Top Conference Venues in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is an easy conference town. The airport is about 7 to 8 miles from downtown, TRAX light rail runs from the terminal to the convention district, and the six downtown TRAX stops sit inside a free fare zone. More than 7,200 hotel rooms are within walking distance of the Salt Palace. The hard part is choosing the right building for the size and shape of your program.

Fat Fish Media is a Salt Lake City production company. This guide compares Salt Lake City's main conference venues the way a production team does: by the size of the main room, ceiling height, load-in, the house AV policy and what the venue includes. Where we have produced a show in a venue, we say so and link to our full guide. Capacities are the venue's published numbers; confirm current figures with the venue before you sign.

Looking for the Conference Center on Temple Square?

"Conference Center" in Salt Lake City often means the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on North Temple, a 21,000-seat auditorium built for the Church's General Conference. It offers free public tours, but it is not a commercial meeting venue. Meeting planners searching for a Salt Lake City conference center usually want the Salt Palace Convention Center or one of the downtown conference hotels below.

How to choose

• Main room first: size the general session, then check breakouts. A 1,500-person keynote rules out most hotel ballrooms in town.
• Ceiling height: LED walls, projection and flown lighting need height. The Salt Palace and Mountain America Expo halls have 30-foot ceilings; most hotel ballrooms are lower.
• House AV policy: several venues have an in-house or preferred AV provider. Ask whether an outside production company can bring its own equipment and what fees apply before you sign.
• Hotel block: a convention hotel keeps attendees in one building. A standalone venue needs a walkable hotel or shuttles.

Large conferences: 1,000 attendees and up

Salt Palace Convention Center

• Downtown, owned by Salt Lake County, with nearly one million square feet of space.
• 515,000 square feet of exhibit space in nine halls with 30-foot ceilings; the largest hall is 130,300 square feet.
• The 45,000-square-foot ballroom seats 4,900 theater-style or 2,900 for a banquet and divides into ten rooms.
• 164,000 square feet of meeting space in 67 rooms, 40 loading docks and 1,000 underground parking stalls.

Encore is the in-house preferred AV provider and Sodexo Live is the exclusive caterer. We produced a WGU alumni celebration here; see our full Salt Palace venue guide for halls, docks and rigging.

Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City

• Opened in October 2022 on the Salt Palace block, with direct access to the convention center.
• 700 guest rooms and about 60,000 square feet of meeting space, plus 7,400 square feet outdoors.
• The Regency Ballroom is about 23,100 square feet; the Salt Lake Ballroom is about 14,700 square feet.

It works as the headquarters hotel for a Salt Palace convention or as a self-contained conference of a thousand or more with the room block in the same building.

Mountain America Expo Center (Sandy)

• Formerly the South Towne Exposition Center, about 16 miles south of the airport in Sandy.
• 243,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space in five 48,600-square-foot halls with 30-foot ceilings.
• Each hall seats about 5,400 theater-style or 2,700 for a banquet; nine meeting rooms, the largest seating 600.
• 2,000 free parking spaces on site.

Free parking and a south-valley location make it the easiest drive for Utah County attendees. Encore is the preferred AV provider and Sodexo Live caters. We produced WGU All Hands here; see our Mountain America Expo Center guide.

The Grand America Hotel

• 775 rooms and suites, eight minutes from the airport by the hotel's count.
• 100,000 square feet of event space, including the 23,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, the nearly 13,000-square-foot Imperial Ballroom and a 35,000-square-foot outdoor courtyard.
• The hotel quotes rooms for up to 3,000 attendees.

The Grand America runs an in-house AV team made up of hotel employees, so confirm the policy for outside production early. It is the city's top choice for executive summits and award dinners. See our Grand America venue guide.

Mid-size conferences: 200 to 1,000 attendees

Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek

• About 510 rooms beside City Creek Center.
• Roughly 21,000 square feet of meeting space in 21 rooms; the Grand Ballroom is about 14,000 square feet and is listed for up to 1,500 seated.

A good fit for conferences of 500 to 1,000 that want shopping and restaurants across the street.

Hilton Salt Lake City Center

• About 500 rooms near the Salt Palace.
• Roughly 25,000 square feet of meeting space in 19 rooms; the Grand Ballroom is about 7,600 square feet and is listed for about 900 seated.

Works for association meetings and as overflow or breakout space during large Salt Palace conventions.

Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel

• 362 rooms at 150 West 500 South.
• About 34,000 square feet of meeting space in more than 20 rooms; the Capitol Reef ballroom is about 9,400 square feet and is listed for up to 1,200.

More meeting space per guest room than most downtown hotels, which suits training programs with many breakouts.

Little America Hotel

• About 700 rooms at 500 South Main Street, sister property to the Grand America.
• 25,000 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom of nearly 9,000 square feet with a 3,000-square-foot reception foyer.

Little America also keeps its AV team in-house. It suits mid-size conferences and training programs with dinners in the same building.

Theaters and unique venues

Eccles Theater

• The Delta Performance Hall seats 2,501 on Main Street, a short walk from City Center TRAX.
• A 50-foot-wide proscenium with in-house lighting and sound, plus lobbies, a black box and lounges for receptions of 50 to 360.

The best room in town for a keynote that should feel like a show. We produced the Allies Gala here; see our Eccles Theater guide.

Utah Olympic Oval (Kearns)

• The 2002 Olympic speed skating venue in Kearns, west of downtown.
• Full buyouts for events of up to about 5,000, rink-side plazas for 100 to 400 and banquet areas for smaller groups.

A memorable general session or all-hands setting, with ice time for team building. We staged a sales kickoff on the ice here; see our Utah Olympic Oval guide.

Small meetings and offsites: under 200

The Shop

• A 30,000-square-foot coworking building at 350 East 400 South with equipped conference rooms and a private rooftop patio.

Works for workshops, board meetings and offsites that do not need a hotel. See our guide to The Shop.

For more rooms under 100 people, see our guide to small conference venues in Utah. For galas, holiday parties and launches, see corporate event venues in Salt Lake City. If you are comparing more than one city, read conference venues in Park City and our general advice on choosing an event venue.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest conference venue in Salt Lake City?

The Salt Palace Convention Center, with nearly one million square feet, 515,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 45,000-square-foot ballroom that seats 4,900 theater-style.

Is the Conference Center on Temple Square available for corporate events?

The Conference Center is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 21,000-seat auditorium for General Conference. It offers public tours but is not a commercial meeting venue. Planners usually mean the Salt Palace or a downtown conference hotel.

Which Salt Lake City hotel is connected to the Salt Palace?

The Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City, opened in 2022 with 700 rooms, sits on the Salt Palace block with direct access to the convention center.

Can I bring an outside AV company to a Salt Lake City venue?

Usually yes, but policies vary. The Salt Palace and Mountain America Expo Center have a preferred in-house provider, and the Grand America and Little America keep AV in-house. Ask about outside vendor fees, rigging and power before you sign the venue contract.

How far is downtown Salt Lake City from the airport?

About 7 to 8 miles, roughly 10 minutes by car. TRAX light rail also runs from the airport to downtown.

Shortlisting conference venues in Salt Lake City? Send us your dates, headcount and program and we will tell you which rooms fit the show, what the venue includes and what you will need to bring, with a line-item production quote within two business days.