Stay up to date on the latest venue openings and property renovations, including these found in the Midwest.
Illinois
Study Hotels, a lodging brand for university markets, will expand and open its third property, The Study at University of Chicago, this fall. The 167-room hotel is located on the university’s prestigious Gothic grounds and is a two-minute walk from the center of campus. All guest rooms feature a leather chair with an ottoman and window-facing desk.
This property will also offer a tavern-style restaurant featuring a custom mural from Boston-based artist Dean Barger above the bar.
Planners can use 4,700 square feet of conference space both indoors and outdoors. This includes the Winter Garden, a 2,200-square-foot indoor-outdoor entertainment and event space with an arboretum-inspired mural, also by Barger, that can accommodate up to 200. Another standout space is Drafting 1, which can be combined with the prefunction area that provides access to the roof terrace.
Kansas
The Sunflower State recently welcomed the Courtyard by Marriott Manhattan, a 127-room property featuring Courtyard’s latest contemporary room design, including mobile check-in and digital key. Guests can expect a fitness center, guest laundry, and the Bistro restaurant and full bar, serving up American-style cuisine and an array of cocktails, beer and wine. The Bistro also features a terrace with an outdoor fire pit and seating area.
The new hotel is located in the heart of Aggieville and is a short walk to Kansas State University and plenty of dining and shopping.
Missouri
This October, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts will unveil a new property in St. Louis, Le Méridien St. Louis Downtown, which will join the city’s other Le Méridien property in Clayton. The new property resides in a historic downtown St. Louis building that was built in 1913 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Le Méridien St. Louis Downtown, located less than a mile from the Gateway Arch, will have an art-focused design. Planners can use two event rooms that total 1,210 square feet of meeting and event space for up to 100 people. The rooms offer Samsung Flip touchscreen whiteboards for interactive presentations and 55-inch flat-screen LCD TVs.
[Related: What’s New and On the Horizon in Missouri for Meetings]
Oklahoma
Opened this summer, Buffalo Point Retreat debuted in Waukomis, Oklahoma, as a premier boutique event destination in the Sooner State. The property, which served as a private estate since 2011, is accessible to the public for the first time and is designed for buyouts and private functions.
Guests have exclusive access to all of the property’s facilities, including The Barn, a custom-designed pool, vineyard, greenhouse and gardens, chicken coop and seven lodging rooms. Each room is named in honor of people, events and culture that are local to Waukomis.
The interior, designed by Austin, Texas-based designer Betty Shaw of B Shaw Design, is described as “rustic elegance” that is authentic to Oklahoma in look and feel, with a palette of earthy browns and beiges and natural elements like wood and stone.
Buffalo Point is ideal for corporate retreats and other private retreats and gatherings, with the 3,600-square-foot The Barn serving as the primary venue for up to 80 attendees. Planners can also utilize the outdoor Courtyard in the center of the property, with a fire pit, grill, gazebo and custom stone fountain.
A Boutique Hotel in Indianapolis’ Historic Bottleworks District
Located in Indianapolis’ historic Bottleworks District, Bottleworks Hotel is a boutique property occupying the top two floors of the bottling works administration building, once part of the largest Coca-Cola bottling plant in the world. Today, the space has been adapted into a 139-room hotel, with its original Art Deco exterior and terrazzo floors.
Bottleworks Hotel is home to a number of stunning event spaces, including a nearly 7,000-square-foot Gallery Courtyard, an open-air event space in the heart of the hotel. Other standout spaces include The Library, which, at 1,634 square feet, is the hotel’s largest indoor event and banquet space on the second floor. The space is filled with natural light, but the bookshelves are made of dark wood to help provide an intimate setting.
For a “wow” factor space, The Lab is a space with floor-to-ceiling green glass tile mixed with midcentury modern chandeliers. This is where all of the newest Coca-Cola concoctions and recipes were developed and tasted. It’s an ideal prefunction space for cocktails and small bites.
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