Fiesta Bowl 2026 Hotels: Glendale Is Nearly Gone for the December 30 Quarterfinal
By Matt Spaulding · November 3, 2026
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Only two of the 11 hotels we cover in Glendale would sell the night of Wednesday 30 December on its own when we checked on 12 November. That's the night of the Fiesta Bowl, the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at State Farm Stadium. TownePlace Suites and the Residence Inn Phoenix Glendale Sports & Entertainment District are both on North Zanjero Boulevard, 24 and 27 minutes on foot from the stadium. On 3 November the Residence Inn had said no to that night. The four hotels 13 or 14 minutes out wouldn't sell it.
Two nights opens up more. On 12 November, IHG's search for 29 to 31 December listed all three of its Glendale hotels, 26 and 27 minutes on foot. On 3 November it hadn't listed the Holiday Inn Express or Staybridge for that stay.
Downtown Phoenix is the fallback, and our reads there are older. On 3 November we tried eight of the 12 Downtown Phoenix hotels we cover, and all six whose screens loaded would sell the 30th as a single night. From there the stadium is 25 minutes by car.
When we read it on 3 November, the Fiesta Sports Foundation's page listed "Wednesday, Dec 30th 5:30 PM CFP Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl State Farm Stadium". That's Arizona time. It named no teams yet and no gate time.
Walk from Glendale or drive from Downtown Phoenix
Glendale walks run from 13 to 29 minutes, routed on foot on a normal day to the point OpenStreetMap uses for the stadium. That point isn't a gate, and game-day closures aren't in the route. TownePlace is the sixth closest of the 11, and nothing sits between 18 and 24 minutes.
The six downtown hotels that sold the 30th on 3 November were the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, The Westin Phoenix Downtown, Moxy Phoenix Downtown, Residence Inn Phoenix Downtown and Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Downtown. The Hilton Garden Inn's screen read "13 rooms found". hyatt.com loaded blank for the two downtown Hyatts, so they aren't in that count.
The 25-minute drive is 17.4 miles from the Convention Center West Building, routed with no traffic. Game nights will be slower. Tempe is 37 minutes and 27 miles from the stadium and Old Town Scottsdale is 38 minutes and 27.1 miles, but we have no reads for hotels in either place for this night.
The Sheraton and the Westin each carry a $30 Destination Fee inside the rate shown, and the downtown Renaissance a $25 one. The other three showed no fee on the booking screen. Marriott's pages say nothing about what the Sheraton's or the Westin's fee covers. The downtown Renaissance's buys a daily $25 food and beverage credit, a 2-hour bike rental, light rail passes for up to two guests, faster Wi-Fi and a discovery bag for two, per Marriott's activities directory. Phoenix's 13.07% lodging tax goes on top of the price shown.
Only the Sheraton and the Westin list self-parking. The Westin's $36 a day to self-park is the lowest parking rate any of the six publishes. Valet there is $46, and Marriott's page also points to off-site parking nearby. The Sheraton's self-parking is $51 a day or $357 a week, with valet at $61. At the other four it's valet: $45 a day at the Moxy and the downtown Residence Inn. The downtown Renaissance charges $46 a night, or $54 for an oversized vehicle, and paid public parking sits next to the hotel. Valet at the Hilton Garden Inn is $47 a night with in-and-out, and Hilton says the parking is covered and secured. If you'd rather park it yourself, Chase Garage is 0.2 miles away.
Glendale hotel by hotel
Tru by Hilton Phoenix Glendale Westgate and Home2 Suites by Hilton Phoenix Glendale-Westgate are both 13 minutes from the stadium, and the Hampton Inn & Suites Phoenix Glendale-Westgate is 14. On 12 November Hilton's calendar read "Sold out" at all three for check-in on 29 or 30 December. A 31 December check-in, the day after the game, still sold. On 3 November each had refused 29 to 31 December with "Sorry, we don't have any rooms available for those dates," then found rooms for Wednesday 27 January 2027, so it's the bowl week that's full. All three charge $18 a day to self-park and have no valet.
Renaissance Phoenix Glendale is the only one of the 11 whose booking screen printed a fee. Marriott's screen reads "Includes 25 USD Destination Fee," so the $25 sits inside the price shown. Glendale's 15.17% lodging tax comes on top, and parking is $20 a day to self-park or $26 by valet. It's a 14-minute walk. On 12 November Marriott's calendar marked both 29 and 30 December "Not available for check-in" for a one-night stay. On 3 November it had sold the 30th inside a 29 to 31 December stay, and we haven't re-read that stay.
Aloft Glendale at Westgate is an 18-minute walk and charges $17 a day to park. It refused the 30th by itself on both 3 and 12 November, and on 3 November it turned down 29 to 31 December too.
TownePlace is at 7271 North Zanjero Boulevard, and SpringHill Suites Phoenix Glendale Sports & Entertainment District is on the same street, 29 minutes out, the longest walk of the 11. On 12 November SpringHill's calendar still marked the 30th "Not available for check-in". TownePlace charges $12 a day to park, and the Residence Inn and SpringHill charge $10, the lowest paid rate any of the 11 publishes.
On 12 November IHG's search for 29 to 31 December put all three of its Glendale hotels at the top of the list, each with a Select Hotel button: Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Staybridge Suites, both 27 minutes out, and Holiday Inn Glendale at 26. For the 30th on its own, the same search listed none of the three. IHG's search leaves out hotels with nothing to sell.
Parking is free for registered guests at the Holiday Inn Express and free for guests at Staybridge, per IHG's page for each hotel. We found no operator figure for parking at Holiday Inn Glendale, so ask before you arrive with a car.
How we read it
Everything here is for two adults in one room. On 12 November we re-read Glendale: Marriott's and Hilton's month calendars showed which nights each hotel would sell as a one-night stay, and we ran IHG's search for the 30th and for 29 to 31 December. Everything downtown is from 3 November. So are the two-night stays at the Marriott and Hilton hotels, and the comparison night of Wednesday 27 January 2027. That day we asked each booking screen (for the IHG hotels, IHG's search) for the night of 30 December and tried the longer stay where it said no. Glendale's 15.17% lodging tax is from IHG's rate details. We found no organizer hotel list and no group code. Availability changes daily.
