South Louisiana
VisitBatonRouge.com; @VisitBatonRouge
“Groups meeting in Baton Rouge get to experience Louisiana culture in a way that can be as relaxed or upbeat as they please,” says Geraldine Bordelon, CMP, senior vice president of sales for Visit Baton Rouge. “We invite everyone to find their pace.”
Raising Cane’s River Center multi-venue campus in downtown Baton Rouge features 70,000 square feet of exhibition hall and 17 meeting rooms. When used jointly, the convention center and the adjacent 10,000-seat arena can offer groups up to 100,000 square feet of exhibition space. A third venue, a performing arts center, seats up to 1,700.
Baton Rouge has 8,500 guest rooms, 2,000 of which are committable. Downtown’s Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center has 34,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space, including a 14,000-square-foot riverside pool deck that can host 1,000 people at cocktail rounds.
Crowne Plaza Executive Center Baton Rouge, an IHG Hotel has 294 rooms and 32,000 square feet of event space, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity of 2,100 people.
Downtown, Hotel Indigo recently completed major updates of all guest rooms and common areas. The newly constructed 242-room Bally’s Hotel, located at the former Belle of Baton Rouge site, is now open and is within walking distance of the River Center. The boutique Origin Hotel, a Wyndham Hotel, which opened last year, features 87 guest rooms, a restaurant, and a rooftop bar with city skyline views.
The latest addition to Baton Rouge dining, Colonel’s Club, near the Perkins Overpass District, offers a menu of “elevated American cuisine” and craft cocktails. Southern Chicks Café and Daiquiris offers a lunch menu of homestyle fried chicken, burgers, salads, and other options; offsite catering is available for large groups.
Baton Rouge Cruises offers riverboat cruises with dining. PaddleBR offers kayaking and paddleboard rentals, as well as guided tours through beautiful Bayou Manchac, south of Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge is home to the flagship Louisiana State University (LSU) and Southern University (SU), with area hotels usually booked for home football game weekends in the fall.
