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Dallas

Want to make attendees feel like VIPs?

The Warwick Melrose Hotel has been a Dallas landmark since 1924. The AAA Four-Diamond award-winner has 184 guest rooms with plush beds and considerate touches such as multi-plug adapters on work desks and bathroom makeup tables. A Presidential Suite and 21 luxury suites are available on the property. Meeting space includes an elegant ballroom (capacity: 230 reception; 200 banquet), a boardroom, three breakout rooms and the Bridewell Suite, which accommodates up to 70 people. On-site dining includes the popular after-work bar The Library and the AAA Four-Diamond rated Landmark Restaurant, which is considered one of the city’s best. Minutes from high-end shopping district North Park Center, the Stoneleigh Hotel and Spa is fresh off a $36 million renovation. The 170-room property has tribute suites honoring the likes of Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee; 6,000 square feet of meeting space; a full-service 5,200-sq. ft. spa; and the signature restaurant Bolla, led by “Iron Chef” contestant David Bull. Built in 1912 and lovingly restored, the AAA Four-Diamond Adolphus Hotel has 422 elegant guest rooms, including 16 luxury and 123 junior suites. Crystal chandeliers and other distinctive architectural touches in its 5,300-sq. ft. ballroom, restaurants and other event spaces evoke the grandeur of the Gilded Age.

Want a convention hotel?

The Hyatt Regency Dallas, next to the Dallas Convention Center and adjacent to Union Station, has held the AAA Four-Diamond rating for more consecutive years than any other downtown convention hotel. Amenities include 1,120 guest rooms; 55,000 square feet of exhibit space; 25,000 square feet of pre-function space; and 60 meeting rooms, including a 30,000-sq. ft. ballroom, a 19,400-sq. ft. ballroom, a 3,190-sq. ft. ballroom and breakout rooms with panoramic views of downtown Dallas.

Want to meet like royalty?

The 291-room Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown is a short walk from the convention center and six miles from Love Field (DAL), with 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Also centrally located is the 354-room Crown Plaza Market Center. It’s less than three miles from Love Field Airport and Dallas Market Center with easy access to major highways, corporate destinations, the World Trade Center, Dallas Convention Center and other attractions. All Crowne Plazas promise a two-hour “response guarantee” for space and date availability inquiries. A designated meeting director can assist with advance planning, last-minute changes and can help planners stay within budget with a daily debriefing. Crowne also gives discounts and bonuses through its loyalty program, Priority Club Meeting Rewards.

Want high-tech surroundings?

The AT&T Plaza in Victory Park is an outdoor events venue surrounded by LED screens mounted on five-story glass buildings. Planners can use screens to brand events, show videos, make presentations, advertise sponsors or create a 360-degree environment of light and sound. The 342-room Hyatt Regency North Dallas, eight miles from downtown by the Richardson technology corridor, offers 15,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 7,800-sq. ft. ballroom, a 2,700-sq. ft. ballroom and 4,000 square feet of pre-function space. The hotel is next to a DART light rail and commuter station, which connects to major shopping/dining districts, the convention center and local attractions.

Want to meet by DFW airport?

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is close to Grapevine’s major attractions, shopping and dining outlets, and central to both downtown Dallas and Fort Worth. The Grand Hyatt DFW is part of International Terminal D, so attendees can disembark from their flight and get right to business. Amenities at the 298-room property include a 6,600-sq. ft. ballroom, a 3,000-sq. ft. ballroom, 20 850-sq. ft. conference suites, 45 meeting rooms, a spa, a 24-hour rooftop fitness center and on-site dining. If more space and rooms are needed, the Hyatt Regency DFW, next to Terminal C, has 811 guest rooms and 92,000 square feet of renovated event space, including an executive conference level. Meeting space includes a 21,000-sq. ft. ballroom, an 18,000-sq. ft. ballroom, 70 meeting rooms and 12 boardrooms.

Want to meet in a place with history?

