Missouri

• Millennium Hotel St. Louis has 370 rooms and 65,000 square feet of meeting space just north of Laclede's Landing, an entertainment district with some of St. Louis' best restaurants.

Ohio

• Battelle Hall, part of the original Greater Columbus Convention Center, will be converted from exhibition space into one of the largest ballrooms in the state. Construction is expected to begin on the 90,000-square-foot facility late this year and finish by late 2009.

• In Sandusky, a Kalahari Resort opened in 2005. The resort offers 596 guest rooms and suites and the Nia Center. Nia has 95,000 square feet of meeting and event space in 25 meeting rooms, including a 17,200-square-foot grand ballroom. The resort has a spa and fitness center and is in the midst of an expansion that will take its 80,000-square-foot waterpark to 175,000 square feet.




• Cincinnati's new Duke Energy Center, which recently completed a $135 million expansion and renovation, is a study in color that looks wonderful and helps attendees navigate the structure. Ideal convention sizes are one or two groups with 3,000 to 4,500 people. The Hyatt, Westin, and the Millennium are attached by skywalks to the center.




• Hyatt Place Cincinnati-Northeast and Hyatt Place Cincinnati Airport/Florence opened in April, each with about 125 rooms and 875 square feet of meeting space. The new Hyatt brand hotels are designed for the 24/7 work-and-play lifestyle, with free Wi-Fi access, food whenever guests want it, large desks, and 42-inch flat-panel, high-definition televisions.

Wisconsin

• The Marcus Corp. will spend $70 million over the next year to renovate several convention hotels, including downtown Milwaukee's 220-room Wyndham Milwaukee Center and the Pfister Hotel, which will get a new restaurant and spa, along with renovation of some of the hotel's 307 guest rooms and meeting space. The hotel operator also will update Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva; Westin Columbus hotel in Columbus, Ohio; and Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City this year.




• Oconomowoc developer Craig Stoehr is planning a 100-room Americinn Hotel at State Fair Park near the Wisconsin Exposition Center.

• The owner of the Olympia Resort & Conference Center has built Willow Hill, a $12 million, 88-unit hotel-condominium, next to the Oconomowoc resort.

• Developer Tim Dixon is planning a 100-room, $15 million boutique hotel with a motorcycle theme less than a half mile from the new Harley-Davidson museum.

• The Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort last year built a 25,000-square-foot banquet and conference center into the lodge it opened in Wisconsin Dells.

• With more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, the African-themed Kalahari Waterpark and Resort at Wisconsin Dells has a convention center that is large enough to accommodate most events. The facility is particularly popular for meetings that include families. Kalahari has two ballrooms that do double duty as exhibit venues, and there are 35 other meeting spaces. The resort has 740 guest rooms and both indoor and outdoor waterparks.

Trip Tips!

• Megabus, a division of Coach USA, has started service to nine Midwestern cities, including Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Detroit. The hub is Chicago. Megabus works on the Southwest Airlines model: fast, no-frills service directo to city centers. Tickets are available online and range from $1 to $60 per trip. www.megabus.com/us




• Hereschicago.com is Chicago's Resource Directory, providing meeting and event planners access to professional meeting and event venues and services in Chicagoland.

Ask the CVB

Illinois

Chicago Convention &Visitors Bureau
(312) 567-8500
thediversecity.org
Total Hotel Tax: 14.9%

Rosemont Convention Bureau
(847) 823-2100
rosemont.com
Total Hotel Tax: 12.5%

Indiana

Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Authority
(317) 639-4282
indy.org
Total Hotel Tax: 15%

Michigan

Detroit Metro CVB
(888) 225-5389
visitdetroit.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13% to 15%

Grand Rapids/Kent County CVB
(800) 678-9859
meetgrandrapids.org
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Minnesota

Greater Minneapolis CVA
(800) 445-7412
(612) 767-8000
minneapolismeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Saint Paul CVB
(800) 627-6101
visitsaintpaul.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13%

Ohio

Greater Columbus CVB
(614) 221-6623
(800) 354-2657
ExperienceColumbus.com

CVB of Greater Cleveland
(800) 321-1001
clevelandmeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 15.5%

Greater Cincinnati CVB
(800) 543-2613
cincymeetings.com
Total Hotel Tax: 17%

Wisconsin

Greater Madison CVB
(800) 373-6376
visitmadison.com
Total Hotel Tax: 13.5%

Special Values

• Cleveland Botanical Garden is an exotic Glasshouse — the only one of its kind. It has 10 acres of gardens, including a children's garden. The venue in University Circle offers magnificent settings for events, with space that can seat 250 guests theater-style. Full-service cateriang and AV and teleconferencing support are available. www.cbgarden.org




• The Epic Center is home to the arts in Kalamazoo, Mich. The 89,000-square-foot building is designed in Industrial art deco style and houses several options for meetings, including an atrium, a boardroom, a classroom, and two theaters. (269) 342-5059; www.epiccenter.org

• The Harley-Davidson Museum is under construction at Sixth and Canal streets in Milwaukee. The 130,000-square-foot museum, which is expected to open in 2008, will feature exhibits as well as meeting space, special events facilities, and the company's archives. Contact the CVB.

• Coco Key, Chicago's first major indoor waterpark resort, is in Arlington Heights at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest. The facility will be available for groups as a teambuilding venue. The Sheraton has 426 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.