Experience Grand Rapids

171 Monroe Ave. NW Suite 545 49503

Grand Rapids: A Destination Crafted for Meetings

A city that is Crafted for Meetings, Grand Rapids is easy to get to, easy to host a meeting in and easy to love. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport, named best airport in North America serving 2-5 million passengers, offers 140+ daily flights, including nonstops to 30+ major market destinations and is served by 7 airlines: Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Sun Country and United. The airport is in the midst of a massive transformation project that has already upgraded many visitor convenience features – including new food and beverage options, complimentary business centers and improved security checkpoints. The airport is just 15 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, where a riverfront convention center offers 162,000 sq. ft. of column-free exhibit space, 40,000 square foot ballroom and 20+ meeting rooms of all sizes. A climate-controlled skywalk connects the convention center to three hotels (1,200+ rooms), each with its own meeting room spaces, as well as to parking ramps and entertainment venues. This convention-and-hotel complex anchors a Convention Neighborhood that includes 10 additional hotels (1,300+ rooms) and 200+ restaurants and retail shops, all located within a 10-minute walk or free bus ride. Five downtown museums include the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, a tribute to the city’s most famous native son. Eleven downtown craft beverage destinations are stops on the Beer City Ale Trail. A number of breweries and museums offer distinctive spaces for outside-the-convention-center events. The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, voted as the Best Sculpture Park in the United States in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards, is just a 15-minute drive from the Convention Neighborhood. Grand Rapids offers many unique offsite venues for opening or closing receptions and VIP events, several within walking distance of the Convention Center. Unique venues within walking distance include Grand Rapids Public Museum, Gillett Bridge and breweries. You can also find hundreds more hotels and meeting spaces throughout Kent County to give you additional planning flexibility. Contact us to learn how this Stella Award-winning(2023) CVB in one of the nation's top 25 convention cities (Travmar, 2022) can help you with your meeting.

Need dates

  • 05/24/202405/27/2024
  • 07/08/202407/10/2024
  • 07/27/202408/01/2024

Distance from airport

  • Gerald R. Ford International Airport

    12 mi. from city center


Local Attractions

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Museum
15 mi. away
Michigan's second most popular tourist attraction ... one of the world's 100 most visited art museums ... one of the Top 30 Must-See Museums on the planet. These are just some of the accolades earned by Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. Just minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, this 132-acre haven integrates horticulture and sculpture throughout its site, setting it apart from other more traditional botanic garden or art museum experiences.
1000 East Beltline Ave. NE
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49525

Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives

Museum
2 blocks away
The Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives promotes, preserves, displays, collects and honors the lives, culture, history and art of local African Americans. In African culture, griots kept the history and traditions of family, tribes and nations alive through the stories they told. Griots were typically male, but when Africans were brought to the Americans, women became the transmitters of oral history. Today, it’s often the grandmother that fulfills this role – hence, the Museum’s acronym: GRAAMA.
87 Monroe Center Street NW
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49503

Grand Rapids Public Museum

Museum
0 mi. away
Founded in 1845, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is among the oldest history museums in the United States. Not that you'd be able to tell from its sparkling facility, which rises three stories above the downtown riverfront. Inside, a fascinating panorama of permanent collections and temporary exhibits preserve the treasures of the past and the present. Permanent collections include: Anishnabek: The People of This Place, exploring Native American contributions to West Michigan. Collecting A-Z, presenting just some of the million or so objects the Museum has collected. Furniture City, a history of the city's furniture manufacturing excellence. Habitats, which transports visitors through the natural environments of Michigan. Newcomers: The People of This Place, celebrating immigrant groups who helped make Grand Rapids what it is today. Streets of Old Grand Rapids, a detailed recreation of an 1890s street scene.
272 Pearl St. NW
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49504

John Ball Zoo

Museum
2 mi. away
This classic urban zoo is located two miles west of downtown Grand Rapids, just off the 1-96 expressway. John Ball Zoo home to more than 2,000 animals. Habitats include: - Mokomboso Valley Chimpanzee Exhibit - North America animals including Grizzly bears, puma and bobcats - Treasures of the Tropics - reptiles, amphibians & small primates - Living Shores Aquarium & Penguinarium - Red's Hobby Farm petting coral - Lions of Lake Manyara - Wild Way Trail - Lemurs & howler monkeys - Tigers of the Realm - A brand new pygmy Hippo exhibit! And much more Adventures The zoo also features a number of kid-friendly rides and activities: - Funicular to the Forest Realm - a tram ride up to the second highest ridge in Grand Rapids - Zipline - a four-story, 300-foot "fly" over the zoo (seasonal) - Sky Trail Ropes Course - four stories tall with two climbing levels (seasonal) - Camel Rides (seasonal) - Feedable parakeet aviary (seasonal) - A spacious park at the entrance of the zoo is perfect for picnicking.
1300 W. Fulton St
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49504

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

Museum
0 mi. away
Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States wasn't born in Grand Rapids - but he was raised here and represented the city in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949-1973. Richard Nixon selected him to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President in 1973, and Ford assumed the Presidency less than a year later in the wake of Nixon's resignation. All of this and more is brought to engaging life at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in downtown Grand Rapids. Permanent exhibits include a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, a Watergate gallery, interactive Cabinet Room, 1976 Bicentennial display, and a section of the Berlin Wall. Additional exhibits pay tribute to the life and influence of Betty Ford, who is credited with paving the way for modern First Ladies.
303 Pearl St NW
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49504

Grand Rapids Children's Museum

Museum
0 mi. away
The Grand Rapids Children's Museum celebrates childhood and the joy of learning by providing hands-on exhibits that inspire learning and encourage self-directed exploration. The Children's Museum is located in downtown Grand Rapids, just a short walk from hotels. The 1916-era building is hard to miss: large expanses of plate glass give passersby a view of the fun inside and one exterior wall is covered with a large mosaic that was originally installed for ArtPrize 2009.
11 Sheldon Ave. NE
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49503

Grand Rapids Art Museum

Museum
0 mi. away
The Art Museum's history extends back to 1910, but its current facility was erected in 2007. Newsweek magazine promptly named it one of the best buildings of the year: "This cool and modernist building ... is the first newly constructed ‘green' museum in the United States, designed to be LEED certified." Situated on the edge of Rosa Parks Circle - downtown's community square - GRAM has become one of the city's iconic architectural landmarks. The works on display inside the building are just as impressive. Collections range from Renaissance to Modern Art, with a special focus on 19th and 20th century European and American art.
101 Monroe Center NW
Grand Rapids, MI, US 49503

Convention Centers

  • DeVos Place Convention Center an ASM Global Facility

    DeVos Place Convention Center is located in Grand Rapids. Ideally equipped for meetings, conventions and trade shows as well as performing arts and touring events, and has the capability of hosting a variety of events simultaneously.

    • Exhibit Space162,000 sq. ft.
      Total meeting space202,000 sq. ft.