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Ohio’s Suburban Scenery

Cuyahoga Falls

Cuyahoga Falls is located only five miles north of downtown Akron, but the city also sits on the edge of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the state’s only national park. Located between town and country, the community is “really close to so many amazing assets,” said Jim Mahon, vice president of marketing and brand management for the Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Sandwiched between downtown’s Front Street pedestrian mall and the Cuyahoga River, the Sheraton Suites recently renovated its 209 guest rooms and 14 meeting spaces, including the 4,600-square-foot ballroom. The glass walls of Beau’s on the River restaurant and lounge “jut out a little bit over the river,” dishing up great views of the city’s namesake falls, Mahon said.

A few miles northwest of downtown Cuyahoga Falls, a cluster of three venues offer interesting options. The Blossom Music Center, summer home to the Cleveland Orchestra, is an amphitheater with a 5,700-seat pavilion and space for another 13,000 people on the surrounding lawn. On the same property, Kent State University’s Porthouse Theatre is a 500-person outdoor covered venue that’s available for private events and meeting groups. Across the street, Sarah’s Vineyard is “one of only a handful of wineries that fall within a national park,” Mahon said. The winery has a tasting room and several event spaces, including a loft, a garden and a new outdoor covered pavilion with a stone fireplace.

www.visitakron-summit.org

Butler County

Butler County is one of Ohio’s fastest-growing regions, “so we are a little different than some suburbs because we can offer really high-level amenities as well as a great college town and the rural areas in between,” said Margaret O’Gorman, tourism development manager for the Butler County Visitors Bureau.

Hamilton is the county seat and the largest city, with about 65,000 residents; Oxford is home to Miami University. With 4,000 hotel rooms and a strong presence for corporations, the region appeals to groups that “are interested in being in the Cincinnati area but don’t necessarily want to be all the way downtown,” she said.

Centre Park of West Chester opened in December 2015 with a 130-room Holiday Inn and a 20,300-square-foot event center with a 9,300-square-foot ballroom. The 295-room Cincinnati Marriott North is the county’s largest hotel and has 12,900 square feet of function space. Also in West Chester Township, the Four Points by Sheraton, formerly the Wingate by Wyndham, has more than 4,600 square feet in five meeting rooms.

The Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park offers a variety of event venues, including a 300-person outdoor pavilion, a lodge that can seat 130 and the park’s signature pyramid-shaped house. Groups can explore the 6.5-acre Jungle Jim’s International Market, with more than 150,000 food and specialty products, and even gather at the adjacent Oscar Event Center.

www.gettothebc.com

Lorain County

To get from downtown Cleveland to the famous amusement park Cedar Point in Sandusky, one must drive through Lorain County, which sits squarely between the two. Its northern border hugs 25 miles of Lake Erie’s shoreline and, to the south, is rural farmland and rolling countryside, said Jen Kennedy, interim director for Visit Lorain County.

The county’s largest meeting venue is the John A. Spitzer Conference Center at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, the county’s second-largest city after Lorain. The center’s 68,000 square feet of flexible space covers 25 conference spaces that range from small boardrooms to a 1,000-seat lecture hall. Also in Elyria, the Lorain County Transportation Center is a restored historic train depot turned event venue with a 2,360-square-foot meeting room that can be combined with the 1,150-square-foot, two-story rotunda.

In Oberlin, Oberlin College is known for its music conservatory and for being a key stop on the Underground Railroad before slaves crossed the Canadian border to freedom. Groups can customize music experiences or historic tours to complement their meetings at The Hotel at Oberlin, which opened this past summer with 6,500 square feet of function space. The school’s new jazz club-like music venue, the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space, opened in February beneath the hotel. Lake Erie’s wine region also offers many vineyard venues, including Vermillion Valley Vineyards and the Matus Winery.

At Lakeview Park on the shores of Lake Erie, Sunset Terrace is a refurbished 1920s bathhouse available for events. Guests can enjoy views of Lorain Lighthouse through the lake-facing wall of windows or sit on the back deck “and watch the waves roll in,” Kennedy said.

www.visitloraincounty.com