The Lafayette Hotel can seat 500 guests theatre-style or 300 at round tables in its Grand Ballroom, and offers six smaller rooms for board meetings, luncheons and receptions. The hotel stands on Front Street in Marietta, Ohio, where the Muskingum River joins the Ohio, and has received guests for more than a century.
Seminars and company events
The hotel sells business meetings, conferences, exhibitions, team-building sessions and civic events. The Rufus Putnam Room and the Ohio Valley Room each take 24 around a conference table or 28 in a U-shape, which suits a board meeting or a training day. The Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen rooms each take up to 50 in a U-shape and open into one space for 250. For a conference with a plenary session, the Grand Ballroom takes 500 theatre-style or 150 at classroom tables.
A stage, a projector, microphones, easels and flip charts can be rented, as can the penthouse deck. Final numbers are due 72 business hours before the event.
Weddings and receptions
The hotel hosts wedding ceremonies, civil unions, engagement parties and cocktail receptions. The Grand Ballroom, with wood floors and period furniture, takes the largest receptions, while the Sternwheel, Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen rooms suit smaller weddings. The team can add audiovisual equipment, extra lighting, a sound technician, a bar with bartender and an event logistics manager, and refers couples to florists, musicians, photographers and bakers.
Rooms and capacities
The Grand Ballroom measures 70 by 72 feet and holds 500 theatre, 300 at rounds and 150 classroom. On Fridays and Saturdays it is sold only as a whole, combining the Sternwheel, Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen rooms. The Sternwheel Room, 34 by 72 feet, holds 250 theatre and 150 at rounds. The Delta Queen Room holds 120 theatre and 90 at rounds, and the Mississippi Queen Room 90 theatre and 60 at rounds. Together these two take 250. The Rufus Putnam and Ohio Valley rooms seat 32 at rounds each.
Accommodation
Guest rooms on site include cabin rooms, standard and riverview queen rooms, twin rooms, accessible rooms and queen junior suites that sleep four. The front desk is staffed around the clock, so delegates and wedding guests can stay in the building where the event takes place.
Catering
The hotel has its own outlets: the Gun Room for breakfast, the Riverfront Bar & Grill, and Café Lafayette for coffee and pastries. The site does not detail event menus, so ask for them with your request.
History and setting
The hotel dates from the riverboat era and opened in 1918. It joined Historic Hotels of America in 2026. Several rooms recall that period: the Sternwheel, Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen take their names from paddle steamers, and the Rufus Putnam Room honors a founder of Marietta, the first American settlement northwest of the Ohio River.
Getting there
The hotel is at 101 Front Street, on the riverfront in downtown Marietta. Groups usually arrive by road, and Interstate 77 passes the town.
