The largest hotel in Tempe and one of the largest new conference hospitality properties in the Valley to open in years is ready to begin accepting guests.

The Omni Tempe Hotel at Arizona State University will open on April 28.

With 330 rooms, including 11 suites and 36,000 square feet of meeting space, management of the hotel is expecting to be able to fill a lot of demand in the area and bring travel and conference business to Tempe that wasn't possible until now.

While the hotel is owned by Omni Hotels & Resorts, it was built next to Arizona State University on land owned by the Arizona Board of Regents. While there isn’t a direct partnership, the new Omni is expected to be used a lot by ASU.

“We understand that, we're not partners in the sense that we are 100% an ASU facility, but we want them to feel at home when they're here,” said Matt Drusch, the director of sales and marketing at the Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU. “We just need to make sure that they continue to use us and that we become that mainstay for them in the future.”

Omni exec sees plenty of interest for conventions

The ground-floor ballroom is called the Sun Devil Ballroom and outside of it there are display cases that ASU will fill and rotate with school-related artifacts and memorabilia. The massive boardroom at the Omni is directly wired into ASU’s computer system, making it easier for Michael Crow, the university’s president, or other school leaders to hold meetings at the hotel.