Meeting planners hosting events at signature hotel properties across Indiana should expect the unexpected. Even the smallest city centers have luxurious boutique properties or well-appointed resorts that can accommodate groups of any size. Here are a handful of signature Indiana hotels that offer a little something different — and deliver some big surprises.
Oakwood Resort
Syracuse
Oakwood Resort on the shore of Lake Wawasee got its start in 1910 as a summer camping program with a tabernacle and hillside chapel. That facility was torn down in 1994, and Oakwood Inn was built. The property was purchased by the current parent family in 2012. It reopened as Oakwood Resort in 2013.
The 79-room resort features an on-site restaurant and a floating Tiki bar. It has two different event venues: the event center, which can break into three separate rooms and holds 500 guests, and a hilltop venue for up to 200 people that offers upper- and lower-level spaces overlooking a hill with a lake backdrop.
The resort has conference rooms that can host groups of 10 to 100, and the property is all-inclusive with full audiovisual setups, linens and on-site catering that provides everything from snacks and lunches to plated meals and buffets.
A grand lawn and gazebo can host outdoor events and receptions, and a small gazebo on the beach is often the site of wedding ceremonies. The upper hilltop has a beautiful patio and a grassy area that groups can rent out. For fun, groups can take advantage of the private beach, rent boats on the lake or bicycle on the property’s many trails. Oakwood also has a tour boat that goes out on Friday and Saturday evenings and can be rented for corporate events.
The Bradley
Fort Wayne
The Bradley is a 124-room boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne that was co-designed by Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, co-founder of iconic lifestyle brand Vera Bradley. Because of her involvement, the property’s decor features bold, colorful designs and museum-quality art.
Meeting planners have their pick of three event spaces. Allen is the largest room with floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor access. It can host 92 guests for a banquet or 122 theater style. Wells is a smaller space perfect for board meetings, breakout sessions or social dining, while Whitley is best for small group meetings.
Birdie’s Rooftop Bar can be rented for events and features both indoor and outdoor spaces with stunning views of the downtown skyline.
The hotel is just three blocks from the Grand Wayne Convention Center district where Parkview Field, Embassy Theatre and Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory offer entertainment. Across the street, The Landing district provides dining, shopping and entertainment. Fort Wayne’s Arts District with the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and Arts United Center is just three blocks away.
Promenade Park at the confluence of St. Marys, St. Joseph and Maumee rivers has become a major destination in the city with a treetop canopy trail, wetlands and boating. The second phase of the Riverfront project is expected to unveil additional public spaces by the end of 2026.
French Lick Resort
French Lick
Two historic hotels make up two-thirds of what is known as French Lick Resort, which is situated 43 miles from Bloomington. French Lick Springs Hotel, built in 1901, and West Baden Springs Hotel, built in 1902, have storied histories that ended with both properties needing to be saved in the 1990s. After a $600 million renovation, the sister hotels were returned to their original grandeur in 2007. Since then, the resort has added Valley Tower Hotel, Ridgeview Cottages and a family fishing pond and turned a historic barn into a meeting venue for large groups. The cottages, which can each host 16 guests, are about a mile from French Lick Springs Hotel atop Klondike Hill.
The resort also features 169,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and more than 3,000 acres for outdoor events. French Lick has a 32,000-square-foot Exhibition Hall and the 22,600-square-foot Hoosier Ballroom that can host 2,260 for a reception.
West Baden Springs Hotel’s most spectacular space is the 34,800-square-foot Atrium with its beautiful domed ceiling. The resort reopened the West Baden Billiard and Bowling Pavilion in January 2026 for the first time in 90 years. Located on the West Baden Springs Hotel grounds, it features six bowling lanes, pool tables and a pizzeria. The hotel’s formal gardens, veranda and lobby can also be used for events.
The resort boasts three championship golf courses, two spas, resort-style gaming, horseback riding, carriage rides, sporting ranges, casual dining and shops. Groups hosting events at the resort can add golf outings, team-building activities and spa retreats.
Courtyard by Marriott Lafayette
Lafayette
Courtyard by Marriott Lafayette is a large full-service hotel on the east side of Lafayette that has become the go-to lodging for visiting college teams when they come to the area to face off against Purdue University.
“We’re not your father’s Courtyard,” said Peter Conolly, director of sales for the hotel. That’s because the property has an attached conference center with 20,409 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
The 122-room hotel, which is near Purdue Research Park and 5 miles from the main Purdue campus, is right off Interstate 65, a major north-south thoroughfare. It is located at the exit where visitors get off the highway to attend football games. Along with sports teams, the hotel attracts corporate business and social events because of its event space.
The conference center has 15 event rooms and six breakout spaces. The Lafayette Grand Ballroom is the largest room with 3,700 square feet that can host banquets for up to 310 guests. The ballroom can be divided into two large rooms or split into five separate spaces. The property has three patios: one that can hold up to 250 for a banquet, one that can hold up to 450 for a banquet or 675 for a reception, and one for smaller groups that can hold about 50 for a reception.
The hotel has a fitness center, an indoor swimming pool and a whirlpool, and The Bistro restaurant serves breakfast, dinner and cocktails in the evening.
Hotel Carmichael
Carmel
Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection is a boutique hotel in Carmel’s city center. It is near restaurants and boutique shops and sits on the Monon Trail, a 28.5-mile paved walking path that wends from downtown Indianapolis to Sheridan, Indiana, traveling through Marion and Hamilton counties.
Built in 2020, the hotel has 122 guest rooms and nearly 5,000 square feet of event space. The Cole Porter Grand Ballroom can hold 160 for a banquet, and it features a large pre-function space and a terrace that can hold 100 for a reception. The Noble Sissle meeting room can host 60 for a banquet, and two smaller rooms can accommodate groups of 10 to 12 attendees.
All event spaces except the smallest boardroom have direct access to the outdoors. The Monon Lobby can also be used for larger receptions or intimate dinners. Vivante Restaurant & Bar has a private dining room for up to 18 people and a patio with firepits that can host live music or a banquet for 160.
Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael is a dinner cabaret that offers food, spirits, and live music and entertainment on weekends. Groups of up to 160 can rent Feinstein’s for banquets or receptions. Adagio Lounge in the hotel lobby showcases a grand piano and a woodburning fireplace and entertains guests with songs from the Great American Songbook, which encompasses music from the 1920s to the 1950s.
