Ramada Opens 300-Room Flagship Hotel on East Van Buren Street in Phoenix

In 1958, Ramada established a 300-room hotel on East Van Buren Street in Phoenix, Arizona, as part of its early expansion in the American hospitality industry. The property was associated with the growing hotel business led by Marion W. Isbell, one of Ramada's founders. Located along an established commercial corridor in Phoenix, the hotel represented a larger-scale development than the company's original 60-room Flagstaff property. Its 300-room capacity reflected the business's move toward accommodating greater numbers of travellers as Phoenix continued to grow as a commercial, tourism, and transportation centre during the late 1950s. The East Van Buren Street property became associated with Ramada's early flagship operations as the company developed its network of hotels and motor inns. Phoenix provided a base for the business during a period when automobile travel, interstate highway development, and increasing demand for organised lodging were reshaping the American hotel industry. The larger property demonstrated Ramada's expansion beyond its initial roadside accommodation model into higher-capacity hospitality facilities. The hotel's precise opening date, street number, and full operational history have not been independently verified, but the reported 1958 development forms part of the company's early growth narrative in Arizona.