Welcome to our Tacoma meeting planning guide – a city guide for meeting planning in Tacoma, WA. Tacoma has enjoyed a renaissance in the last 20 years, ditching its past reputation as a gritty, industrial area. Several museums, including the Museum of Glass, elevate things, too, and it also has one of the largest urban parks in the nation, 700-acre Port Defiance. Every April, things are further brightened up with an annual Daffodil Parade. Meeting venues in Tacoma feature trendy accommodations and modern facilities.
Near the southern end of Puget Sound (on which Seattle, 32 miles to the north, also sits), Tacoma is served by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), commonly referred to as SeaTac, which is 26 miles northeast of Tacoma's center and part of whose name is named for the city. It has excellent service from most American gateways.
The Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center has 119,000 square feet of function space, including a 50,000-square-foot exhibition hall and a 13,650-square-foot ballroom, which is adjacent to the Murano and Courtyard by Marriott hotels listed immediately below. Another spot, Pacific Lutheran University has three spaces measuring 12,471, 13,000 and 15,000 square feet, respectively, for groups of up to 3,500 persons, and then there is the Tacoma Dome sports stadium, which can host up to 22,000.
Hotels venues in Tacoma feature the 375-room King Oscar Tacoma Inn, Motel & Convention Center, which has 10,000 square feet of meeting space; the boutique-style, 319-room Hotel Murano, with 28,000 square feet; the 162-room Courtyard by Marriott, with eight meeting rooms and a 4,356-square-foot ballroom; the 160-room Best Western Tacoma Dome, with 5,000 square feet, and the 155-room La Quinta Inn & Suites & Conference Center, with nine meeting rooms and a 3,600-square-foot ballroom.
Wonderful event venues in Tacoma include the Tacoma Arts Museum, which has a 4,400-square-foot lobby able to host up to 250 persons; the Museum of Glass, a gorgeous facility on the Thea Foss Waterway that contains a 7,000-square-foot Grand Hall for 500 persons, and Washington State Historical Museum, with an amphitheater, mezzanine and lobby. The moniker Pierce County Environmental Services Building does not sound promising, but this modern spot has a beautiful Puget Sound view, an outdoor expanse and space for 185 persons (Tacoma is in Pierce County). Lastly, there is the celebrated Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, which has the Pantages Lobby for 200 people.
Good restaurants here include Twokoi, with a Japanese menu and private dining rooms; Pacific Grill, with equally stylish environs but an American menu and a long private dining room with 40 seats; fondue restaurant, The Melting Pot, with two siblings (Seattle and Bellevue), 230 seats and the Cambria Room for 16; Mediterranean restaurant Primo, with reception space for 90 persons and dining space for 65, and Engine House No. 9, in a former fire-engine house on the National Register of Historic Places, with a brew pub and a steak-dominated menu.
For Seattle, view all Seattle event venues and check out our info on Seattle meeting planning.
