Greater Richmond Convention Center — Attraction in Richmond

Solid Venue for Large Events in RVA! Having attended a couple of events at the Greater Richmond Convention Center now, traveling up from Norfolk, I've generally been quite impressed. It's a genuinely large facility that can clearly accommodate significant crowds and complex event setups. For the conferences and expos I've been to, the space has felt ample, with good flow between exhibit halls and session rooms. The cleanliness of the venue is consistently noticeable – restrooms are well-maintained, and common areas are kept tidy, which is a big plus for such a high-traffic place. The staff I've interacted with have also been helpful and professional, contributing to a well-organized feel for the events hosted there. The main halls are spacious and well-lit, providing a good backdrop for various functions. The reason I'm giving it a solid four stars instead of a perfect five usually comes down to a couple of the typical "big convention center" things. Parking, while available, can sometimes be a bit of a trek or on the pricier side, depending on the event and how early you arrive. And while there are food options, I sometimes wish there was a bit more variety or more budget-friendly choices available right within the center, especially during long event days. Overall, though, the Greater Richmond Convention Center is a very capable and well-maintained venue. It serves its purpose effectively for large-scale gatherings and is a valuable asset to the Richmond area. Definitely a reliable choice for conventions and...

Security staff was pleasant which is why i gave 2 stars, but everything else was horrible. Bathrooms are never clean, even on day one of a convention. Half of the toilets were left clogged. Cleaning ladies stand around talking instead of cleaning the bathrooms or restocking paper towels, toilet paper, and soap. The food is atrocious, which they force you to buy there by not allowing outside food (which for vendors is not great, especially as a disabled person with chronic illnesses that make eating most foods provided very difficult for me and often makes me sick.) Tried to get a chicken tender basket (usually something i can at least handle in small amounts) with fries because i hadnt been able to eat all day and was going to be ill. Cost $17.50 a meal, and the chicken tenders werent even real chicken, just long McDonald's nuggets. The fries were inedible they were soaked in grease and tasted like fish. Meaning i literally spent 17.50 +tax on 4 chicken nuggets. Which were also ridiculously greasy and this was only day 2 of the con with very low foot traffic. This con center needs to shape up, especially if theyre going to charge what they do. Raleigh isnt good, but at least the food is a few dollars cheaper, and the tenders are real chicken and the fries are usually more edible. This was disgusting and ended up upsetting my stomach pretty badly. Not disability or chronic illness friendly, and definitely not affordable. Steer clear if you can, eat food...

No dedicated family or handicap + companion bathrooms. If they do have them, they're not marked on any maps, and the ushers are clueless on where things are.

For huge events where thousands of people are going to be arriving at the same time, they should allow multiple entry points so that you don't have thousands of people crowded into one small area. Walking around anywhere near the entrance/ exit after a couple hours was almost impossible. Id hate to see what would happen in an emergency.

Even though parking garages were connected through covered walkways above the street, they made everybody go outside and walk across the busy traffic through the cold rain and come in on the first floor east corner of the convention center.

Parking was cheap though, $7 for the day. Food choices look good, but there were long long lines when it got close to lunch time. Maybe allow some food trucks to park outside the convention center during huge events.

Saw two police officers sitting at a desk when we walked in. Would have liked to have seen a few more walking around inside the convention center or outside in the main hallway where people were coming in and out. However, I felt totally safe...