CityFlats Hotel opens modernized 1920s ballroom, event space in downtown Grand Rapids

It's been just a year since the boutique CityFlatsHotel opened in downtown Grand Rapids' former Fox Jewelers building (83 Monroe Center NW). Now the hotel has thrown wide the doors to The Ballroom @ CityFlatsHotel, its new 6,000-square-foot ballroom and event space next door in the former Michigan National Bank building (77 Monroe Center NW).

The ballroom was built in the 1920s, says Katie Madonio, CityFlatsHotel's marketing coordinator, when opulence was the order of the day.

"It already had the grand staircase, marble floors and columns, beautiful vaulted ceilings, and ornate woodwork," Madonio says. "We just wanted to repurpose the space, so we re-carpeted and painted it, plus installed a full chef's kitchen and new bathrooms."

The $500,000 upgrade includes a variable LED lighting system, a sound system and two mobile flat screen televisions for events that need audio/visual support.

Rental fees include tables, chairs and linens and run from $400 for a weekday event to $2,500 for a Saturday night during the spring-summer peak wedding season, Madonio says.

All food is prepared onsite and the catering menu offers options from simple appetizers to buffets to multi-course sit-down dinners for 225 with a full service staff.

"A banquet facility always complements a hotel very nicely," Madonio says. "Being right next door to the hotel, it was a really good step for us in our growth process to expand in the city. It coordinates nicely with what we're doing at the hotel."

For more information on reserving the ballroom for an event, click here.

Source: Katie Madonio, CityFlats Hotel
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

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