From grand resorts and hotels to massive renovations and event venues, Wisconsin has plenty of new and upgraded meeting venues to consider. Here are five new or improved options for meetings and events.
Mulva Cultural Center
De Pere
The Mulva Cultural Center is a 75,000-square-foot cultural destination on the Fox River in De Pere that hosts traveling art and educational exhibits from around the world. Designed with high-efficiency glass, a limestone façade and continuous terrazzo flooring, the center has already taken home an AIA Chicago Lerch Bates People’s Choice Award for best cultural architecture.
Opened in December 2023, the center’s current atrium exhibition, Sharks, which runs until early January, comes to the center from the Australian Museum and features 10 life-size shark replicas. Its next exhibition, Unofficial Galaxies, January 25 through April 27, is one of the largest private collections of Star Wars memorabilia in the world.
Meeting planners have their pick of choice meeting spots. A 200-seat auditorium can be used for lectures or presentations, while two multipurpose learning spaces can accommodate up to 90 for lectures, meetings or special occasions. The atrium, which includes exhibit space, is two stories high and can host 350 for a cocktail reception or 200 for a plated dinner or buffet. A boardroom for 20 is equipped with state-of-the-art A/V equipment.
The on-site restaurant can seat 100 for lunch or dinner. Groups that would like to tour the exhibits as part of their event can add it to their booking. The center’s patio is a wonderful spot for a cocktail reception.
Grand Geneva Resort and Spa
Lake Geneva
In June, the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa completed a $35 million renovation and redesign of its 610 guest rooms and suites, common areas and meeting spaces. Everything, from carpet to décor to lighting and furniture has been redone.
The 1,300-acre resort has numerous meeting and event options indoors and outside. Its 62,000 square feet of meeting and event space — five ballrooms, four boardrooms, the ballroom foyer and public restrooms — got a full facelift. The Evergreen Ballroom offers lake views and can host up to 360 guests, while the Grand Ballroom can accommodate up to 576. The 12-person boardrooms have been upgraded with the latest technology, large-screen televisions and a new design.
The resort’s largest conference space, the 13,000-square-foot Forum Convention Center, was completely renovated in 2019.
Groups that meet at the resort can add a round of golf, corporate fitness classes, rock climbing, skiing or horseback riding. The resort has two 18-hole championship golf courses; a downhill ski operation; an indoor/outdoor waterpark; a spa and wellness center; two indoor tennis courts; four indoor pickleball courts; an indoor basketball/volleyball court; and an indoor climbing wall. A 10-hole golf short course will open in fall 2025.
Hotel Verdant
Racine
Hotel Verdant, an independently owned boutique hotel, opened in August 2023 at the northeast side of Racine’s Monument Square, a piazza anchored by a monument and bordered by retail shops and restaurants. The hotel is in the former Zahn’s department store, which sat empty for 40 years, and is in a prime spot overlooking Lake Michigan.
The upscale hotel, owned by Dominion Group out of Milwaukee, is managed by Charlestowne Hotels, which is known for managing boutique hotels.
The 80-room hotel was designed by a Chicago interior design firm that specializes in boutique hotels. Some of its seven suites and premium rooms have lake views. Amenities include a fitness center, a sauna and a full-service restaurant with Italian-inspired cuisine for lunch and dinner. It serves a seasonal menu and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
The hotel’s 3,500-square-foot ballroom can be divided into two smaller spaces and has Bluetooth capability, sound, climate control, dimmable lighting, and a built-in projector and screen. A small boardroom seats eight people.
Both spaces have large floor-to-ceiling windows for natural lighting. The hotel is best known for its fifth-floor rooftop lounge, a great vantage point to view Lake Michigan, a block and a half away.
Kalahari Resorts and Conventions
Wisconsin Dells
Kalahari Resorts recently invested $80 million to improve and expand its Wisconsin Dells property, adding 237 new guest rooms, a self-service kiosk check-in experience, dining options and refreshing interior spaces.
The new guest rooms, the Hillside at Kalahari, are connected to the main resort by skywalk and include double-queen sofa and hospitality suites. The resort also improved its lobby and waterpark entrances.
Kalahari’s 125,000-square-foot indoor waterpark is known for its water slides, a water coaster, a lazy river, whirlpools and wave pool. Its outdoor waterpark features another lazy river, as well as several water slides, an outdoor whirlpool spa and Splashdown Safari, a multi-level water tree fort.
The resort also has plans to expand the outdoor waterpark and add custom treehouses and a supper club.
Meeting groups can take advantage of the resort’s 1,000 guest rooms and vast meeting spaces. It has doubled the size of its convention center, bringing it to 212,000 square feet of flexible space that include three ballrooms, 47 meeting rooms, four luxury boardrooms, 21 smaller meeting rooms, and exhibit space for more than 750 booths. Entertainment options include Trappers Turn Golf Club and 12North Par-3 Experience; a spa and salon; a virtual gaming experience called The Arena; retail shops; and the nearby Ho-Chunk Casino and AMC Desert Star 15 Theatre.
Market on the River
Chippewa Falls
Situated in downtown Chippewa Falls, Market on the River was originally commissioned in 1916 by the Chippewa Valley Mercantile Company as a wholesale grocery house. The Wisconsin Farmers Union purchased it in 2022 and has redeveloped it for mixed-use.
Market on the River opened this fall with a food hall and vendor space on the first floor. The second floor will serve as the headquarters of the Wisconsin Farmers Union and as an event space, ideal for reunions, conferences or conventions. The third floor will be apartments and short-term rentals.
The event space features an attached prep kitchen, as well as tables, chairs and linens. It is equipped with state-of-the-art A/V systems and can accommodate up to 200 guests. Groups can bring in outside catering, but in-house catering is available. The event space offers stunning views of the Chippewa River.
The property is well located, within one mile of the iconic Leinenkugel’s Leinie Lodge and the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery. It’s also a short walk from the Cobblestone Hotel and Suites and has easy access to downtown shops, boutiques, restaurants, local bakeries, coffee shops, miles of trails and beautiful parks.
