Kentucky’s scenic beauty and cultural heritage make it a fantastic place to find unique off-site venues for meetings or events.
Groups that want to get out of the hotel ballroom should look no further than these five notable venues that tap into Kentucky’s distinctive music and classic car history, fanciful architecture and natural environments.
Green Turtle Bay Resort & Marina
Grand Rivers
Green Turtle Bay Resort covers more than 100 acres on the shores of Lake Barkley in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. It is a popular destination for boating and other water sports. Groups hosting events at the resort can bring their own boats and dock at the marina, or they can rent pontoon, tritoon or double-decker pontoon boats with slides to explore the lake in style.
Pier 32 at Green Turtle Bay, which is also known as The Commonwealth Yacht Club, is right on the water facing Green Turtle Bay Marina. It can be rented out for parties or special occasions for up to 120 guests, and the club includes a full-service bar, food, bar games and gorgeous harbor views. The waterfront conference center can also host groups of up to 120. On-site catering is available, and the resort offers a picnic pavilion with grills, a beach area and 80 one- to four-bedroom condominiums for rent.
When they are not meeting with their groups, attendees can sing their hearts out at karaoke or play cornhole or board games. The resort has pickleball and basketball courts and three swimming pools, one of which is heated.
There is a shuttle available for larger groups to get around the property that can also take them into Grand Rivers. Guests will find several restaurants, shops and a petting zoo nearby. The resort also has golf carts for rent.
For team building, groups can host kayak races or see a show at The Badgett Playhouse.
The Kentucky Castle
Versailles
The Kentucky Castle was built as a family home in 1969. Rex and Caroline Martin fell in love with the castles in Europe after they traveled there and decided they wanted to build one of their own. Sadly, the couple separated before the castle was finished, and it sat vacant for 30 years. It was eventually completed in the early 2000s but was damaged in a structure fire in 2004.
It was rebuilt and operated as a bed and breakfast until it was purchased by the Wes Henderson family. It is now a hotel, spa, farm, restaurant and private event space. The building has five different venues that can host meetings of 10 to 220 guests.
The castle’s farm-to-table restaurant gets its produce from the farm on property. Groups that host events at the castle can mix and match what services they want to use. They can pair a dinner with a hotel stay or add a spa visit to a daytime meeting. The facility has an in-house catering and events department, and everything from linens, tables, chairs and audiovisual equipment is included in rental of the venue space.
The castle has its own private TKC bourbon barrel pick and has partnered with Henderson’s True Story Bourbon on a bourbon and a finished rye. Groups hosting an event at the castle can take a general castle tour or tour the castle and the farm. Attendees also can participate in make-and-take activities on the farm, such as building miniature greenhouses, or add a bourbon tasting or cocktail class to an event.
BB Riverboats
Newport
Based in Newport, BB Riverboats is an excursion cruise company that plies the Ohio River between Newport and Cincinnati. The company runs three public cruises a day between May and October and operates cruises on a limited basis the rest of the year.
Meeting groups can rent one of the company’s two riverboats for meetings or events. The Belle of Cincinnati can serve 650 guests for a meal, or groups can rent spaces on board that can accommodate groups of 50 to 225. The River Queen can hold 220 passengers, or groups can rent just one deck for 110 guests.
BB Riverboats also has a dockside event venue, River’s Edge, which features three walls of windows so guests can see upriver and downriver and enjoy unobstructed views of downtown Cincinnati. The room can be set up for 225 guests.
Groups that rent the River’s Edge can also add on a boat ride after their event. Meals for events tend to be buffet-style, and groups have the option to add a full bar. There are no food and beverage minimums, only passenger minimums.
Daily cruises will either have a live DJ or a “riverlorian” — someone who tells historic stories while playing the banjo and pointing out places of interest — on board. On the weekends and evenings, the riverlorian performs during the day, and live bands play a variety of musical genres on Friday and Saturday nights.
National Corvette Museum
Bowling Green
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green pays homage to one of the classic American sports cars: the Chevrolet Corvette. Beautifully restored Corvettes fill the Nostalgia Gallery in scenes reminiscent of the good ol’ days of car culture, including a Mobile service station and a 1960s Chevrolet dealership. Additional exhibits laud the masterminds who designed the beloved automobile.
Visitors to the museum will learn about the famous sports car’s inception, from its innovation to its performance and design.
The museum’s family education gallery is geared toward the younger generation of Corvette enthusiasts, and the E. Pierce Marshall Memorial Performance Gallery features digital projections, interactive touch screens and artifact display cases set among beautiful Corvettes from different generations.
The facility can host large indoor events for groups of 50 to 1,500. The conference center is 8,297 square feet and has a prep kitchen, stage, bar area and outdoor covered display space that can accommodate 500 for a banquet. Corvette Boulevard is perfect for a reception, trade show booths or conference center overflow. It can host 200 for a banquet.
The Stingray Grill, Wendell Strode Club Room and Gardner/Mattson Boardroom can host smaller groups of 20 to 60. The Amphitheater and lawn outside of the museum can accommodate large events, like receptions or car shows, for up to 10,000 people.
Groups can add a guided or self-guided tour of the museum to their rental.
Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Mount Vernon
The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Mount Vernon opened in 2002 with its first class of inductees. The Hall of Fame pays tribute to some of the greatest musicians and songwriters from all musical genres who have influenced Kentucky’s musical heritage in some way. Inductees are named every two years. In 2024, the Hall of Fame inducted 12 new members, including Billy Moore, Charlie Sizemore and the McLain Family Band. They join other famous musicians, including Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys.
The museum is next to the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center concert venue, and its exhibits include musical instruments, memorabilia, clothing worn by famous musicians and photographs of the artists who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
A timeline shows how different musical genres got their start in Kentucky, and visitors have a chance to try out different musical instruments.
The museum hosts events in its lobby for 75 to 100 guests or in a conference room that can accommodate groups of 50 or fewer. The museum provides tables and chairs, and groups can arrange to have food catered by local restaurants.
An outdoor amphitheater behind the museum features a stage and is a great space for weddings, concerts or receptions for about 200 people. Groups can also rent the field behind the John Lair House or the one in front of the Aunt Polly House.
