5 New Venues in Houston/San Antonio for Fall 2023 Meetings and Events

San Antonio's Rosario’s ComidaMex & Bar added its own dedicated event space in August with the opening of Casa Isabel, housed in a renovated 2,000-square-foot private historic home located next to the restaurant. Designated a local landmark in 1998, this home features architectural remnants that have been carefully preserved from the 1860s. Hot pink chairs are the focal point of a courtyard outdoor dining space, while the interior space is a blank canvas with whitewashed walls. Casa Isabel can accommodate 50 seated guests or 150 standing guests for cocktail-style events utilizing both interior and exterior spaces. The venue is available for private events Tuesday through Sunday.

Each of the 10 rooms at Houston's Wanderstay Boutique Hotel is decked out in a different theme, from a Garden room with greenery-covered wallpaper to a room celebrating the Astros, Rockets, and other Houston sports teams. This East Downtown (EaDo) hotel is from the owner of Houston's Wanderstay Hostel, celebrated as the first hostel in the United States to be owned and operated by a Black woman. Wanderstay Boutique Hotel hosted its grand opening in August, and this adults-only property markets itself for company retreats. Wanderstay Boutique Hotel can accommodate up to 30 guests in its 10 themed rooms. A full venue rental includes all 10 rooms on property along with the hotel's conference room and a guest kitchen. The conference room seats 10 and is also available for half-day and full-day rentals.

Prolific Houston restaurateur Benjamin Berg teamed up with chef Shirong Mei to open Benny Chows in June, serving a menu of Chinese American staples complete with a Peking duck that takes three days to prepare. At this Washington Avenue restaurant, General Tso's is reimagined as a tempura-fried half chicken, and egg rolls are stuffed with brisket and Chinese barbecue sauce. Benny Chows' elaborate decor includes ornate red and gold hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper in the main dining room, which is joined by two private dining rooms. Cherry blossoms dangle overhead above charred wood panels in the Cherry Blossom Room, which can host up to eight guests, while the Peking Duck room for up to 10 guests highlights a custom duck oven display. A patio is dressed up with recreated storefront signs to evoke New York's Chinatown. Full restaurant buyouts are available.

In mid-November, Benny Chows will expand into the space next door in time for the holiday season. The new private event space can be divided into up to three rooms, the smallest of which is a boardroom-style space that can seat up to 16. Two rooms with a sliding partition can each accommodate 40 seated guests. Together, this space can accommodate up to 100 seated and up to 120 for a cocktail reception.

Downtown San Antonio boasts a new urban green space with the opening of the 7-acre Civic Park in September. This former site of the 1968 World’s Fair lay dormant for years before a redevelopment by Hemisfair created new landscaped public spaces shaded by 130 native trees. The park is available for event rentals, including Civic Park's 51,000-square-foot Great Lawn and the lawn's adjacent Civic Park Porch, which is covered and equipped with tables and chairs. Nearby is The Springs, an interactive water feature meant to channel San Antonio's unique natural aquifer water resources. The Great Lawn is ideal for large events and can accommodate up to 12,000 throughout the entire space (infrastructure is not included in rentals). The Springs can accommodate 350 to 400, while the Civic Park Porch can accommodate up to 30. Civic Park’s Phase II begins construction this fall, with plans to build a shaded plaza called Source Plaza and the Zócalo, an elevated hard-scaped terrace.

Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection will be unveiled in early 2024 by White Lodging, located in the former home of The Otis Hotel. The renovation spans guest rooms, meeting rooms, the lobby, and pool spaces and will add a new spa and restaurant and bar. The look draws on the hotel's historic influences, including three beautifully preserved 19th century bungalows on the property's 4.5-acre site. The hotel will offer 21,167 square feet of meeting space, including the 5,979-square-foot La Villita Ballroom, which can accommodate up to 792 guests for theater-style events or 677 for receptions. The ballroom can be divided into three spaces, and the 1,715-square-foot Mission room can accommodate up to 209 for theater-style events and 175 for receptions and can be divided into two spaces. The 1,058-square-foot La Boveda room can accommodate 162 for theater-style events or 107 for receptions. The hotel offers 8,818 square feet of outdoor space for events, including the 5,600-square-foot Oasis Lawn that can accommodate up to 677 for receptions.