CourtesyCouncilBluffsCVB

Okoboji is a resort town in the Iowa Great Lakes that markets Northern Iowa’s seven lakes and the communities that surround them. With boating and other water activities and amusement parks, the destination makes meetings feel like fun getaways.

“It’s a great place to have meetings because our whole community is centered around hospitality and tourism,” said Rebecca Peters, director of tourism at Vacation Okoboji. “Everyone goes out of their way to be friendly.”

For conferences, the 100-room Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center has 30,000 square feet of meeting space, including an 11,000-squarefoot event hall, and is adjacent to Brooks Golf Club, the state’s only Audubon-certified golf course. For meetings that require more guest rooms, the 61-room AmericInn by Wyndham Okoboji is next to the Arrowwood and the recently renovated Okoboji Commons Hotel, with 70 guest rooms, is across the street. In addition to roller coasters, the historic Arnold’s Park Amusement Park has several event spaces, including the 5,000-squarefoot Majestic Pavilion and the 9,000-square-foot Roof Garden Ballroom vacationokoboji.com

Popular off-site venues include Okoboji Classic Cars, a sizeable showroom and restoration shop with a collection of 80 classic cars, antiques and a floor-to-ceiling mural of a 1950s Main Street. The 65,000-square-foot building has hosted events as large as 500 attendees. Barefoot Bar, on East Lake Okoboji, has a Key West feel with frosted drinks, live music, palm trees and resident roosters. To get out on the water, the steamboat Queen II offers cruises for up to 200 people.