WORTH A GAMBLE

Sioux City

Gaming has a long history in Iowa, and today attendees can try their luck at its 19 casinos. With resort-style amenities and upscale meeting space, these casinos can hit the jackpot for conventions and conferences.

At Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack and Hotel in Altoona, north of Des Moines, attendees can enjoy gaming, horse racing and relaxing in a 168-room hotel when they aren’t in meetings at the casino’s event center.

In the Quad Cities, Davenport’s Rhythm City Casino is known for having the area’s best spa and a 32,000-squarefoot casino in addition to a 106-room hotel and a 10,455-square-foot event center adjoined by four 1,200-square-foot breakout spaces.

In the Port of Dubuque, the Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque’s 5,000-square-foot meeting facility has views of the Mississippi and is a few blocks from downtown Dubuque’s hotels and attractions.

In western Iowa, the Omaha skyline is the view from Harrah’s Council Bluffs, a Caesars Entertainment property. It has 251 guest rooms and fine meals at its 360 Steakhouse or Guy Fieri’s Kitchen + Bar.

Due north, the chic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sioux City near downtown elevates events with a 54-room AAA Four-Diamond hotel, two restaurants, three bars, two live entertainment venues and a 45,000-square-foot casino.

Sioux City is in Iowa’s upper west corner, where the Missouri River divides Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa. Its ties to Native American culture and the Lewis and Clark Expedition are apparent at sites throughout the city, but it also offers several new meeting venues. With Interstate 29 passing through the city and a highly walkable, historic downtown, it’s also a decidedly accessible city.

“Being a tri-state city, we draw a lot of regional events, and we have a lot of free attractions,” said Kristen Heimgartner, destination experience coordinator at Explore Sioux City. “There’s lots of culture to experience within this area.”

The Sioux City Convention Center, with 40,000 square feet of event space that includes a 28,634-square-foot gallery, is connected to the 150room Courtyard Sioux City Downtown. Two streets north, the Warrior Hotel, a chic AAA Four Diamond property with 148 rooms and 2,800 square feet of meeting space, opened in 2020 and is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection exploresiouxcity.com

The west side of downtown is home to Tyson Events Center, with 190,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,000-seat arena for sporting events, trade shows and concerts. Nearby are two prominent hotels: Stoney Creek Hotel Sioux City, a 161-room lodge-style resort with 16,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sioux City, the city’s other AAA Four Diamond property, with 54 guest rooms.

There are many other options for events and meetings: the historic Orpheum Theatre; the Sioux City Art Center, an art museum in the heart of downtown; The 101, an event venue in a revitalized building with maple floors and exposed brick that’s also headquarters for Stone Bru Coffee Company; and the Peirce Mansion, a restored Victorian home operated by the Sioux City Public Museum.

Across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska, Council Bluffs is the most populous city in southwestern Iowa. Its accessibility has always been an attractive quality – in its early days, the city linked the country’s east and west as the starting point of the Transcontinental Railroad.