The city-owned Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the largest facility of its kind in the state, seats 23,500 people in its Coliseum Arena; the War Memorial Auditorium has 2,376 seats. The special events center has 120,000 square feet for trade and consumer shows featuring three wings, a pavilion, and 12 meeting rooms while seating 4,300 for concerts and sporting events. The smaller Town Hall theater has 298 seats.
Greensboro is home to the largest privately owned, self-contained hotel-convention complex between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, and boasts more than 8,600 total hotel rooms. In addition, there are a number of private and public meeting areas.
The largest hotel-convention complex is the more than 1,000-room Sheraton, which includes about 250,000 square feet of meeting space and 100,000 square feet of exhibition space with 75 meeting rooms, located adjacent to the three-level Four Seasons Town Centre mall with more than 200 shops and restaurants and a multi-theater cinema. The hotel's largest meeting area, the 40,000-square-foot Guilford Ballroom, can accommodate in excess of 4,000 people for a banquet or 6,000 people for a meeting with full trade-show capabilities.
The Greensboro-High Point Marriott Airport hotel, adjacent to Piedmont Triad International Airport, provides a convenient meeting place for groups arriving by air. With 296 guest rooms and 14 meeting rooms, the Marriott can accommodate large groups in its 9,850 square feet of meeting space.
Grandover Resort and Conference Center features 45,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 13,500-square-foot ballroom. Hotel amenities include 274 guest rooms and two championship, 18-hole golf courses designed by David Graham and Gary Panks.
Also in the heart of downtown is the Biltmore Greensboro Hotel, a charming meeting location for small groups. The inn, which dates to 1895 and originally housed corporate offices for Cone Mills, today is a 23-room hotel furnished with eighteenth-century reproductions. A maximum of 80 people can be accommodated for meetings.
Meeting space is available at many other local facilities, including the Embassy Suites Hotel Greensboro Airport; the Carolina Theatre; in the 1840s Blandwood Mansion and Carriage House. Kepley's Barn had featured a rustic country atmosphere for events and was located near the airport; it burned down in 2001 and in 2005 discussions continued by the city's planning department regarding a new 29-acre area that would include the rebuilding of the barn. The Conference Center at Bryan Park can handle business or social events in its 22,000-square-foot facility overlooking the championships golfing greens.
Convention Information: Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 317 S. Greene St., Greensboro, NC 27401-2615; telephone (336)274-2282; toll-free (800)344-2282; fax (336)230-1183; email gso@greensboronc.org