Where is Aurora, Ill.?
Aurora is 37 miles west of Chicago, 113 miles south of Milwaukee and 217 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
How do I get there?
The easiest ways to reach the state’s second-largest city is by Interstate 88 or from other areas in Chicago, the Metra rail. Midway Airport and Chicago O’Hare International are less than an hour away; the Aurora Municipal Airport is eight miles from the city.
What types of meetings best suit Aurora?
Aurora has about 800 hotel rooms, so it attracts small meetings that appreciate big-city amenities without the Chicago traffic.
What’s new?
- Three hotels have opened in the last 15 months: the 82-room Holiday Inn Chicago- Aurora, the 83-room Candlewood Suites and the 100-room Best Western Timber Creek Inn and Suites and Convention Center. The Best Western, in Sandwich, has 25,000 square feet of meeting space.
Tell me about Aurora’s main meeting sites.
- The 250-seat Royal Crystal Room and the 200-seat Crown Royal Room at the Gaslite Manor of Courtyard West work well for formal dinners.
- Aurora University books meeting spaces when its students aren’t using them. Among them are the recently renovated 500-seat Crimi Auditorium, the 200-seat Perry Theatre and the 288-seat University Banquet Hall.
- The 5,300-square-foot Long Island Sound Banquet and Conference Center has event packages for groups of up to 600.
Did you know?
- The 1992 film Wayne’s World chronicled the adventures of Wayne and Garth’s cable-access show in Aurora. The 1976 AMC Pacer from the movie is displayed at the Hollywood Casino Aurora, which also showcases movie memorabilia from The Untouchables, The Blues Brothers and Titanic.
- In the 1880s, three corset manufacturers set up shop in Aurora, and the town became known as the Corset Capital of the World. Today, Aurora is the Discount Designer Fashion Capital of the World, home to Chicago Premium Outlet’s 120 outlet stores.
Tell me about some interesting off-site venues.
- The terrace and lawn of the Farnsworth House, designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, can be booked for events. Van der Rohe’s design makes the home seem to float over the Fox River.
- Walter Payton’s Roadhouse Complex brews up to 7,000 barrels of beer a year and houses a comedy club and the Walter Payton Museum. Between indoor meeting rooms and outdoor spaces, the complex can handle events for a 1,000.
What are some sites worth seeing?
- At the 1931 art-deco Paramount Theatre, theater-lovers can enjoy Broadway classics without traveling to Chicago. The ornate and historic theater’s auditorium seats 1,800.
- There are plenty of chances to win at Hollywood Casino and many dining options, with the on-site Epic Buffet, Take Two and Fairbanks Steakhouse.
For a true taste of Aurora…
- At the Ballydoyle Irish Pub and Restaurant, favorites from the Emerald Isle harken back to the Irish village and Ballydoyle Racing Stables for which the restaurant is named. The Ballydoyle opened last year in a 19th-century coat factory.
- Blueberry ketchup, lobster corn dogs and tuna tartare are among the eclectic selections at the Turf Room.
