Sleep and Meet
Rochester has nearly 5,900 hotel rooms citywide, a good inventory for a city its size. Of that number, 2,100 rooms are within walking distance of the convention center.
Downtown Rochester offers the Kahler Grand Hotel, a genteel property built in 1921 but with all the modern conveniences visitors expect. It has 616 guest rooms and suites and 30,000 square feet of on-site meeting space, plus direct access to the Mayo Clinic by way of the skyway or an underground concourse. Adjacent to the Kahler Hotel is the Rochester Marriott Mayo Clinic Area. It provides 202 recently renovated rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.
Another downtown option is the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Rochester Mayo Clinic Area. It, too, has just been renovated and features 212 rooms and 8,000 square feet of meeting space.
As the city and its convention business are growing, a new downtown Hilton hotel is in the works. It will have 274 rooms and 14,000 square feet of meeting space and is due to open in late 2018.
After Work Is Done
When meetings aren’t in session, visitors will find a variety of ways to enjoy the rooftops of Rochester. “There’s a phenomenon we’ve seen here lately: rooftop dining and usable rooftop space,” said the CVB’s Jones. “That means open-air dining that overlooks the city. It makes for a really neat environment.”
Jones said the downtown area offers everything from eclectic dining to shopping to brew pubs and much more. One hot spot is Historic Third Street. There are many fun eateries in this old neighborhood in Rochester, but three spots, in particular, are worth a try. Grand Rounds Brew Pub can be found inside a stately 150-year-old bank building and has many fine brews made on-site and imaginative cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients. The Tap House has rooftop dining, outdoor heaters for chilly nights and a big, cozy fireplace if you want to stay inside. And there’s The Loop, owned by a local group that attended a Rochester high school together. The food’s tasty, and there’s outdoor seating and live music or a DJ on select nights.
Another fun thing to do in Rochester is visit the Rochester Arts Center.
“It is in an incredible building with stunning architecture,” Jones said. “It’s on our Zumbro River waterfront. It hosts an array of traveling exhibits in the modern-art world, and it has meeting space as well. We like to do receptions there.”
Assisi Heights Spirituality Center is on 100 hillside acres in the center of the city. It is home to the Sisters of St. Francis, who were instrumental in 1889 in starting St. Mary’s Hospital, which is now affiliated with the Mayo Clinic. The spiritual center has an ornate lobby with a slate floor, Italian-marble columns and hand-blown German stained-glass windows. Guided tours of this special place are available.
The Cascade Meadow Wetlands and Environmental Science Center sits on 100 acres around Cascade Creek and features indoor and outdoor learning and event spaces. Meeting planners can also make use of walking trails, wetlands and a LEED Platinum-certified center for hosting college classes and different events. There’s meeting space, too. “People there study things like the wetlands and the prairie in our area, as well as wind and other alternative energies,” said Jones. “Our visitors tend to find all of that to be very interesting.”
Finally, a fun and healthful way to explore Rochester in the spring, summer and fall months is to rent one of the bright orange bikes that are available through the city’s popular Nice Ride program.
Rochester is on the move in many ways, and the CVB’s Jones believes the future is unlimited. “With our vast growth here, people are just now discovering us and are seeing why we are going to be a player in the future in the meetings industry.”
Rochester, Minnesota
Location: Southeast corner of Minnesota
Access: Interstate 90; U.S. highways 14, 52, 63; Rochester International Airport
Major Meeting Spaces: Mayo Civic Center, Mayo Clinic campuses, Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center
Hotel Rooms: 5,900 citywide, with 2,100 near the convention center
Offsite Venues: Mayo Clinic campuses, Historic Third Street, Cascade Meadow Wetlands and Environmental Science Center
Contact Info:
Rochester, Minnesota Convention and Visitors Bureau
800-634-8277
www.rochestercvb.org/event-planners
