La Crosse
La Crosse sits on the Mississippi River, which forms Wisconsin’s western border with Minnesota. With so much urban riverfront, many of the city’s venues are on the shoreline.
The 169-room Radisson Hotel La Crosse sits on the river’s edge and has meeting facilities that total 11,500 square feet for up to 400 people. The 3,450-square-foot main ballroom looks out into downtown, and the on-site restaurant, Three Rivers Lodge, offers river views.
The Radisson serves at the convention hotel for the La Crosse Center, the city’s convention hall and arena also on the riverbanks. The arena seats between 5,000 and 7,500, depending on the setup, and has a convention center with two halls that can be combined for 36,000 square feet. Groups can also use three boardrooms, a conference room and a 6,000-square-foot, second-floor ballroom that delivers views of the river.
North of the convention complex, the AmericInn by Wyndham fronts the Black River, a tributary of the Mississippi that forms the east side of French Island, and guests can arrive via car or boat. The hotel’s on-site restaurant, Moxie’s, is redoing its outdoor patio to have a tiki-bar feel, and “people can pull right up on their boats,” said Ben Morgan, director of group sales and sports services for Explore La Crosse. With 2,000 square feet of event space in four flexible meeting rooms, the hotel can accommodate conferences and banquets for up to 350 guests.
The La Crosse Queen riverboat docks at downtown Riverside Park, and both can serve as event venues. The 149-passenger stern-wheeler offers daily sightseeing cruises as well as private charters and special-event cruises such as brunch, dinner and pizza outings. The historic Riverside Park opened in 1911 and serves as a community gathering place for festivals and events, such as company picnics and barbecues. The park is also home to the Riverside International Friendship Gardens, a collection of gardens and landscapes around the globe.
To get on the water, groups can rent kayaks, canoes and paddleboards from Island Outdoors on French Island. “Bluff hiking is very popular around here,” Morgan said, and Grandad Bluff is the area’s most popular bluff hiking location, although “hiking” doesn’t accurately describe the activity. Groups can drive to the top of the 600-foot bluff where they’ll find a park, a picnic area and views of the river, as well as panoramas of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
Oshkosh
Oshkosh is surrounded — and shaped — by water. It sits between Lake Winnebago on the east and Lake Butte des Morts on the west and straddles the Fox River, which connects the two lakes.
“Water has always played a pretty big part in Oshkosh,” said Justin DeJager, director of marketing for the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The city’s downtown riverfront is a hub for leisure travelers and meeting planners alike. The Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center sits on the river’s edge, and “groups will often have receptions or sit-down dinners outside right along the riverfront,” said Cathy Cluff, director of sales for the CVB. Best Western Premier manages the recently renovated Oshkosh Convention Center, which is connected via skywalk. The convention center has 18,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 15,000-square-foot conference hall that can be split into eight smaller rooms. The hotel has several more flexible conference rooms, including a 3,500-square-foot ballroom, and connects directly to the city’s Riverwalk trail.
The hotel, convention center, Riverside Park and Leach Amphitheater all form a line along the riverfront. Groups can reserve the 7,500-capacity Leach Amphitheater, and visitors can follow the Riverwalk to waterfront restaurants and bars such as Ground Round at River’s Edge and Fox River Brewing Co.
Becket’s is just a short walk from the Best Western, and the riverfront restaurant can seat up to 500 for a meal. Becket’s can accommodate such large groups because it’s in a former mall that now houses a variety of shops and businesses and has “a beautiful atrium area that can be used for events,” Cluff said.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Alumni Welcome and Conference Center sits on a riverfront park and has a flexible 8,000-square-foot ballroom, four 40-person breakout rooms and two boardrooms.
Loos Cruises offers riverboat tours on the river and both lakes and “launches right from the Riverwalk,” DeJager said. In addition to sightseeing cruises, the company offers private charters for up to 39 people.
Off the riverbanks and on the lakeshore, The Waters was built in 1903 on Lake Winnebago as the Oshkosh Yacht Club. The Georgian Revival-style mansion can accommodate groups of 300, and the Grand Ballroom seats 172 for meals. Planners can also use the first-floor Harbor Bar and Winnebago Room, the waterfront screened-in porch or the open-air, second-story balcony.
Half a mile north up the shoreline, groups can explore the Menominee Park zoo or rent kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and paddleboats in the park.
