Experience Grand Rapids
171 Monroe Ave. NW Suite 545, 49503
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Grand Rapids: A Destination Crafted for Meetings
Easy to get to, easy to host an event in and easy to love, Grand Rapids is a city that is truly Crafted for Meetings.
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport, named best airport in North America serving 2-5 million passengers, offers 140+ daily flights, including nonstop flights to 35+ major market destinations on 8 airlines: Allegiant, American, Avelo, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Sun Country and United. The airport is in the midst of a massive $600 million 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 16 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, where a riverfront convention center offers 162,000 sq. ft. of column-free exhibit space, a 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 encompasses 10 additional hotels (1,300+ rooms), including Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt and Marriott brands. They’re all within a 10-minute walk or free bus ride of 200+ restaurants and retail shops. Five downtown museums include the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, a tribute to the city’s most famous native son, and eight downtown breweries bolster the city's status as America's Craft Beverage Capital.
Museums and breweries are unique offsite venues for opening/closing receptions and VIP events within walking distance of the convention center. Additional options include downtown arenas, auditoriums, performance venues, universities and bridges over the Grand River.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, voted 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. It's also a great choice for offsite events.
Hundreds more hotels and meeting spaces throughout Kent County give you additional planning flexibility.
Contact us to learn how this Stella Award-winning Best Midwest DMO (2024) in one of the nation's top 25 convention cities (Travmar, 2022) can help you with your meeting. Your attendees will thank you for planning your event in One of America’s Top 10 Best Towns to Visit (CNN,2024) and the #1 U.S. City on the Rise (LinkedIn, 2025).
Venue Details
Hotels95
Convention center272,000 sq. ft.
Guest Rooms10,242
Guest rooms at 1 hotel650
Special event venues68
Average room rate$98.92
Occupancy rate-
Restaurants1,100
Daily food cost$51.00
Tax rate15%
Venue typeCVB
Discover Grand RapidsNeed dates
Priority windows that venues prefer for hosting events
Mar 3, 2026 - Mar 4, 2026
Mar 23, 2026 - Mar 24, 2026
Apr 1, 2026 - Apr 5, 2026
May 23, 2026 - May 27, 2026
Jun 3, 2026 - Jun 7, 2026
Jun 17, 2026 - Jun 21, 2026
Jul 1, 2026 - Jul 6, 2026
Jul 12, 2026 - Jul 16, 2026
Aug 1, 2026 - Aug 8, 2026
Aug 28, 2026 - Aug 29, 2026
Sep 7, 2026 - Sep 9, 2026
Sep 26, 2026 - Sep 28, 2026
Getting Here
Distance from airport
12 mi from Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Distance from Gerald R. Ford International Airport airport 12 mi
Location
Local Attractions
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Museum
5 mi
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
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Grand Rapids Public Museum
Museum
0 mi
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:
Anishinabek: 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
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Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Museum
0 mi
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
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Grand Rapids Art Museum
Museum
0 mi
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
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Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives
Museum
0 mi
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
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John Ball Zoo
Museum
2 mi
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 - including these kid-friendly rides and activities:
- Funicular to the Forest Realm, a tram ride up to the city's second highest ridge
- Zipline - a four-story, 300-foot "fly" over the zoo (seasonal)
- Sky Trail Ropes Course, offering two climbing levels across four stories (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
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Grand Rapids Children's Museum
Museum
0 mi
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
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Convention Centers
DeVos Place Convention Center an ASM Global FacilityDeVos 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 space93,270 sq. ft.
Additional Information
Experience Grand Rapids Frequently Asked Questions
Explore frequently asked questions from the Experience Grand Rapids regarding Health and Safety, Sustainability, and Diversity and Inclusion
Sustainable Practices
Please provide comments or a link to any publicly communicated Experience Grand Rapids's sustainability or social impact goals/strategy.
Sustainability is not only a priority for the city’s venues and hotels, it is also threaded throughout city government, infrastructure, the transportation system, cultural institutions, private businesses and community initiatives. https://www.experiencegr.com/articles/post/sustainability-in-grand-rapids/
Does Experience Grand Rapids have a strategy that focuses on the elimination and diversion of waste (i.e. plastics, papers, cardboard, etc.)? If yes, please elaborate on your strategy of elimination and diversion of waste.
No response.
Diversity and Inclusion
For US hotels only, is Experience Grand Rapids and/or parent company certified as a 51% diverse owned business enterprise (BE)? If yes, please indicate which one of the following you are certified as:
No response.
If applicable, could you please provide a link to Experience Grand Rapids's public report on their commitments and initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Experience Grand Rapids is committed to ensuring that our mission assists Grand Rapids/Kent County become a more sustainable, diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive destination. https://www.experiencegr.com/plan-and-stay/about-grand-rapids/our-community/
Health and Safety
Were practices at Experience Grand Rapids developed based on health service recommendations from public governmental entities or private organizations? If Yes, please list which organizations were used to develop these practices.
No response.
Does Experience Grand Rapids clean and sanitize public areas and publicly accessible facilities (i.e. meeting rooms, restaurants, elevator banks, etc.)? If yes, describe any new measures that are taken.
No response.
Please explain, if applicable, the carbon offsetting options you offer to corporations.
Please provide, if applicable, an e-mail address for a contact who can address any follow up questions relating to sustainability and social impact goals and initiatives.
Has your hotel taken steps to reduce single-use plastics, such as removing plastic straws (except upon request for guests with disabilities), stirrers and cotton buds? If yes, please provide detail as to the steps you have taken to reduce single use plastics?
Does your hotel generate (onsite) or purchase (offsite) renewable energy (beyond your utility's standard offerings)? If yes, please describe your practices for generating or purchasing renewable energy.
Does your hotel engage in activities to protect & restore the natural environment in which it is located (i.e. trees planted, coral reef restored, etc.)?
Will your hotel be imposing any additional fees for cleaning services? If yes, please specify those fees.
Are specific cleaning/disinfection routines in place for pillows, duvets and their covers, headboard, bathrobe etc.? If yes, please describe.
Please include a link to your public report on community impact if applicable.
Please provide any other comments you wish to make regarding your efforts/initiatives to obtain certification in these programs.
Please provide, if applicable, an e-mail address for a contact who can address any follow up questions relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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