15 New Venues in the United States for Spring 2021 Meetings and Events

Keswick Hall, located in scenic Charlottesville, Va., near Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, is slated to reopen this summer with a new look and a restaurant by acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The resort offers over 4,000 square feet of indoor function space as well as outdoor event space for as many as 500 standing guests. The Keswick Ballroom is divisible into three sections and can accommodate up to 240 guests for receptions. Just off the lobby, The Garden Room, which can accommodate up to 110 seated guests, is outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the Blue Ridge Mountains. Keswick Hall's grounds will include manicured landscaping and a T-shaped infinity-edge pool.

The new 250-room Hotel Effie at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort boasts a restaurant by acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson and the only rooftop pool on Florida’s Emerald Coast. Opened in February, Hotel Effie offers 20,000 square feet of dedicated meeting and event space with 10 meeting rooms. The largest is the 13,000-square-foot Juniper Ballroom, which can accommodate 1,500 for theater-style events or 900 for receptions. The hotel meeting and event space is connected to 30,000 square feet of function space at the resort's Baytowne Conference Center.

In May, social club Common House is moving into Chattanooga, Tenn.'s historic, circa-1929 YMCA building. Vacant since 1984, Common House Chattanooga leans into a mid-century modern interior with a total redesign while retaining original features like the building's stucco facade. Multiple spaces will be available for private events, including Ruby Hall, which accommodates 200 seated guests or more than 250 standing guests; The Pennybacker Room (pictured here), which accommodates 60 seated guests or 80 standing guests; The Tea Room, which accommodates 26 seated guests; and a courtyard called The Garden, which accommodates 200 seated guests and or more than 250 standing guests. There's also a rooftop terrace, an outdoor swimming pool and seven hotel rooms.

For a mountaintop retreat in Highlands, N.C., seek out the newly renovated Skyline Lodge. The boutique hotel is set to open in early summer 2021 as the first hotel from James Beard Award Outstanding Restaurateur nominee Steve Palmer's The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Naturally, the property will include a buzzy restaurant in the form of Oak Steakhouse. Originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright student Arthur J. Kelsey, Skyline Lodge will retain its mid-century flair. Besides Oak Steakhouse, multiple spaces are available for semiprivate and private events, such as an outdoor terrace featuring panoramic mountain views and a first-floor lounge. Skyline Lodge can accommodate 50 guests for plated, seated dinners or 75 guests for standing receptions including heavy hors d’oeuvres. Room blocks and full buyouts of the 40 rooms are also available. The hotel is set to build a new pavilion in 2022 to accommodate seated dinners for 200 or receptions for 300.

Jasper Hotel is slated to open in June in Fargo, N.D., located in a newly constructed, mid-rise tower. The 125-room hotel from Aparium Hotel Group embraces a Nordic-meets-the-Plains feel, with clean lines and serene colors. Dining options include a ground-floor coffee bar and the 54-seat Rosewild restaurant, inspired by North Dakota’s Norwegian heritage. Jasper Hotel's 3,800-square-foot divisible Continental Ballroom boasts downtown views from floor-to-ceiling windows and accommodates up to 250 guests for banquets and receptions. The adjacent terrace spans 1,500 square feet and accommodates 90 for receptions. The hotel also includes a boardroom that seats 18.

Aparium Hotel Group's 137-room Surety Hotel opened in November 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa's Hippee building, which debuted in 1913 as the state's tallest building. Formerly occupied by The Iowa Loan & Trust Company, the hotel embraces its banking roots, highlighting features like a 12-story main staircase and an ornate mail chute. Original bank vault doors remain in the Surety Ballroom, which marries exposed brick with modern chandeliers. The 2,969-square-foot space accommodates 300 for receptions or 150 for classroom-style events. Other event spaces include the 954-square-foot Midland Room, which accommodates up to 80 for theater-style events, plus the Hippee Boardroom, a 2,215-square-foot courtyard that accommodates up to 270 for receptions and a 1,470-square-foot solarium that accommodates up to 98 for receptions. Mulberry Street Tavern is Surety Hotel's bar and restaurant.

