The off-site venues for group gatherings in Charlotte will have meeting attendees networking amid racecars, macarons and more. To continue the casual atmosphere, those groups can head to the city’s oldest brewery, while those seeking an upscale backdrop can enjoy the setting at a local mansion.
Following are seven fabulous places that will appeal to a variety of groups interested in executing a memorable event away from the host hotel in North Carolina’s largest city.
U.S. National Whitewater Center
The U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC), a designated U.S. Olympic Training Site, welcomes about 1 million guests per year and offers 31 land- and water-based activities for visiting groups.
“At the center of our operation is the world’s largest manmade white-water river, surrounded by ropes courses, ziplines, a canopy tour, flatwater paddling on the Catawba River and over 25 miles of woodland trails,” says Kristen Cresante, event planner at the center.
“We often see corporate groups host meetings in the morning and spend their afternoons on the water or the ziplines,” Cresante adds. We also have an extensive list of team development programs.”
Indeed, USNWC is a one-stop shop for planners looking for a fun group activity plus a place to host an off-site event, including the indoor conference center and several outdoor venues, from tented sites to open-air pavilions.
“One of our newest spaces, the Ridge Pavilion, offers a great view of the facility while maintaining a more private environment,” Cresante says. “Furnished with handmade farm tables and a wood-burning fireplace, this venue can hold up to 150 people and is a great option for receptions.”
Discovery Place
Discovery Place is one of the leading hands-on science centers in the country where attendees can explore exhibits and enjoy a group gathering.
“What makes Discovery Place such a unique venue is that we can create many creative, intelligent and fun experiences,” says Caitlin Pleasants, the attraction’s manager of special events. “My favorite was a corporate event where we added our Fear Factor Lab, during which the attendees had to face challenges like eating bugs, lighting their hands on fire using methane bubbles, and sticking their hands in a bucket of night crawlers.”
Among the other activities groups can add to an event, according to Pleasants, are scavenger hunts, cockroach races and catapult pong, a crowd favorite that uses catapults to launch balls into buckets. Another option is a wine slushies demonstration, during which educators demonstrate how liquid nitrogen can be used to create custom cocktails using science, Pleasants says. “It’s interactive, educational and super delicious!”
Discovery Place accommodates a range of events—board meetings, receptions, speaker presentations, among others—in a variety of spaces, including studios, theaters and Windows on Tryon, a bright open space that Pleasants says is sure to inspire collaboration.
The Duke Mansion
The circa-1915 Duke Mansion, which features 4.5 acres of beautiful gardens, 20 guest rooms, and an on-site culinary team that offers hands-on cooking classes, can accommodate groups of two to 300 people.
“We will set up a lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, dessert reception or any other function for our banquet clients,” says Becky Farris Sagadin, general manager of the mansion.
The lineup of meeting spaces here includes the Ray Dining Room, which features floor-to-ceiling windows and an Austrian crystal chandelier, the audiovisual-enhanced Levine Living Room and the marble-floored Duke Endowment Solarium.
“All of our meeting spaces connect to the outdoors,” Farris Sagadin says. “The living room and solarium connect to the Barnhardt Terrace, which is a beautiful space for a cocktail reception. And the dining room has two French doors that open onto a gorgeous screened-in porch that overlooks the back of the home—the beautiful wicker chairs are often full with corporate clients taking a quick phone call.”
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Amélie’s Uptown
Amélie’s Uptown, a French bakery located nearby the Charlotte Convention Center, was not always as chic as it stands today, according to Patricia Morris, the bakery’s director of events.
“The space had been used for assorted purposes, ranging from parking garage to large-scale cafeteria,” she says. “We wanted to bring je ne sais quoi to the space.”
Morris adds attendees are certain to feel welcomed, comforted and nostalgic here while enjoying “a sip of a cafe crème that whispers a memory of Paris, a bite of a macaron that brings a smile to your face or a bowl of handcrafted soup that warms you and washes your troubles away.”
Meeting spaces include the Fountainbleau, an upstairs private loft space that accommodates 55 people seated and 65 reception-style, and a quaint meeting area below it with a full bar.
“In the warmer months, the front patio is a perfect place for meetings with a gorgeous view of uptown Charlotte,” Morris says.
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, which is connected to the Charlotte Convention Center, is an interactive entertainment attraction that doubles as a backdrop for unique motorsports-themed events.
“Guests can enjoy a reception surrounded by NASCAR memorabilia and authentic stock cars in the Great Hall, eat dinner beside a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee’s car or host a private event in the Legends Room,” says Bill McMillan, senior sales director for Visit Charlotte. “With more than 40,000 square feet of indoor event space and a 32,000-square-foot outdoor plaza, event possibilities abound at the Hall.”
The Hall, which offers catering by the award-winning Charlotte Convention Center catering team, can accommodate anywhere from 10 to 2,400 people for a range of events, including banquets, cocktail receptions and business meetings.
“The NASCAR Hall of Fame offers teambuilding activities and group tours that can coincide with an event in the facility,” McMillan adds. “From scavenger hunts to realistic racing simulators and a pit crew challenge, guests can go full throttle. For an in-depth, behind-the-scenes experience, the full-day Racing Insiders Tour is a must.”
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) adheres to “Reinheitsgebot,” the German beer purity law that states it should be made with only four ingredients: water, malt, hops and yeast. Among the beers that follow this precise recipe are Capt. Jack pilsner, Copper amber ale and Southside Weiss wheat ale.
According to Jocelyn Ruark, marketing manager at the brewery, OMB relocated to a 10-acre expanse in 2014. The new location includes a 60-barrel brewery, a restaurant/taproom, a Munich-style biergarten and two festhalles that accommodate group gatherings.
“OMB accommodates all types and sizes of events,” Ruark says. “Our space is the perfect blend of European-inspired design and local brews and food.”
A private tour of the brewery can be added to on-site events.
Carolinas Aviation Museum
Carolinas Aviation Museum, situated next to the runway at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, has a viewing area with picnic tables to watch planes take off and land.
“Events can be held in the Hangar Gallery next to artifacts, including the Miracle on the Hudson aircraft,” says Wally Coppinger, the museum’s executive director.
Miracle on the Hudson was carrying 150 passengers and five crew members on January 15, 2009 when it left New York’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte and hit a flock of geese. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was able to help safely glide it on the Hudson River.
Carolinas Aviation Museum has four meeting rooms and can host daytime events for groups of 12 to 72 people.
“The main museum space, called the Gallery of Planes, can host corporate or private after-hours cocktail parties, dinners, galas, inspirational speeches and receptions for up to 210 people,” Coppinger adds.
