Event Planning in Seattle: The Venue Guide

From the quiet downtown streets with its towering office buildings, to the trendy and hip neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and Queen Anne with their bars and coffee shops, down to the large event spaces and venues in the SODO district, Seattle offers a diverse set of choices when it comes to planning a meeting or event.

The trick, of course, is to know what kind of meeting spaces are available in your area and whether it’s the right kind of space for your the kind of meeting or event that you happen to be planning.

Below is a short outline of possible situations that you might run into when planning an event in Seattle:

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEETINGS IN SEATTLE

MEETINGS BY LOCATION

ALSO: Learn about Seattle’s more rare and unique spaces!

Is there a section you’d like to see added to this guide? Please let us know at team@evenues.com.

Board Meetings and Other Meetings for Small Groups

Seattle provides some beautiful fully equipped boardrooms that are ideal for small group meetings.

For more affordable and casual small meetings, consider the Lower Queen Anne boardroom or a Classroom in the Belltown Neighborhood. Both of these rooms go for a low rate of $30 and are bookable instantly on the eVenues website.

For something a bit more upscale, consider the:

The rooms listed here above are our favorite picks out of many small meeting rooms, but if you want to see all we have available go to our Seattle Listings Page and refine your search by capacity using the checkboxes on the left hand side of the page.

Corporate Retreats and Offsite Meetings

As mid-sized companies in the Seattle area continue to grow, so too do the need for meeting spaces fully equipped with WIFI, projectors, whiteboards and AV capability. Luckily, Seattle has a large variety of affordable meeting spaces that provide these capabilities.

Some examples are:
  • The Inn at the Market: The Inn is a hotel located right in the center of Pike Place Market. Not only is it centrally located, but it also has an outdoor eating space. There’s the Market Room for more casual offsites, and the Courtyard Room for larger meetings and presentations.
  • Bell Harbor Conference Center: You really couldn’t do better than this, a beautiful conference center right on the sound because with an incredible view. In addition to the Pacific Boardroom the conference center has a conference room with a panoramic view of Puget Sound.
Post Meeting Activities

If the corporate offsite meeting ends in the early afternoon, consider a private wine tasting at the Matthews Estate Barrel Room or a go to the Lake Union Yacht Club and take the electric boat around beautiful South Lake Union.

Seminars, Workshops and other Mid-Sized Events

Organizing a large sales presentation in Seattle can be a key way to establish business contacts within the city. Likewise, organizing a seminar can be an ideal way to establish yourself as a thought leader or expert in a particular field.

Here are some ideas for such mid-sized event:
  • The Queen Anne Room at the Silver Cloud Inn provides free wifi, a complementary coffee service, as well as free underground parking and access to downtown by trolley. The room is perfect for the any presenter’s needs and goes for a very reasonable daily rate.
  • The Cambridge Room at the Warwick hotel, although the rate runs for a little more than the Silver Cloud is more intimate and more centrally located.
  • The SODO or “south downtown” district of Seattle is home to many very large event venues like the Shobox but there are also some good conference rooms for mid-sized meetings as well. The coworking company Techdwellers for example, has a large open meeting space available for a reasonable price, as well as a smaller meeting/conference room on the third floor.

Planning Large Galas and Events in Seattle

Whether you’re a non-profit organizing your yearly gala or throwing a big, fancy fundraiser, Seattle provides some fantastic spaces for events for 100 to 500+ people, many of which are listed on eVenues. Our team also has relationships with large venues not yet listed on our site. If you find yourself paralyzed by all the options, consider using our inquiry form to let us find a large event space for you.

Theater Space

If you really want to put on a show, consider hosting your event in a theater. There’s the Market Theater in Seattle, a venue that provides a stage and theater seating for up to 220 people. There is also a small movie theater in the central district which would be good for annual meetings or for a premier of an independent film. Other theater venues available for rent are the Wing-It Theater and the Bullitt Cabaret.

Gallery Space

If you’re more artistically inclined. Seattle also offers a variety of gallery spaces which can provide the right note of class and elegance for your events. There’s the IMA Gallery (capacity: 200) as well as the the EM Fine Art space in South Lake Union which provides both a beautiful space unique art pieces as well as a conference room area with plenty of seating. Finally, if you want to pull out all the stops you may want to you could rent out the Entire Wing Luke Museum, a gorgeous venue with room for 500 people. Note, the individual rooms of the Wing Luke can be rented out. These include the entire First Floor and the Community Hall upstairs.