The Industrialist Hotel, Autograph Collection is a new boutique hotel opening in May in Pittsburgh, located in downtown's 18-story historic Arrott building and inspired by the city's history as a steel capital. With moody decor from design firm Stonehill Taylor, The Industrialist offers more than 1,200 square feet of multipurpose event space. The 891-square-foot Exchange Room boasts city views and can accommodate 78 guests for theater-style events or 48 guests for receptions. The Founders Room seats 10 for conferences.

In Manchester, Vt., historic resort The Wilburton is now home to a Vermont Marble Pavilion Tent, a 4,000-square-foot pavilion made out of locally quarried Danby Vermont marble. The pavilion is decorated with white drapery and Edison lighting and looks out over Vermont’s Green Mountains. The Wilburton debuted its marble tent in the summer of 2019, and now will be ready for receptions for more than 200 guests.

At glamping specialists Under Canvas's newest outpost in Utah, Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase, 50 safari-style canvas tents are perched on a canyon rim plateau with dramatic views of the lake and dramatic red rocks. Tents are equipped with ensuite bathrooms, in-tent wood-burning stoves and West Elm furnishings, while the lobby lounge tent is a hub for community and Western-inspired cuisine. Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase is available for full camp buyouts as well as private corporate events and meetings.

A new glamping experience just for group buyouts and events is popping up in the shadow of Mount Rainier. Under Canvas is collaborating with Crystal Mountain Resort to create Crystal Sky Camp, a mountaintop retreat located at 6,000 feet and accessible via chairlift. Crystal Sky Camp's 20 safari-inspired canvas tents can accommodate up to 50 guests, and the camp features luxuries like hot showers, king-size beds, turndown service and high speed Internet. Guests will also have exclusive use of Crystal Mountain’s modern Campbell Basin Lodge. Crystal Sky camp opens in the beginning of July 1 and runs through Sept. 31, continuing seasonally for three years.

The Forester Hotel opened in the city of Lake Forest near Chicago in April as the very first boutique-inspired hotel from Hyatt Place. The 156-room property's design is inspired by the native flora and fauna in the surrounding area. The Forester's divisible The Lupine meeting room spans 1,676 square feet and can accommodate up to 208 for theater-style events or 186 for receptions. The Aster meeting room spans 2,232 square feet and can accommodate 304 for theater-style events or 250 for receptions. For smaller events, the Blue Stem can accommodate 45 for theater-style events or 38 for receptions.

Florence, S.C.'s only boutique hotel, Hotel Florence, unveiled a renovation and conversion into a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property in February. The 64-room hotel's event spaces include a 2,200-square-foot ballroom, which can accommodate 220 guests for a cocktail reception or 125 for a plated dinner. The 1,000-square-foot Gamble Room can accommodate 65 for cocktail receptions or 45 for plated dinners, while the 1,200-square-foot Sanborn Room can accommodate 100 for cocktail receptions or 65 for plated dinners. Hotel Florence's steakhouse and seafood restaurant features a 1,000-square-foot patio that accommodates 65 for cocktail receptions or 45 for plated dinners.

Hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal is branching out to the Catskills with a high-end resort called The Chatwal Lodge, set to debut in June in Bethel, N.Y. Guests will be able to fish in the on-property trout stream or get an ayurvedic wellness treatment at the resort's spas. The Chatwal Lodge will be an intimate retreat, with 10 suites overlooking the 1,000-acre Toronto Reservoir Lake. The property will include a 1,000-square-foot tree house hovering 25 feet in the air and an 850-square-foot glam tent.

In downtown Fargo, N.D., Radisson Hotel Group unveiled an $11 million renovation of an existing Radisson into its Radisson Blu brand. The new 151-room Radisson Blu Fargo is connected by skyway to the Fargo Civic Center and offers 5,000 square feet of event space spread across seven different meeting rooms. The divisible Cityscape Ballroom spans 3,225 square feet and accommodates up to 400 for theater-style events, while the 1,074-square-foot Prairie Rose Room accommodates up to 100 for theater-style events.

In February, Ohio's The Grand Resort announced the completion of a $30 million expansion and renovation, adding amenities like a wine bar and cellar, a spa and a new pool complex with a 140-foot recreational pool and year-round Roman Bath. The 130-room hotel's transformation included a new look for public spaces, guest rooms and meeting spaces. The Grand Resort's 5,038-square-foot ballroom can accommodate 300 for receptions or 400 for theater-style events. The Grand Pavilion spans 4,849 square feet and can accommodate 200 for receptions or 300 for theater-style events.