Milwaukee
The 119-room Courtyard by Marriott Milwaukee Airport opened last month. The new-build features an ultramodern lobby and two meeting rooms, each holding up to 50 people.
The Courtyard Milwaukee Downtown completed renovations to its lobby and dining spaces this past June. The hotel's traditional front desk has been replaced with separate "welcome pedestals," and guests now can connect to free wireless Internet throughout the lobby. The property has 169 guest rooms and offers a total of 2,649 square feet of meeting space divided into four rooms.
The 149-room Four Points by Sheraton Milwaukee North also completed renovations in 2011. The property updated its 7,500 square feet of meeting space spanning seven rooms (the largest of which measures 3,872 square feet), along with its restaurant, prefunction space and front desk area. Next up is a guest-room renovation, to take place later this year.
The Hilton Milwaukee City Center completed an $11.5 million renovation in December 2010 that touched upon its 730 guest rooms, meeting spaces, lobby and fitness center. In all, the hotel has more than 34,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes four ballrooms and 18 meeting rooms. In 2011, the property was awarded AAA Four Diamond status.
The Ramada Plaza Milwaukee Airport renovated its 160 guest rooms in 2010. The property features 11,000 square feet of meeting space, including a corporate boardroom, and offers complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access.
At the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, about an hour's drive southwest from Milwaukee, extensive renovations were completed in 2010. All 355 guest rooms were outfitted with new carpeting, draperies, bedding and furniture, as well as refrigerators and 37-inch LCD flat-screen televisions. Bathrooms were remodeled with new fixtures, granite vanities and high-tech mirror-TVs that disappear when turned off.
Raise a Glass
In Prairie du Sac, the picturesque
Wollersheim Winery
beckons with the lure of libations derived from the winter-hardy
French-American hybrid grape. Tours and tastings are available. (800)
847-9463
Meeting Hotels
Properties include the 730-room Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 508-room Wyndham Milwaukee, 481-room Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, 307-room The Pfister Hotel, 253-room Doubletree Hotel Milwaukee City Center, 169-room Courtyard Milwaukee Downtown, 160-room Aloft Milwaukee Downtown, 160-room Ramada Plaza Milwaukee Airport, 149-room Four Points by Sheraton Milwaukee North and 119-room Courtyard by Marriott Milwaukee Airport. For a more complete list of hotels, go to mcvenues.com.
Convention Center
Frontier Airlines Center; exhibit space, 188,695 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 28; (414) 908-6072.
Airport Transit
General Mitchell International Airport, about eight miles from downtown Milwaukee. The transfer cost to the city center by taxi averages $24.
Taxes
Room tax, 9 percent; sales tax, 5.6 percent; total tax on hotel rooms, 14.6 percent
Group Venues
The one-of-a-kind Harley-Davidson Museum is home to more than 450 motorcycles and thousands of related artifacts. The museum, which opened in 2008, features indoor meeting space for groups of 20 to 750 people for a sit-down meeting or dinner and 1,000 standing. Catering services are available. (414) 287-2789
Milwaukee's RiverWalk was created in 1988 to give pedestrians access to the riverfront, and last year the American Planning Association named the attraction as one of the top public spaces in the country. The walkway, which spans three miles and features statuary such as a bronze likeness of Henry Winkler's "The Fonz" character of Happy Days fame, is divided into three sections: the Beerline RiverWalk to the north (following the path of a former industrial rail line), the Downtown RiverWalk in the center (a mixed residential/commercial area), and the Third Ward RiverWalk to the south (straddling a mostly historic district). (414) 286-5802
Dining Out
Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro is set within Milwaukee's Lake Park, which was laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead (of New York City's Central Park fame).The restaurant specializes in French cuisine and can seat groups of up to 68 people for a private indoor meal and up to 250 for an outdoor event. (414) 962-6300
Also on Lake Michigan, Harbor House serves up Great Lakes specialties like rainbow trout and Lake Superior whitefish. The 180-seat restaurant opened in 2010 and offers private dining for groups of up to 50. (414) 395-4900
Ultramodern steakhouse Carnevor does surf 'n turf in splendid minimalist style. The restaurant's private dining room can accommodate up to 40 people, and the upper and lower mezzanines seat 60. (414) 223-2200
Contact
Visit Milwaukee, (414) 273-3950 or (800) 231-0903