Fair Park, two miles east of downtown Dallas, has the largest collection of 1930s art deco exposition-style architecture in the United States. It covers 277 acres of landscaped grounds and is home to the annual State Fair. Indoor and outdoor venues include exhibit halls, a bandshell, a theater, gallery space and sports arenas. Fair Park also is home to an impressive collection of museums and attractions that planners can use as special facilities, including the Smithsonian-affiliated Women’s Museum, the African American Museum, the Museum of Nature & Science, the Texas Music Center, Texas Discovery Gardens and Dallas World Aquarium. Before being transformed into a 143-room hotel in 1979, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek was home to a cotton mogul, and the host estate of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt (1936) and playwright Tennessee Williams (1940s), who penned “Summer and Smoke” during his stay. Today, it’s the only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond hotel in Texas. Amenities include more than 13,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space and off-site catering.

Want caterers?

Gil’s Elegant Catering has been serving since 1984. It remains the first, and only, European-style caterer in Dallas. It offers various cuisine and service styles along with imported linens, sterling silver, French crystal and china. A la Carte Catering & Cakes’ owner, executive chef and pastry chef/cake designer each have more than 20 years’ experience in the field; the company specializes in corporate banquets, buffets and social events for up to 2,000 people. Tejano Brothers Southwest Cuisine “Black Tie” Catering delivers sophisticated versions of traditional regional dishes; wine dinners and cooking classes also are available.

Want group dining?

Maggiano’s NorthPark, Dallas, serves authentic Italian cuisine family-style in a corporate-friendly, wood-paneled atmosphere. Choose from one of six banquet rooms for events large or small. Maggiano’s, in NorthPark Center Mall off I-75 and Northwest Highway, can accommodote groups up to 200. The Hard Rock Café Dallas has a living museum of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia as well as two function spaces for music-themed meetings and events: the main café, which accommodates 300 buffet-style, and an outdoor patio (capacity: 60 reception-style). Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton Dallas, is led by celebrity chef Dean Fearing. Amenities include a glitzy bar and seven dining areas, including a chef’s table, a glass dining pavilion, a wine cellar and garden event space. Boi Na Braza Churrascaria, an award-winning Brazilian steakhouse in Grapevine, has private and semi-private banquet facilities and meeting space. Amenities at Ghostbar include audiovisual equipment, patio dining, bar/lounge areas and private dining rooms. Nobu serves upscale Japanese cuisine and sushi, and has private indoor and outdoor dining areas. III Forks in North Dallas has one of the largest wine cellars in the state and serves Texas/French cuisine; several private dining areas, including a courtyard and a piano bar, are available. Stephen Pyles’ eponymous restaurant has two private dining rooms and group cooking classes. The chef’s cookbooks and handmade tamales are available for takeaways or gift baskets. The Deep Ellum and West End districts have a number of restaurants and nightclubs that planners can use for progressive dinners or events.

Want team-building fun?

Serving U guides attendees through the coordination and preparation of meals for the North Texas Food Bank. The Dallas CVB can help planners organize a treasure hunt through Dallas’ shopping districts or a scavenger hunt based around famous Dallas landmarks. Texas Motor Speedway has several driving schools. Dave & Buster’s has private meeting rooms, an arcade and billiards area for team-building activities; its Murder Mystery Players are available for off-site team-building. DFW Elite Auto Rentalrents classic and exotic autos by the day and has a one-day, five-car tour of Texas roadways that planners can use as an incentive or team-building program. Amusement Masters has a large inventory of indoor and outdoor amusements and games, from familiar favorites to high-tech interactive simulators and green screens. It can provide services for corporate events, theme parties and team-building. Events can center around arcade, casino or sports games, zip lining, green screen photo imaging, virtual reality simulators, karaoke, inflatables, Xbox, Wii or Playstation 3 kiosks or good old-fashioned pool tables, LED dance floors or laser tag.

Want Texas-themed venues?

The Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture is housed in a restored 1892 courthouse building within walking distance of Dealey Plaza, the West End Historic District and the convention center. Its meeting and event space is available in turrets, a great hall and the historic courtroom. Gilley’s Dallas is a 65,000-sq. ft. honky-tonk with five event areas accommodating up to 6,000 people. It’s classic Dallas, with live music, hearty food and plenty of room to dance (or meet). Circle R Ranch in Flower Mound has team-building programs, a roadhouse venue, a 5,000-sq. ft. conference center, an enclosed 28,000-sq. ft. pavilion and outdoor event space for up to 8,000 guests. Eddie Deen’s Ranch, on the south side of the convention center, accommodates up to 2,500 people in its Western-themed saloon, town hall and patio venues, and sells custom-fitted boots, cowboy hats and bandannas. The Hall of State in Fair Park has a beautiful atrium event space and galleries devoted to the different regions of Texas.

