Wow! Another great season. Are you a lucky season ticket holder? We are one of the hotels near Lucas Oil Stadium. Celebrate a win and book one of our Indianapolis hotel packages. The Hilton Garden Inn offers one of the best hotel accommodations in Indianapolis. Go Blue!
We are also a newly renovated hotel in Indianapolis. We have installed the new Hilton GSS bed for a restful night's sleep...there's no better way to end the day. (after we win...of course!)
We also know that in Indianapolis the "home team" isn't just about sports. Indianapolis looks out for the environment as well. If you are looking for a hotel that thinks green...you are in luck! We are one of the few Green hotels in Indianapolis. We are not just talking about recycling we have amazing solar panels in our roof top.
Whether its a game, a special occasion, or just a night away. Think of the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown.
NEW CARPET!!!
One of the key parts of our renovation and refresh is new carpeting. We have about 40% of our guestrooms completed with thankfully little to no disruption to our guests. Because of the high rise nature of the building we have a small number of rooms on any given floor so we've been able to isolate the work from areas our guests are in. The nightmare of any guest, and therefore any General Manager, is construction work being done right next door to someone trying to sleep, relax or work. We've worked hard to make sure that doesn't happen. The carpet, gives the room a warmer feel as you can see below.
The $1.2 million investment in carpeting, bedding, and new furnishing will allow us to be the most newly renovated hotel in Indianapolis' downtown. As part of the Hilton family of hotels it is important to keep our product fresh and vibrant and comfortable for our frequent business travelers as well as for those Indianapolis Colts fans that are arriving to support the team this weekend versus the rival New England Patriots, you might want to stay at this newly renovated hotel near Lucas Oil Stadium.
Our guestrooms will be very near 100% completion by Thanksgiving. If you are Downtown for the Tree Lighting ceremony on Monument Circle, or coming into town for the MLB Winter Meetings at the Indianapolis Convention Center take a look at the newest rooms in an Indianapolis Downtown Hotel.
As I've mentioned before, part of our ongoing strategy during this renovation has been to look for ways to green the operation. In accordance with our commitment to be a green hotel, the old carpet is being recycled. Indianapolis is fortunate that we have a regional carpet recycling center located on the Northwest side of town. We are working with Kruse Carpet Recycling to ensure that the enormous amount of carpeting doesn't end up in a landfill. To see more about the process take a look at this
video of the Kruse Carpet recycling process.
The cost of recycling this carpet approximates the amount we would have spent on a roll off dumpster and has kept this material from accumulating near the building and detracting from our exterior appearance. It keeps this from entering the waste stream so it's a win win for us.
Starting an active recycling program in April 2007 was one of the first conscious efforts in greening our hotel. In October 2009 we've taken another important step.
We've selected Waste Management for our waste removal and recycling services for the upcoming year. Previously we had separate vendors for our trash service and our recycling service, and we have restrictions on what we can recycle and in what bins. With our switch to Waste Management this week we will be able to utilize a single stream recycling which will allow us to increase our volume of recycling and decrease our landfill waste hauling. Already in the first week, my recycling bin is overflowing and we were able to reduce our trash bin size by a full yard.
We have always struggled with the logistics of expanding recycling to our guestrooms; however with one recycling bin that takes everything now it's feasible. We anticipate being able to institute in room recycling by the end of the year or January 2010 at the latest.
This will coincide nicely with our guestroom renovation that begins at the end of this month. We are replacing all guestroom carpet, soft seating, and bedding. This should go fairly seamlessly and because of the high rise profile of the building we should be able to isolate any work being done on a completely unoccupied floor.
The staff at the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown has the caught the FEVER! No, not a temperature, but for our Lady Fever. We want to send out out congratulations for making it to our first WNBA Finals! The ladies will be taking on the Mercury in game 3 at Conseco Fieldhouse on October 4, 2009.
