Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown is located just north of the Loosemore Auditorium. (5 min walk)

310 Pearl St NW

Grand Rapids, MI 49504

To book your hotel room at the conference rate, please book using the GVSU Great Lakes History Conference link. Guests must book by September 3, 2024 in order to receive the discounted rate. After that date, guests will have to book rooms at the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids' regular rate. If you have questions or have trouble booking, please contact the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids directly at 616-235-7611. Let them know you are booking for the Great Lakes History Conference to receive the conference rate. 

The hotel offers complimentary parking.

The Conference Keynote and Papers will all be held in the Loosemore Auditorium at the Richard M. DeVos Center.

Located at:

401 Fulton St. W.

Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Margaux is a traditional French bistro and it is a five minute walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

For a local sushi favorite checkout Sushi Yama. It's an 8 minute walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

San Chez Bistro offers a blend of authentic European, Mediterranean, and Latin American cuisine in a fun, laid-back, and artful atmosphere. It is a

10 min walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

Bitter End is Housed in an old bank building, this old-world coffeehouse uses organic beans & is open 24 hours. It is a 12 min walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

Butcher's Union is a modern gastropub with a meat-heavy menu of globally inspired fare, 100+ whiskeys & draft beer. 

It's a 13 minute walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

Art Prize is an open, independently organized international art competition which takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It celebrates artists working in all mediums from anywhere in the world, and is open to any creative with an artwork to enter and a venue willing to host it. 

Venues are scattered across Grand Rapids, many around and within walking distance of the hotel and conference center.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum offers 3 floors of history in an ex-flour mill plus exhibits, a 1928 carousel & planetarium and is a 5 minute walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The B.O.B., or "Big Old Building," is a sprawling former grocery warehouse and features a range of eateries, a brewery, piano bar & comedy club.

It's a 6 minute walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum holds collections ranging from Renaissance to Modern Art and special collections on 19th and 20th-century European and American art. Its holdings include notable modern art works such as Richard Diebenkorn’s 1963 Ingleside.

It is a 7 min walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is the presidential museum and burial place of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States (1974-1977) and his wife Betty Ford. It is a 7 minutes walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum first made its debut as a museum “without walls” in August 1993 at Woodland Mall. The Museum featured two exhibits, Funstruction and Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!, which were a huge success and exposed over 30,000 children and their families to “hands-on” exploration and learning. It is a 13 min walk from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The Frederik Meijer Gardens features a sprawling botanical garden with diverse sculptures and hosts indoor art exhibits & concerts. It's a 10 minute drive from the Loosemore Auditorium.

The John Ball Zoological Garden is an urban park located on the west side of the city. The zoo houses a variety of animals from around the world and is a significant regional attraction. It's a 5 minute drive from the Loosemore Auditorium.

Millennium Park is the largest urban park in West Michigan, located on the southwest side of Grand Rapids. Millennium Park connects four of the major cities in the area together, including Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Grandville, and Walker. It's a 10-minute drive from the Loosemore Auditorium.