These new and recently renovated ballrooms, conference centers, and private rooms in Chicago can accommodate groups small and large for meetings, conferences, product launches, presentations, and other types of corporate gatherings.
1. Public Chicago, a new Ian Schrager property, opens tomorrow in the Gold Coast. The hotel's meeting rooms are on the second, sixteenth, and seventeenth floors, and can host conferences for 18 to 54 guests. The modern spaces are furnished with rift-cut oak tables, white leather executive chairs, and linen drapery. The seventeenth-floor meeting room has an adjoining terrace. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who created the menu for the hotel's Pump Room restaurant, also designed banquet packages for meeting guests.
2. Set to open in November, Raisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago will offer more than 28,000 square feet of meeting space. Included is the 12,041-square-foot Atlantic ballroom, which has 20-foot windows that overlook the Park at Lakeshore East. The sprawling space can seat 1,220 theater-style. On the second level, the Pacific ballroom can hold 310 in a similar configuration. The Mediterranean boardroom will hold meetings for 18.
3. The Cuneo Mansion and Gardens in Vernon Hills has a new 5,500-square-foot indoor pavilion that can host meetings for 300. Decked with chandeliers and overlooking an adjoining terrace, the space has a built-in sound system, three projection screens, and adjustable lighting. Bauer's Catering can provide snacks and drinks.
4. In Glyn Ellen, the Culinary and Hospitality Center of the College of DuPage houses a second-floor conference room known as Silverleaf. The room can seat 80 in U-shape or classroom-style settings and has a retractable screen, an LCD projector, and microphones. Later this month, Waterleaf Restaurant and Inn will open within the center. The 150-seat eatery will serve contemporary French and Italian fare, with menu items such as seared foie gras and homemade pasta. Chefs can prepare plated and buffet-style food service for Silverleaf meeting guests. The inn will offer six stay rooms.
5. This fall, the Palmer House Hilton updated the technology in its meeting rooms, adding wireless Internet to each function space. Property reps say that while most hotels only have a 45mg circuit, the Palmer House has a 100mg circuit, giving the venue the fastest Internet speed of any downtown hotel. Meeting spaces include the ornate Red Lacquer room, which seats 500 in a theater-style setting or 360 classroom-style.
6. Conference Chicago University Center recently added new carpeting, paint, and artwork to its meeting rooms and updated its lobby. The downtown venue has eleven conference rooms, which can hold meetings for 10 to 175 guests. The rooms can be stocked with whiteboards, equipment for audio and video conferencing, and LCD and overhead projectors.
7. The Tinley Park Convention Center completed a $19 million expansion this fall. The 64,000-square-foot venue now houses 15 meeting rooms that can hold 10 to 10,000 guests. Included is a 12,000-square-foot ballroom that divides into six spaces, and a 6,000-square-foot pre-function area. Amenities include 1,500 free parking spaces, shuttle service to satellite parking lots, and an on-site banquet staff that can prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner, and meeting-break buffets of flavored popcorn, ice cream, and cookies.
8. The Pritzker Military Library opened in its new location—a newly renovated, 1912 building with views of Millennium Park—in February. Two conference rooms are available for rental and offer teleconferencing equipment, multimedia projection capabilities, and access to a kitchenette. The southeast conference room can hold meetings for 16; the northeast room can seat 24. A second-level gallery can host theater-style events for 110. Suited to press conferences, a two-story lecture hall and broadcast center can seat 110.
9. The Museum of Science and Industry's Columbian Room opened on the museum's first floor early this year. The room offers Wi-Fi and can hold 120 for lunch meetings or roundtable discussions. The venue is open during regular museum hours, and guests have access to permanent exhibits.
10. In April, the Renaissance Chicago North Shore Hotel began a $7.5 million renovation. Slated to wrap up in 2012, the project will result in revamped meeting spaces and ballrooms with new wall coverings and carpeting. The hotel's Wi-Fi network will also be upgraded. Some 22,000 square feet of event space includes 18 meeting rooms, two ballrooms, and top-floor event space the Greenery.
