When someone mentions meetings in the Heartland, the Kansas City area is likely one of the destinations that comes to mind. This icon of American heritage and prairie frontier values welcomes groups with a hefty helping of hospitality and a portfolio of new facilities to match.
From the pulsating Power & Light District in Kansas City, Mo., to the excitement of the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., and the accommodating suburbs of Overland Park, this metropolitan area offers affordability, accessibility and a cooperative approach among 15 area CVBs through KC Destinations, a regional destination alliance.
Kansas City, Mo.
European-style plazas and fountains don’t define most American downtown urban areas, but they do in Kansas City, Mo., the largest destination in the metro area.
Groups staying in the vibrant new downtown district will also find the Kansas City Convention Center, with 388,800 square feet of meeting and event space, and the multipurpose, 18,500-seat Sprint Center.
Denise DeJulio, executive director of convention sales for the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association, says the convention center and nearby properties are better prepared than ever for group business.
"Just in the past couple of years, our convention center has been updated with features such as a new ballroom where we can accommodate up to 3,000 people for a seated dinner," she says. "Also, our major hotels have done big renovations in the last couple of years."
Included in those multimillion-dollar initiatives is the Crowne Plaza Kansas City Downtown, the 385-room property that was formerly Radisson Hotel & Suites. The Raphael Hotel on Country Club Plaza spent $10 million remodeling its historic lobby and 123 guest rooms. It also has new meeting rooms, a fitness center and a 24-hour business center. The 720-room Westin Crown Center finished an extensive renovation that brought new energy-efficient lighting and guest room upgrades. The InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza completed a $15 million renovation on its 366 guest rooms and public spaces. Kansas City Marriott Downtown renovated all 983 guest rooms in its Marriott Tower and Muehlebach Tower in 2009. And the Hilton President Kansas City, a historic property that anchors the Power & Light District, recently finished a renovation.
The Power & Light District, an eight-block, 24-hour entertainment complex with nightclubs, shops and restaurants, is a centerpiece of the revitalization projects that have taken shape in the city’s downtown core.
And there’s more coming. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will debut in fall 2011. The $414 million center was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. It will be home to Kansas City’s ballet, opera and symphonic companies, with two performance halls totaling 3,400 seats.
Kansas City’s passion for sports isn’t getting ignored either. The Kansas City Royals’ Kaufmann Stadium has recently renovated to establish its place as one of the best ballparks in Major League Baseball.
Wider concourses, more restrooms and concession stands now combine with a new Fan Walk, open-air pavilion, sports bar restaurant, Royals Hall of Fame and 1,500 fountain-view seats for a bright new look. Arrowhead Stadium, home to the Kansas City Chiefs, has gotten its first facelift in 40 years. The new contemporary entertainment destination now has a stadium club, expanded memorabilia store and a Hall of Honor that commemorates over 45 years of Chiefs memories.
Meanwhile, groups that want maximum airport convenience enjoy basing their meetings in Platte County just outside Kansas City, Mo., featuring an array of hotels with meeting space and 4,000 guest rooms.
Major meetings properties in Platte County include Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa, with more than 18,000 square feet of function space; Hilton KCI Airport Hotel; Hyatt Place, KC Airport; and Marriott KCI.
Visiting business groups enjoy the historic river towns of Parkville and Weston, tours of the local Harley-Davidson plant, dining and shopping in the Zona Rosa district, golf courses, farmers markets, wineries, brewpubs, and hiking and biking trails.
Kansas City, Kan.
Kansas City area visitors often don’t know when they’ve crossed the state line between Kansas and Missouri, because the pieces are all parts of the whole that includes urban and suburban elements on either side of the border.
Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County—affectionately known as "the Dot"—are in the metro mix. This is the area for auto racing fun, shop ’til you drop retail therapy and memorable regional dining. Locals will tell you "the Dot’s got it"—whatever you’re looking for, be it lodging, entertainment, dining or meeting facilities.
