Spokane

Located a few miles from Washington's eastern border, Spokane is home to 195,500 residents (418,000 in the metropolitan area). It serves as a shopping, entertainment and medical hub for an area that includes Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana and southern portions of Alberta and British Columbia. The Spokane River runs through the downtown area with falls on the western end of the city's core.

Spokane is an outdoors-lover's paradise, with downhill and cross-country skiing, white-water rafting, camping areas, hiking trails, and numerous lakes nearby. It is home to the largest timed road race in the nation-Bloomsday (held in May)-and the largest three-on-three street basketball tournament-Hoopfest (held in June).

The Inland Empire is home to ten wineries that produce world-class wines. For more than twenty years Spokane wineries have been producing Gold Medal and Nationally acclaimed wines.

Spokane is also noted for its summer long events at Riverside Park, the Civic Theater, music concerts, NCAA regional basketball tournament and has been rated one of the top ten areas in the country for public golf courses.

There are plenty of places to stay in and around Spokane, but the jewel of the city is The Davenport Hotel. It's the only 4-star rated hotel in the area and its central location in downtown Spokane puts it in walking distance to many of Spokane's attractions. In March 2008, Executive Travel stayed at The Davenport on our annual city familiarization trip. We were all impressed with the service and amenities offered by The Davenport.