This year saw the opening of many significant event and meeting venues in San Diego. Here's a look at the best restaurants, party rooms, hotels, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open in 2013. These new and renovated San Diego venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.

Avant, the new restaurant at Rancho Bernardo Inn, has three spaces for private events: La Taberna seats 50 and overlooks the golf course; El Biz seats 18 in a boardroom style in front of a fireplace; and Avant Kitchen seats 12 at an open-concept performance kitchen. The warm decor has whimsical touches in its 139-seat dining room, including house-made mustard on tap.

Famous for its Ryan Gosling-theme bathroom, Bang Bang opened in July. Inside the 7,000-square-foot venue, patrons eat, drink, and dance under a ceiling of large paper lanterns. The nightclub has three rooms available for private parties: a sushi room that seats 25, a theater room with a dance floor and stage that hosts 250 guests, and a dining room for 200.

Andaz San Diego has added a retractable roof to create an indoor-outdoor venue called RoofTop600 as part of a renovation to the hotel's lobby and event spaces. The rooftop venue also features new cabana beds and outdoor seating. Future phases of the renovation will include new decor and furnishings in the main lobby and the Andaz Wine Bar, as well as the transformation of the existing nightclub into a private venue for meetings and events.

The Westin Gaslamp Quarter, the new San Diego Convention Center hotel, finished a renovation in November. The resort offers 27 spaces for events—a total of 11,600 square feet—spread across four floors. The rooms range from 476 to 9,100 square feet. The California ballroom can hold 900 for theater-style meetings and 1,200 for receptions. Exhibits and registrations may be held in the 2,900-square-foot foyer, and the 700-square-foot Pacifica boardroom seats 20. Updates to the spaces include an earthy color scheme and textures, large windows, and new technology, lighting, and rigging capabilities.

Located in the Gaslamp Quarter, Bailiwick, a playful restaurant and cocktail spot, has decor that mixes chandeliers, birdcages, and claw-foot bathtubs. Staff will offer guests Lewis bags and wooden mallets for guests to crush their own ice. The 3,000-square-foot space seats about 50 guests or holds 215 for receptions. Buyouts are available.

One of Harbor Island's architectural landmarks reopened its doors in May. The new Tom Ham's Lighthouse features a fresh interior, new menus, and a bayfront bar that serves 32 beers on tap as well as craft cocktails. Tom Ham's Lighthouse has four meeting rooms that accommodate groups of as many as 250 guests, including in a 2,100-square-foot space with a view of the downtown skyline.

Updates to the Loews Coronado Bay during a nine-month $12 million renovation include a redesigned lobby and the installment of a floating poolside bar and patio event space. The new multilevel 5,000-square-foot Bay Terrace overlooks the bay, includes a fire pit, and holds 600 guests for a banquet.

Located in a historic brick building, the unpretentious Southpaw Social Club is an American restaurant and bar that opened in late June near Petco Park. Its three patios all have a different feel—one with a fire pit and and lawn chairs covered in bright fabrics, another with picnic tables, and a third with bistro tables and chairs. The 5,000-square-foot restaurant seats 150 or holds 250 for receptions.

Estancia La Jolla underwent a $4.8 million renovation this spring. Now with a classic Californian look, the 10-acre hotel and spa has 31,374 square feet of meeting space, which includes a theater, conference rooms, two ballrooms, and five outdoor spaces. The hotel also opened Trinitas Cellars wine bar, which has a 510-square-foot private dining room.

Morada opened in July at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The 2,230-square-foot restaurant has a main dining room and patio, which seat 96 guests combined, while a lounge seats 38. Guests may also choose to reserve the Vintage Room, which seats 18 and features antique decor, or the Library, a private room that seats 36 and includes a fireplace.