Event Venues

One space that we love is the Seattle Creative Arts Center. It is great for low key celebrations, parties and networking events for up to 100 people. For its size and location this is one of the most affordably priced event spaces in the city.

If you’re looking for a space conveniently located in the trendy Capitol Hill neigborhood the Melrose Market Studios provides an open and flexible event space suitable for up to 230 people.

These are just a couple of the many great event venues here in Seattle available for large group events and galas. Because these spaces can require a lot of details to be ironed out when renting them, many of these spaces are not available for instant booking. To help save time, consider using our inquiry form so that we can help you through the sometime complex booking process and help you find the perfect event venue for your large event

Meetings near the Washington State Convention Center

The Washington State Convention Center is conveniently located at the intersection of the Downtown, Capitol Hill, and South Lake Union neighborhoods of Seattle. If you’re attending a conference at the center, chances are that most of your meetings will be planned out in advance. There is, of course, every likelihood that you may need to schedule a last minute or pop-up meeting.

Some good prospects in the area include:
  • Office space: Two Union Square is a skyscraper complex near the convention center. This swanky office building is sure to impress clients and colleagues from out of town.
  • Hotels: There are plenty of hotels within walking distance of the convention center The Roosevelt and The Mayflower provides smaller sized meeting rooms while the Roosevelt provides a mid-sized conference room for up to 60 people.

Planning Meetings and Events in the Bellevue Area

If you’re from out of town, you may want to consider booking your meeting in the Bellevue area. Meeting rooms and office space are generally more affordable than those in the downtown Seattle areas and are only a short drive from the center of Seattle.

Smaller Meetings in Bellevue (1 - 30 people)

Many spaces on eVenues are actually not hotel space, but commercial office space that small and mid-sized companies rent out by the hour when they’re not using it. The Addioz boardroom in Bellevue has received excellent reviews by customers who have rented out the space and comes fully equipped with WIFI and LCD projector for any presentation needs. Another, smaller alternative is the conference room at Y&L LLP.

If you prefer booking a meeting space with a hotel in Bellevue, consider the cozy 12 person boardroom at the La Residence Suite Hotel in Bellevue which includes WIFI, a dedicated computer, conference speaker phone, and flip charts. Coffee and breakfast can also be served upon request.

Mid-sized Meetings Bellevue (30 - 100 People)

If you’re looking for an affordable, no-nonsense venue with room for up to 45 people, consider the Studio C meeting room, a meeting space with a refrigerator, microwave and K-cup brewer (remember to bring your own!). There’s also the space at the Master Builders Association of King County, which also offers a very competitive rate.

Another very affordable venue great for presentations is the auditorium at the Bellevue Arts Museum. With seating for 100 people, the attendees can browse exhibits during breaks.

Hotel conference rooms in the Bellevue area are also reasonably priced. Rooms like the Tamarack, Alder, Maple and Hemlock (Capacity 50 each) at the Coast Bellevue Hotel go for $225 daily rate. The Hilton in Bellevue provides a larger “King County Room” for up to 100 people.

Large Meetings in Bellevue (100+ People)

Bellevue also offers some of the best venues for large events in Seattle. If you’re planning a large gala or similar big event, consider renting out a ballroom. There’s the Bellevue Grand Ballroom at the Hilton Hotel in Bellevue with capacity for up to 1000 people as well as the Ballroom at the Coast Bellevue Hotel (Capacity 320). The Bellevue Arts Museum also provides a sizable Forum Room ideal for large receptions as well as an outdoor “Court of Light” ideal for receptions and other such gatherings.

Looking for something a little different than these venues? Try using our inquiry form to specify exactly the kind of venue you want and we’ll follow up with suggestions for some perfect venues for your event or meeting, even if they’re not listed on eVenues.

Planning Meetings near SEA-TAC airport

Sometimes you’ll have people flying in from around the country to attend a meeting and all you want to do is to get down to business. Thankfully there are many hotels with small to medium sized meeting rooms within a 10-minute radius of the airport with easy access and parking from the airport.

Options near Seatac include:
  • A Hotel Boardroom - The Radisson Hotel at the Airport is just next to the airport and has a fully equipped boardroom that can accommodate up to 12 people
  • A mid-sized conference room- A sizable hotel conference room that can accommodate up to 50 people for sales training, large meeting, or meet-up.

Also, the light rail can take people people down into the center of the city for those who happen to have a free afternoon to go sightseeing.

Unique and Unusual Spaces in Seattle

Sometimes you want to hold your meetings somewhere different than the usual hotel conference and boardrooms. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered.

Some possibilities include:

Any questions about this guide? Email us at team@evenues.com.