Want to meet in creative settings?

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden has multiple event venues, including the lakefront Alex Camp House, the 21,000-sq. ft. DeGolyer Estate and the 5,000-sq. ft. Rosine Hall. The Dallas Contemporary has 6,000 square feet of gallery space for meetings, receptions and banquets; the museum allows groups to employ outside caterers/service providers and supply their own alcohol. The Nasher Sculpture Center has meeting rooms and an outdoor sculpture garden displaying the works of Picasso, Calder and Rodin, among others. The Belo Mansion & Pavilion has indoor and outdoor banquet, pre-function and reception space overlooking the sculpture center and the Meyerson Symphony Center. The Embassy Suites Hotel Dallas has daily 10:30 a.m. feedings of their in-house “royals,” swans Queen and Barron.

Fort Worth

What you should know:

The Fort Worth Convention Center is within walking distance of Sundance Square, a 14-block downtown entertainment and shopping district. Meeting venues in Sundance Square include the Norris Conference Center, which has meeting, exhibit and banquet space. To experience what Fort Worth was built on, attend the daily cattle drive in the Stockyards. For a sense of where the city is headed, walk through the Cultural District and look at the continued evolution of downtown.

Want to break out of the boardroom?

Planners can charter one-way or round-trip journeys aboard the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, traveling the historic Cotton Belt Route between Grapevine and the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. Entertainment options include interactive “train robberies,” saloon girls, piano players and a built-in bar. Billy Bob’s Texas is a honky-tonk with team-building, concert, meeting and banquet facilities for groups of up to 5,000; groups can end a meeting day at a rodeo, hearing a concert, and learning how to line-dance or ride bulls.

Want outdoor venues?

The Fort Worth Water Gardens, adjoining the convention center, is an urban park with a meditation pool, an aerating pool with multiple fountains and an active pool with 38-ft. cascades surrounded by more than 500 species of plants and trees. After dark, the Fort Worth Zoo transforms into an 1890s Texas town for private group functions. Banquet and reception space is available at the Japanese Garden Pavilion at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, which also has indoor classroom, meeting and auditorium space.

Want to meet in a place with history?

Stockyards Station, in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, has four special-event venues, including the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and a 12,000-sq. ft. outdoor covered pavilion. Attractions include historic walking tours, daily cattle drives, trail rides, a cattle pen maze, the Livestock Exchange Building, an outdoor concert venue, seasonal rodeos, themed restaurants and shops. The downtown Hilton Fort Worth is registered as a national historic landmark and known as the place where President John F. Kennedy spent his last night. In November 1963, the hotel, then known as Hotel Texas, was the backdrop for JFK’s outdoor address to the public. Minutes later, in the hotel’s 14,352-sq. ft. Grand Crystal Ballroom, he gave his final speech to 2,000 guests over breakfast. The 294-room property has more than 150,000 square feet of event space, including six meeting rooms for more than700 people.

Want to surround your group with culture?

Fort Worth is home to several Western-theme museums (Sid Richardson Museum of Western Art, National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, National Cowboys of Color Museum & Hall of Fame); traditional museums (Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History); and quirky, one-of-a-kind museums (Vintage Flying Museum, Monnig Meteorite Gallery, Texas Civil War Museum) — all of which have function and/or meeting space. The Hip Pocket Theater offers dinner, drinks, live music and original theater. Team Craft facilitates movie-making workshops in which attendees make short films inspired by meeting themes. Sessions end with a festival-style screening.

Want team-building activities?

The Four Day Weekend Comedy Theater can conduct corporate training workshops or customized improv comedy shows off-site or from its home theater in Sundance Square. The Texas Motor Speedway has driving schools as well as special-event facilities, tours and a hall of fame. The Go Game equips teams with cellphones, cameras, maps and creative challenges to complete throughout the city; planted performers are available to enhance the interactive challenges.