose between a mani-pedi combo (on the rocks?), classic facial and a Swedish massage. You can always expect great deals at happy hour, so expect them here as well. You’ll be saving about $40 per treatment, which leaves you plenty of money to take to the Flying V for a cocktail afterward!

So cheers to a guilt-free happy hour! And unlike a bar happy hour, these options won’t go straight to the hips! These options are available Sundays - Thursdays.

Call the Loews Lakeside Spa at (520) 529-7830 to book your mani-pedi, classic facial or Swedish massage.

In the midst of this economic slump, you probably didn’t think you would be able to find a silver lining. Well, that silver lining has everything to do with fine dining. Restaurants across the country are adjusting prices in order to meet their clientele halfway. Chefs everywhere are whipping up special tasting menus and knocking prices down a notch or two. The AAA five diamond, award winning Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort is no exception to this trend.

In June 2008, Tom Stauffer of the Tucson Citizen said his experience at the Ventana Room was one in which “the quality…so transcends the ordinary that it reaffirms why levels of distinction are established and maintained.” You can expect the same right now, just at a lower price.

So if cuisine is your niche, you’re in for a treat. The Ventana Room now offers three courses for $42, down from last years’ price of $85. If the menu at the Ventana Room wasn’t something you were able to enjoy when the economy was in high gear, now is the perfect opportunity. You don’t have to feel obligated to do a course by course dinner there, either. A new portion of the menu is now served a la carte. Feel free to choose the entrée that looks most appealing to you, perhaps pairing it with the perfect glass of wine recommended by the superb staff, and enjoying the Tucson city lights. The freedom is really in your hands.

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort isn’t the only Loews property offering a fantastic dining experience at a more affordable price, either. If you’d like to make a weekend out of it, you can also venture over to Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Los Angeles and enjoy the “Farmer’s Fixe” menu. Offered by Chef Foos at their fine dining establishment, you’ll get a starter course, an entrée, and a glass of either red or white wine for $28. Not in the mood for the beach? Loews Lake Las Vegas is offering a discounted - only in price, not quality - menu at Marssa, their Asian-fusion and sushi restaurant. Their acclaimed master sushi chef, only one of eight in the United States, will serve up exactly what you’re looking for.

Aside from the fabulous menus, Loews Hotels is currently offering the Winter As You Wish promotion, the perk being that you’ll receive $50 to $500 in food and beverage credit depending upon the length of your stay with us. The credit is valid at any one of our restaurants, which makes experimentation with new menus pretty painless. With this promotion, room rates can start as low as $199. Check loewshotels.com or call our reservations department for details.

So get out there foodies. Dabble in new cuisine, enjoy new menus and savor a fine dining experience. The price is right.

Call the Ventana Room at (520) 615–5494 for reservations.