How Much Does a Conference Room Rental Cost?

With the 21st century underway, remote work has become much more of a standard. To meet this demand, the creation of coworking space is climbing at a record pace, and the coworking space market is expected to become a $24 billion global industry by 2030 (that’s more than triple its size in 2021)!

This proliferation of coworking spaces has also increased the availability of conference room rentals. If you’re scouting out locations for your next business event, you’re undoubtedly asking yourself, “How much does a conference room rental cost?” and “How do I select the right one?”

The most suitable conference space (and its costs) will depend on numerous factors, and only the most well-equipped work-rental options will likely have the best features and amenities to make your event a highly memorable one. We’ll explore the considerations that will significantly impact you and your coworkers’ experience and how to obtain those features at the best value.

To begin with, though, we feel compelled to issue a little spoiler alert. Suppose you’re looking for the best possible experience for the best value for your event in Austin, Texas. In that case, you’re best off taking a tour of the most dedicated and passionate local coworking space with experience hosting fun and inspiring events.

Many are gravitating to coworking spaces rather than constantly working at home or from wifi hotspots – and this applies to meeting rooms, as well, because a social and collaborative atmosphere is often vital to creative problem-solving. But how will you know what to look for in a new conference room rental, and what costs should you expect? Read on to find out!

How Much Does a Conference Room Rental Cost?

Whether you’re hosting a company retreat, an awards ceremony, a new product launch, or any large business event, you should expect only the best for your trusted employees. At the same time, your team relies on you to make wise decisions regarding company finances, and you don’t want to break the bank. What should you expect to spend on a conference room rental?

About $10–20 per head is a reasonable starting calculation for events of up to several hundred people. That price varies depending on your meeting length and what amenities you need to provide. You should budget about $2,000–3,000 to rent a space for a half-day or about double that for a full-day event. Price is sure to fluctuate according to demand. If you maintain greater schedule flexibility, you can keep basic costs lower by planning your event on a more reasonable date or day of the week.

Additional Amenities

From there, you will also need to factor in the cost of amenities, especially for more extended events. These additional expenses will depend on whether the services can be achieved on your own or will be outsourced to either in-house or non-local third parties.

So how much does a conference room rental cost when you add up all the other expenses? The answer will, of course, be custom-tailored to your particular needs. It’s most helpful to know, from the outset, what percentage of your event budget you’re willing to expend beyond the cost of the room rental itself. Getting clear about the details ahead of time will help narrow your search. Consider your finances and the staff resources required to pull off your event.

From there, you’ll be able to explore how far you can apply your budget to collateral amenities. Is it better to save time and spend more, or do you have the time to complete some of the services yourself? The space itself is only part of the equation – and it’s the critical part, to be sure – but you’ll need to budget an appropriate amount of event costs to fill that space with the right stuff to ensure that your guests are both comfortable and stimulated.

Related: What Makes a Successful Corporate Event?

Adding Up (and Minimizing) the Additional Expenses

The exact amount of your event in total will vary widely, but let the following serve to inspire the right questions to ask yourself or your event planner as you explore your various options:

• How much, and what kind of food and drink will you need to provide?
• Is catering something you are willing to offer yourself, or will you need outside help?
• Are additional furnishings necessary beyond what’s already available at the space?
• What facilities does the conference space provide (e.g., kitchen, dishware, etc.), and which will you need to offer yourself?
• Is full-service catering necessary, or will amenities be more self-service?
• Do you require transportation services?
• What is your budget for vendors and third-party services?
• How many of your needs can be fulfilled by the event-space staff? At what cost?

For various reasons, the latter is usually a more affordable option than hiring outside services. On-site staff is better able to provide, for example, more affordable catering because they have local amenities and can provide them with greater ease than a third-party catering company.

Your on-site hosts are also sure to have much of the equipment necessary for a successful event, such as audio-video equipment. They usually can include a certain level of furnishings beyond those included in the basic costs for only minimal added expense. In contrast, a third-party rental company will need to charge you for transportation costs.

As we’ll explore further, dedicated event spaces from a company specializing in flexible, coworking office spaces are more likely to have the experience necessary to bring your event together most cohesively and enjoyably.

