West Tennessee Suburbs
Memphis is all about blues and barbecue, and its suburbs offer plenty of both. The city is snuggled into the southwestern corner of the state, with Arkansas just across the Mississippi River and the Mississippi state line just south of the city.
Memphis Tourism covers Memphis as well as Shelby County, which includes all the Tennessee side of the river suburbs, said Kevin Kern, vice president of public relations for Memphis Tourism.
The city of Germantown is about 20 miles southeast of Memphis, and the community is home to nearly 40,000 residents. The Germantown Performing Arts Center has an 864-seat performance hall as well as a black-box theater, a patron lounge and a spacious lobby for receptions and other events.
At the Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown, the 8,600-square-foot main hall has large windows and opens onto an adjoining balcony. The space can also be reconfigured into five 1,600-square-foot rooms. The conference center seats 84 in tiered theater seating and offers full audiovisual and tech capabilities.
On the eastern edge of the Memphis city limits, Shelby Farms Park is a 4,500-acre urban park with 40 miles of trails and more than 20 ponds and lakes. The park’s FedEx Event Center has more than 7,200 square feet of flexible space, including the Lakeside Ballroom, where a wall of windows delivers views of Hyde Lake. Groups can also use the park’s event lawn and outdoor stage, picnic pavilions and visitor center meeting rooms.
The Expo Center at Agricenter International has more than 86,000 square feet of exhibit space as well as an 825-fixed-seat amphitheater, seven breakout rooms, a boardroom and a banquet room. On the same campus complex, the Agricenter ShowPlace Arena is a multipurpose facility for equestrian events, festivals, concerts, trade shows and more.
East Tennessee Suburbs
Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee, and the campus sits not far from the banks of the Tennessee River. Although downtown and the 500,000-square-foot Knoxville Convention Center serve as the city’s hub for major meetings and events, surrounding suburbs and smaller pockets offer planners plenty of hotels and conference spaces, said Sarah Rowan, director of sales for Visit Knoxville.
Farragut is a community of 23,000 residents that sits on interstates 40 and 75, less than 20 miles west of downtown. There, Turkey Creek is a shopping and entertainment development that’s home to several limited-service hotels, including a Hampton Inn and Suites and a SpringHill Suites by Marriott.
Cedar Bluff in west Knoxville is also just off the interstate but closer to the city center. The area is home to about 15 limited-service hotels as well as the 60,000-square-foot Rothchild Catering and Conference Center.
In Walland, about 30 miles south of Knoxville, Blackberry Farm is a luxury hotel and 4,200-acre resort in the Great Smoky Mountains. The resort has a variety of meeting rooms and event spaces, including Bramble Hall, an event center built in 2016.
RT Lodge sits on the woodsy campus of Maryville College in Maryville, about 20 miles south of downtown Knoxville. The lodge’s main meeting space can accommodate up to 50 people in classroom-style seating, but the lodge also has several other gathering options, from an elegant boardroom to a circle of chairs around a firepit in the forest.