"We are a small town, but because we are located within the larger metro Kansas City area, we offer groups everything the area has, often at much less cost than other destinations in the Midwest," says Bridgette Jobe, executive director of the Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County CVB.
Jobe says the area is a good fit for state or regional association, family or military reunions, and other meetings of between 500 and 1,000 attendees.
"We are also good for smaller groups of 100 to 200 people," she says. "Whatever the group’s needs, we can help because we have a great working relationship with all the CVBs on either side of the state line."
What often brings visitors to these corners of the metroplex is the Kansas Speedway, home to NASCAR auto racing, with its 1.5-mile track and 80,000 seats. The track also has driving schools, custom car shows, a national barbecue contest and other interesting events, as well as meeting spaces that accommodate up to 5,000 participants.
With 281 suites, the Great Wolf Lodge is a popular group choice near the Kansas Speedway. The property has 3,000 square feet of function space, a spa, an arcade and indoor and outdoor pools.
Broadening the appeal of the speedway district is Village West, a burgeoning lifestyle development of retail and entertainment stops, including The Legends Outlets Kansas City. One of Village’s newest components is Best Western-Village West. Upcoming openings include Hollywood Casino, a partner project by Kansas Speedway and Penn National Gaming, which will add a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor, a 300-room hotel, a spa, a convention center and more entertainment venues.
Close to Village West is the new Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, a $750 million entertainment and lodging destination that is opening in phases through 2011. When complete, it will have nearly 800,000 square feet of retail spaces and 1,100 guest rooms. Schlitterbahn Waterpark is one of the development’s major features.
The "open road flavor" Kansas City locals talk about can be experienced at the new Backfire Barbeque, an 8,300-square-foot venue where custom choppers, classic cars, live entertainment and mouthwatering wood-fired barbeque meet. Accenting the bikes, burgers and barbeque food stop are giant plasma TV screens featuring episodes of American Chopper, NASCAR race car engines and other memorabilia.
In downtown Kansas City, Kan., groups can meet at properties such as the Hilton Garden Inn & Jack Reardon Convention Center, with 147 guest rooms and suites and 20,000 square feet of function space.
Overland Park, Kan.
The attractive community of Overland Park rounds out the region and caters to groups with a variety of venues and amenities.
The destination has 34 hotels and more than 5,100 guest rooms.
The Overland Park Convention Center boasts nearly 240,000 square feet of meeting space, including 20,000 square feet of additional space in the adjoining Sheraton Overland Park Hotel at the Convention Center. Nearly 1,000 hotel rooms are within walking distance of the center. Other Overland Park hotels with generous meeting facilities are the Marriott Overland Park Hotel; Doubletree Hotel at Corporate Woods; and Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Overland Park–West.
The Overland Park International Trade Center and the Ritz Charles are two top facilities for meetings, trade shows and other events.
One of the area’s newest lodging spaces is the 156-room Aloft Leawood-Overland Park near Sprint’s international headquarters. It has a a small meeting room.
Kelly Peetoom, vice president of sales for the Overland Park CVB, says the destination is ideal for midsize groups seeking an affordable, well-equipped alternative to larger cities.
"We are well suited for mid-size corporate, religious and association business," he says. "Groups that are 250 to 300 people on peak room nights totaling 1,000 to 2,000 total room nights is our target group. Overland Park is a great location for planners looking to the Midwest because we are a small, conveniently located city that offers all the amenities of a large city at competitive prices."
Included in the package, Peetoom says, are 250-plus restaurants.
The New Theatre Restaurant, a premier dinner theater with Broadway-style productions that bring in New York and Hollywood performers, is one of Overland Park’s unique venue options.
When the agenda calls for memorable team-building programs, groups can head to The Culinary Center of Kansas City, which offers cooking classes and other options. Located in a restored buggy barn built at the turn of the 20th century, the center has inviting spaces that some describe as feeling like Tuscany or the South of France. Interactive dinner parties, private cooking classes, wine-tastings and appetizer receptions are available.