The Reasons People Need High-Quality Conference Room Rentals

A thoughtfully made conference and meeting space have a ready-made aesthetic that is both beautiful and interesting but conducive to practical and creative problem-solving. This balanced combination of comforting inspiration and focused efficiency will enable you and your team to dedicate your time to collaborative brainstorming in ways that alternatives simply can’t.

Overly casual environments akin to side-rooms at cafes or in excessively drab meeting rooms at your local library, for example, fail to hit the sweet spot where creativity and efficiency overlap. What remote workforces crave is something that puts the fun into functional, rather than just one or the other.

After demand for alternatives to traditional, cramped office spaces skyrocketed in the early 2020s, many companies have dedicated themselves to providing just that. Unhampered by the economic “practicalities” that traditional offices place above employee comfort, coworking spaces have risen to fill this sweet spot for an increasingly remote workforce.

Coworking office and conference space rentals often go hand-in-hand, as remote workers become weary from the rootless feeling of burying one’s nose in their laptop at a local cafe all the time.

The modern worker knows that the time has never been better to leverage the lessons in efficiency that marked late the 20th-century business world, though in concert with the recent gains in achieving greater control over one’s workflow by working remotely.

As a result, the modern workforce has a greater need for new workspaces that are as flexible to their needs as their recent work habits have become – one study even estimates that 5 million people will rely on coworking spaces by 2024, a 150% increase over 2020 levels.

While the days of mandatory, in-person meetings in featureless beige office rooms are on the decline, many remote workers nevertheless still feel the need to collaborate with like-minded allies. Renting public or private co-working spaces and conference rooms often goes hand-in-hand. As you explore your options, consider what you’ll need from an event space beforehand to obtain the most accurate quote, rather than piecemeal various third-party components together into a cohesive event. If you can get all your coworking and event-space rental needs met under one roof, you’ll likely achieve more significant savings.

Related: Office Rental Services: Finding Everything You Need In Your Coworking Office Space

Greater Options Than the Office Spaces of Yesteryear

The right conference room rental/coworking space will have all the right amenities and options you need to conduct business, such as:

• A/V equipment & operation
• Flexible food-and-beverage policies
• Hospitality services (e.g., established vendor relationships)
• Internal beverage and bar services (including dishware & prep kitchen)
• In-house furnishings and decorations – or the option to provide your own
• Sufficient parking or shuttle services for all your guests
• Central and easy access to lodging and transportation
• A unique and inviting atmosphere
• Flexible scheduling policies
• Optional event-planning services

Some of these novel office/event-space facilities also offer memberships for greater access and more affordable prices, so consider your long-term needs when you explore your options.

With growing interest and options for flexible and dedicated workspaces, scheduling access to conference rooms and large event spaces that are more inviting and user-friendly has never been so easy. The savvy deal-seeker might even find greater possibilities if they schedule their events on nights, weekends, or less popular dates. If you want to think outside the box, consider how an outdoor event space may provide better value both monetarily and experientially.

If you’re still wondering, “How much does a conference-room rental cost?” it’s likely that you need an ally with experience hosting successful corporate events to bounce ideas off of and establish an exact price according to your company’s specific needs. This can help you obtain a better quote for services and simplify the event-planning process as a whole.

Vuka – Inspiring Spaces for More Inspired Work

As the world’s workforce becomes less centralized and enjoys more live-work flexibility, leaders in the coworking and corporate event industry are providing novel ways to keep people connected at work.

Vuka has made this vision a reality at our two dynamic coworking and conference spaces in Austin, Texas. There, we cultivate a community space where the new class of America’s remote workforce can feel inspired and comfortable while collaborating with like-minded people in mutual support of our communities and each other.

Vuka provides exceptional private, semi-private, and open-format workspaces for a highly diverse range of Austin-based businesses and employees. Our two locations offer prime locations for entrepreneurs, SMB startups, and remote workers of any stripe to enjoy the amenities of a fully functioning office space with an emphasis on flexibility and independence. 

It’s our distinct pleasure to help bring your staff together uniquely and excitingly – and we invite you to schedule a tour of our versatile high-occupancy event spaces and get started today.