More Hotel Meeting Spaces
Some planners prefer to book hotels and meeting spaces outside of a downtown area to minimize distractions. A couple of miles from downtown is the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort and Spa, a suburban oasis with 409 rooms and suites. For business dealings, 28,000 square feet of space includes 26 event rooms and 21 breakout rooms. Across the street is Embassy Suites by Hilton with 230 guest suites and 12,000 square feet of meeting facilities. The two hotels work together to handle larger conventions with many attendees.
The historic Campbell House is another good option for planners. This antebellum, boutique hotel with 250 guest rooms and suites recently underwent a renovation. It has 18,000 square feet of function space with a large ballroom and 12 meeting rooms.
Another quality hotel is coming to Lexington in February 2016. 21c Museum Hotel is being built in a historic Lexington bank building. It will combine an 88-room boutique hotel with a modern art gallery and a restaurant. It will also contain 7,000 square feet of cool space for events and meetings.
Unusual Event Venue
Right on Main Street in the heart of downtown Lexington is an unusual event space that’s ideal for corporate events, meetings and receptions. The Livery gets its name from the fact that the back portion of this narrow, shotgun-style building was a livery stable for more than 50 years. It’s quite a preservation job that’s both rustic and elegant. Anyone can rent the 7,200 square feet of space, a kind of blank canvass that they can configure as they please. Planners need only order in tables, chairs, furnishings and equipment for their event. There’s a caterer’s kitchen for use, too.
“We’ve had a few horse farms rent this space for events,” said Bradley Nolan, one of several partners in the venture. “Three Chimneys Farm in nearby Versailles, Kentucky, used it when it purchased two new thoroughbreds. Farm managers decked out the space with the farm’s awards and trophies.”
There have been other corporate meetings held at The Livery. Nonprofits use it for fundraising purposes. A national association recently held its welcome event there. Various University of Kentucky colleges stage meetings inside.
Four-Legged Super Stars
Keeneland is Lexington’s premier, historic, English-style thoroughbred racetrack. Racing takes place on these hallowed grounds for only three and a half weeks each spring and fall. Groups visiting Lexington for a meeting are urged to schedule time at Keeneland, site of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup, the world championships of horse racing. The beauty of this small, less commercialized racetrack will linger in visitors’ memories. The track has meeting facilities for before, during and after race meets.
Another racing venue, the Red Mile, is a harness racing track founded in 1875 near downtown Lexington. Standardbred horses pull drivers on carts called sulkies around the red-clay track as bettors wager on the races. Partnering with Keeneland, the Red Mile is also opening a historic race-betting facility with 1,000 terminals. Offtrack betting of all kinds of races is available, too. The entire property is undergoing a massive renovation, and there are many unusual spaces available for events and meetings.
