Why Anaheim for Your Next Meeting or Event?
With its proximity to Los Angeles, Anaheim offers a convenient location along with stellar facilities of its own. The Anaheim Convention Center, above, following its recent 200,000-square-foot expansion, is the biggest such facility on the West Coast, spanning more than 1 million square feet.
Travel Essentials
CONVENTION CENTER: Anaheim Convention Center; exhibit space, approximately 1.15 million square feet; number of meeting rooms, 99; (714) 765-8950
TAXES: Total tax on hotel rooms includes a transit occupancy tax of 15% in addition to, for properties that are located within the Anaheim Resort District, a tourism improvement district tax of 2%.
CVB: Visit Anaheim, (714) 765-2800
Recent Hotel & Venue Additions
An 11-story, $150 million JW Marriott is under construction adjacent to the Anaheim GardenWalk. The luxury hotel, scheduled to open for business in January 2020, will be within walking distance of both the Anaheim Convention Center and Disneyland Parks. The property will have 466 guest rooms and meeting and event space; stay tuned for further details.
The Anaheim Planning Commission recently approved construction of the 326-room Radisson Blu Anaheim, to rise near the city’s Platinum Triangle district. The upper-upscale property will be within walking distance to Disneyland’s main entrance. The hotel promises a bevy of features such as a rooftop deck bar, a restaurant and a pool that will offer impressive views of the city as well as Disney’s evening fireworks display. Another pool will be on the ground floor, as will an additional restaurant and lounge, a fitness facility, a small conference room and more.
Disney put on hold construction of a 700-room luxury hotel that had been planned for the Disneyland Resort shopping district. The media giant had originally intended to break ground this year for a 2021 opening, but under dispute is a tax subsidy that had been granted to Disney for a different location. Original plans called for two pools, a fitness center and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the park.
Garden Grove, a five-acre mixed-use development in the Resort District, is slated to welcome both a 200-room Kimpton Hotel and a 400-room Le Méridien. The properties should open for business in 2021.
Construction proceeds on the 613-room Westin Anaheim Resort, behind Disneyland California Adventure Park. The hotel is slated to have a rooftop lounge, three restaurants and 11 meeting rooms with 42,000 square feet of customizable meeting and event space, including a 16,000-square-foot grand ballroom. The hotel should debut in 2020.
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Notable Meeting Hotels
More than 17,000 hotel rooms are within one mile of Anaheim’s convention center. Among meetings-friendly facilities are the 1,572-room Hilton Anaheim, 1,030-room Anaheim Marriott, 1,019-room Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, 973-room Disneyland Hotel, 653-room Hyatt Regency Orange County and 490-room Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort.
Other Anaheim Event Venues
Disney will add a brewery to its premises late this year. The 7,300-square-foot Ballast Point will showcase a three-barrel brewing system, some 100 taps, a California comfort-food menu and a beer garden. Artisanal ice cream will be on-site as well, in the form of Salt & Straw, a small-batch creamery from Oregon set to open this fall. Ingredients will be local, organic and sustainable.
The centerpiece of Anaheim’s reclaimed Packing District, the Anaheim Packing House offers a variety of gourmet and sustainability-focused eateries along with the Cooks Chapel, a private event space that can host up to 125 people. The venue has a full bar and its own kitchen, perfect for cooking classes, and the space is likewise conducive to meetings and art shows. Or simply set up a bar and provide gift cards to attendees, who can strike out on their own and return with a meal of their own choosing.
Transportation in & Around the Area
John Wayne Airport, 15 miles south of downtown Anaheim; transfer cost by taxi, about $45
Los Angeles International Airport, 30-60 minutes from the Anaheim Resort District; transfer cost by taxi, about $105; by shared shuttle, about $44
Top 10 Restaurants in the Heart of Orange County
- Baci di Firenze Trattoria - Italian
- The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon - Steakhouse
- The Pizza Press - Italian
- Reunion Kitchen + Drink - American, Bar
- Mimi's Cafe - American, Cajun, Creole
- Marri's Pizza & Italian - Italian, Pizza
- Ruth's Chris Steak House - Steakhouse
- Morton's The Steakhouse - Steakhouse
- Napa Rose - American
- Tortilla Jo's - Mexican, Southwester