Guide to Meeting & Event Planning in

Colorado

Learn why you should host your next meeting, event or conference in Colorado. 

Why Colorado for Your Next Meeting or Event?

The Centennial State has a wealth of outdoor event and adventure space, and more indoor meeting space is on the way. Denver is in the process of expanding the Colorado Convention Center, and updates to the Denver Airport are underway, making more space for large groups and easing their arrivals.

An expansion project is adding 39 new gates at Denver International Airport. The first four opened on Concourse B in November 2020 and 16 gates debuted on the east side of Concourse C in May 2022. The final 19 gates should open by the end of this year. The facility has entered phase two of renovations to the Great Hall, to be completed in 2024. 

Aurora

Event Venues, Additions & Renovations

Vail News
The 230-suite Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa in Avon completed a lobby and outdoor-space renovation last summer, adding firepits and more to its terraces, and just completed upgrades to the Athletic Club, adding numerous pieces of TechnoGym equipment.

The 344-room Hythe, a Luxury Collection Resort from Marriott, debuted in November in Vail. The property features four dining options, including the farm-to-table restaurant, Margie's Haas. For groups, the hotel features 29,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space.

New at the 285-room Grand Hyatt Vail, adjacent to Vail's Chair 20, are two Topgolf Swing suites, a  pop-up sushi restaurant, a 1,045-square-foot wellness studio and a 10-person yurt for early-evening events.

• Access to Denver International Airport is about to get a little easier, in the form of the 7-mile Aerotropolis Parkway. Plans call for a six-lane thoroughfare with no traffic lights.

• A $20 million exterior project is underway at the 1,501-room Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center. A new games lawn and some terraces are being added, along with native plants. The property has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification. To earn the designation, buildings must use  35 percent less energy and produce 35 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions. An expansion to the convention resort had been ready to go before the onset of Covid-19; that project, which would add 317 more rooms, could restart sometime this year. The property offers Moore than 517,000 square feet oof meeting space, including a 47,748-square-foot ballroom.

• Take events to new heights at the Hangar at Stanley. With more than 18,000 square feet indoors and outdoors, and a capacity of up to 1,500 people, it's one of Aurora's largest venues.

• At Cherry Creek State Park, horse lovers can venture over to 12 Mile Stables for a ride. Outdoor events are welcome here for up to 250 people, complete with trail rides, Clydesdale-drawn hayrides, horseshoe pits, volleyball and Western cookouts.

Meeting Hotels

Group properties include the 1,501-room Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 287-room Radisson Hotel Denver–Aurora, 250-room DoubleTree by Hilton Denver–Aurora, 249-room Hyatt Regency Aurora Denver and 238-room Denver Airport Marriott at Gateway Park.

To find and compare hotels, and send RFPs, visit Northstar Meeting Group’s venue finder.

Transportation

Denver International Airport, 15 miles from downtown Aurora. Transfer cost:

  • By taxi, $42
  • By Lyft or Uber, $28

Taxes

  • Room tax, 8%
  • Sales tax, 5%
  • Total tax on hotel rooms, 13%, plus a $2 per night destination marketing fee

 

Contact:Visit Aurora

denvercc

Denver

Event Venues, Additions & Renovations

Notable Noshing
When the night calls for a truly special meal, Colorado has a host of singular eateries that provide the goods. These spots are among the best.

In Aurora, the place to go is Annette from chef Caroline Glover, who recently created a three-course meal for the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America: Denver. The restaurant serves its eclectic modern menu to up to 65 people for an event.

The Warehouse is a wise choice in Colorado Springs. Western and locally sourced are its food themes, and its largest private space, the gallery, hosts up to 150 people.

Denver has plenty of options, among them the Bindery, carved out of an old book bindery. A marketplace by day, the kitchen makes magic with unusual ingredients by night for groups of up to 135.



• The Slate Denver, a 251-room Tapestry Collection by Hilton property, debuted in late May across from the Colorado Convention Center. Formerly the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, the hotel has 4,500 square feet of its own educationally named meeting spaces, such as the Library, the Assembly and the Study Hall. The restaurant, the Teachers’ Lounge, offers three meals a day and an outdoor patio. 

• Debuting in early 2024 is the 190-room Kimpton Denver Tech Center, the brand’s third hotel in the Denver area. The property will feature 7,000 square feet of meeting space, a signature restaurant and bar on the ground floor, and a 19th-floor rooftop lounge with views of the Rocky Mountains from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. 

• Lower Downtown (LoDo) welcomed the 216-room Thompson Denver in February. The property has more than 7,500 square feet of meeting space, and on-site dining options include Chez Maggy, a French brasserie from chef Ludo Lefebvre, his first restaurant outside Los Angeles. Reynard Social, a sixth-floor sunroom lounge, serves craft cocktails and an upscale bar menu; the space hosts events for up to 200 people.

• Expansion work at the Colorado Convention Center continues, to be completed by late 2023. The project will add an 80,000-square-foot ballroom that will be divisible into as many as 19 breakout rooms, a 35,000-square-foot prefunction area, and a 20,000-square-foot outdoor terrace with panoramic views of the mountains and the city. The convention center remains open during construction.

• Sage Hospitality Group opened its latest independent hotel, the 165-room Catbird, in August 2021. In the River North Art District (RiNo), the property was built around a historical four-bedroom home and offers 17,000 square feet of event space. The 3,300-square-foot rooftop features firepits, an amphitheater, and the signature bar and restaurant called the Red Barber. 

• Outside the young Rally Hotel near Coors Field is McGregor Square, surrounded by 12 restaurants and bars, five shops, a food hall and an outpost of the beloved Tattered Cover bookstore. Gather here with 2,500 people.

• Among the many new eateries in town is Point Easy in the Whittier neighborhood. Serving seasonal, local, “interesting” fare, the menu recently featured such mouthwatering options as roasted beet salad, mushroom marsala, braised Colorado lamb shank and Buxton Boats mussels. Bring in up to 100 people for a private event. 

• Surround your guests with the Wild West at the American Museum of Western Art, the Anschutz Collection. The intimate facility hosts groups of up to 130 people. 

• The Denver Art Museum’s reimagined Martin Building has two new restaurants, including one from local chef Jennifer Jasinski. 

• Home to six professional teams, Denver has multiple downtown stadiums and arenas that are available to host events of all sizes. The 20,000-seat Ball Arena, home to the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and Colorado Mammoth (professional lacrosse), has 15 meeting rooms. The NFL’s Broncos play at Empower Stadium at Mile High, which also welcomes groups of all sizes in its 200,000 square feet of event space. The Colorado Rockies’s Coors Field is one of the most popular stadiums in major league baseball. Special event spaces throughout the facility include the warning track, the Rooftop and the Sandlot Club. Finally, the 18,000-seat Dick’s Sporting Goods Park hosts Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids. Among the private event spaces are the 100-seat Summit Club, and the concourses, which hold up to 2,000. 

Meeting Hotels

More than 51,000 rooms are available in the metro area, and about 9,000 guest rooms are within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center. To find and compare hotels, and send RFPs, visit Northstar Meetings Group’s venue finder.

Colorado Convention Center

Colorado Convention Center; exhibit space, 584,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 63.

Transportation

Denver International Airport, about 30 miles from downtown. Transfer cost to downtown:

  • By taxi, $68
  • By Lyft and Uber, about $40

Taxes

  • Room tax, 10.75% 
  • Sales tax, 4% 
  • Tax on hotels with 50 or more rooms, 1% 
  • Total tax on hotel rooms, 14.75% (15.75% in larger hotels)

CONTACT: Visit Denver

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