Destination Insider

The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, is getting a $40-million face lift this fall with the unveiling of new event spaces and energy-efficient additions to its already outstanding facilities in the heart of downtown.

The Lonesome Dove room, inspired by a story as big as Texas, features an elegantly rustic interior filled with fine Western art. It's a fabulous new space that flows out onto a river patio providing a perfect al fresco setting for groups up to 500.

The convention's center newest outdoor event space is the exciting Plaza Acequia that will immerse up to 1,500 attendees in the culture and beauty of downtown San Antonio using exquisite historic touches throughout its 20,000 square feet of usable space. The plaza is named after the acequia (irrigation system) that colonial Spain built through this site in the 1700s.

Other improvements include:

• Solar film for the center's many windows, energy-efficient lighting, and new digital wayfinding stations to reduce paper waste.
• A new technologically advanced electronic door access system where meeting professionals will now be issued a single card key to open all their assigned rooms instead of a hard key for each meeting room.
• New carpeting, exterior upgrades, interior digital event boards, and meeting room signage.

For more information on San Antonio, go to the Cvent Destination Guide.