I came here for a conference that I go to every single year and this time, it was here in Grand Rapids! Walking in, it's part of GVSU's campus and attached to the Engineering building. It's also located immediately behind the Grand Rapids public museum which I've been to in the past!
The conference area isn't huge, but can handle a decent amount of people. It's primarily on the second floor only, so that's where we spend most of our time.
They have a large meeting room where we ate our meals and sat as a large group for some of our guest speakers. I included some photos so people can get an idea of what it looks like. There's also two lecture hall type meeting areas right next to each other at the other end of the second floor where speakers will present their information with some using flat screen TV's. There's a divider wall present, so I'm sure that could be removed if necessary.
I deducted one star for the following reasons. First, the bathrooms are at the far end of the hall, so when you're in the lecture rooms you have to walk far far away to do this. They aren't centrally located whatsoever. It got rather annoying at times and we all kind of found it rather annoying.
Secondly, they have a set of stairs immediately when you walk in, but if you need an elevator, you have to walk clear across the entire first floor to find it. Not well planned at all. I had to use it a few times because I was carrying a lot of items around like a heavy backpack with my items in it and eventually a small bag of stuff. I know you can't just move an elevator, but whomever designed this really didn't do a great job.
On the flip side, they do have a nice parking counter area to the right when you enter the building. We didn't need it because we were staying at the hotel, but you can get your parking validated at the counter. Overall it's a nice space, and aside from a few quirks, it does work well. Just get ready for a lot of walking up and down the stairs! read more