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In Oxford, Mississippi, everyone wants to hang around downtown’s courthouse square, where vintage storefronts house everything from restaurants run by top chefs and a nationally known independent bookstore to entrepreneurs hawking vinyl and bespoke blue jeans. Without doubt, the square is the exceptionally cool center of a town that’s home to almost as many college students as citizens. (21,596 to 27,000).
“We’re an anomaly in the state of Mississippi,” says Visit Oxford’s Nadia Thornton. “There’s not another community like us in the state.”
Oxford’s Venues
Weekends are often packed with University of Mississippi football and other sporting events, but Sundays through Thursdays are a definite opportunity for small meetings and conferences seeking a small town with a big personality. Many opt for hotels on or near the square.
The smallest is the Oliver Hotel of Oxford. A sister to the Oliver Hotel in Knoxville, it opened two summers ago with 40 guest rooms and a 2,000-square-foot ballroom that sparkles beneath six crystal chandeliers. Spaces like a book-filled library invite small gatherings.
Just off the square, the 136-room Graduate by Hilton Oxford cheers on the home team with Ole Miss memorabilia and remembers Oxford’s long literary tradition with bookish touches. It has 2,062 square feet of divisible meeting space.
There’s even an on-campus option that’s also within a couple blocks of the square — the 146-room Inn at Ole Miss. The 5,600-square-foot divisible ballroom that’s part of its 10,000-square-foot conference center has a balcony that overlooks downtown Oxford. Nearby, a Courtyard by Marriott offers additional guest rooms.
Of course, not all conferences fit into boutique hotels. Oxford’s answer, a seven-minute drive from downtown, is the Oxford Conference Center. The 25,000 square foot conference facility includes a 4,000-square-foot lobby, a 280-seat auditorium and an 11,000-square-foot divisible ballroom. Three limited-service hotels across the street are Marriott and Hilton brands and offer a total of 286 guest rooms.
Don’t Forget to Hit the Square
Although staying downtown allows people to “park the car and walk everywhere,” no matter where attendees stay, they’ll want to spend time on the square, says Thornton. “Being a college town, we have a lively night life, with live music and bars that stay open late.” Evenings might mean dinner at the City Grocery, where chef/owner John Currence, a James Beard Award winner, orchestrates the kitchen, or drinks at Bar Muse, one of the country’s top bars, where the mixologist described by Thornton as a “mad scientist” crafts inventive cocktails. Shoppers make their way to Neilson’s, the South’s oldest department store; End of All Music, for vinyl records; and Blue Delta Blue Jeans, to be sized up for custom-made jeans. And of course, no one leaves the square without a stop at the much loved and lauded Square Books, or one of its spin-offs, also on the square: Square Books Jr., for kids; Off Square for lifestyle and used books; and Rare Square for, you guessed it, rare books.
For more information about planning an event in Oxford, please contact:
Visit Oxford
Nadia Thornton
Director of Sales and Marketing
662-232-2477