Maybe you can "catch the fever" and make it an overnight. Looking for a hotel deal in Indianapolis? Look no further. We offer great Indianapolis hotel packages. You can't beat out location... one of the closest hotels to Conseco Fieldhouse. Go to work on Tuesday and let your co-workers be green with envy, that you were able to see the Fever win, and stay at a historic hotel of Indianapolis. Start by checking into a room with a view of the Monument Circle and before the game have dinner in our American Grill, but don't stop there. Have a victory drink in our lounge before calling it a night. We'll see you in the morning for an amazing hot breakfast buffet. Our staff is second to none and is proud to be one of the star hotels of Downtown Indianapolis. What are you waiting for?
Make your hotel accommodations now and start the celebration!
This week work began on the installation of our new roof! We are replacing our traditional EPDM or black rubber roofing on both our 4th floor and 16th floor roof landings with Firestone White TPO roofing material. This material carries an energy star rating for commercial building. As we strive to be more green hotel Indianapolis, the opportunity to improve our carbon footprint while taking care of a planned capital improvement appealed to us. The change from a black roof to a white roof does not affect the historic aspect of this building. This is important, so that we also stay consistent with our commitment as a historic hotel Indianapolis.
This new "White TPO roof" has several green components: 1. Because it is white, it reduces the heat island effect produced in urban areas with large areas of dark rooftops and asphalt and concrete roads, 2. The increase in heat reflection reduces the amount of energy needed to keep the temperature cool inside the building thereby reducing our utilities, and 3. The roof material is heat adhered to the building rather than with more traditional roofing adhesives that are more caustic.
The choice of using this material was a no-brainer. We were able to replace our roof with a white roof for the same cost as a traditional black EPDM roof and with the same warranty of 15years. The material cost of the White TPO roof is a little more but the labor investment is less and it is not as dependent on weather for installation as a traditional rubber roof, so you can do it later in the year. So for the same cost, we were able to further our green initiative, reduce our utility usage, and accumulate some energy star building credits.
This roof replacement should take about 3 weeks.
In order to maintain our 3 star hotel downtown Indianapolis status we are placing orders now to upgrade our facility by the end of the year.
As the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown moves forward with its new hotel renovation project we are upgrading all of our bedding to the
Garden Sleep System Bed by Natural Form. This bedding system self adjusts to your personal comfort level. We currently have this bedding system in our suites but by year's end this will be available in each guestroom. Check out the link to see the technology behind this bed. Below is a photo of one of our existing hotel room in our Indianapolis Downtown hotel. The carpeting is also slated for replacement and I'll give a copy of the new color scheme in my next blog.
This GSS bedding system also helps fulfill our commitment as one of the prominent green hotels in Indianapolis.
One environmental benefit of this Garden Sleep System bedding is its component construction. This will allow us to replace only the portion of the bed that has either failed or been damaged. Unlike a Sleep Number bed or traditional spring mattress, we will not have to discard the entire mattress into a landfill if it is damaged through abuse, component failure, a wine stain, or normal wear, we will be able to reduce the amount of material that has to be discarded. This will lessen our solid waste footprint and will also allow us to keep costs down by not having to replace an entire mattress.
As for our outgoing mattresses, I promise to find them a good home. They are 6 years old and still in very good shape, and will likely be either donated or resold to another facility so that they will not immediately wind up in a landfill.
One result of our expressed interest in environmental issues and our desire to be one of the more green hotels in Indianapolis is our exposure to other area greening projects.
As a representative of a Downtown Indy Hotel I've recently been able to sit in on a few meetings that have highlighted some of the important steps that Indianapolis is doing to become a greener and more environmentally friendly city. Currently the Indiana Cultural Trail construction is already well underway and will pass within one block of our hotel sometime next year. Our central location on this trail will connect the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in all four directions via the trail to all the major cultural districts including the Fountain Square, Wholesale District, Mass Avenue and the Murat Centre, the Canal and White River State Park, and of course Monument Circle. If you know someone looking for a conference hotel in Indianapolis, another corridor of this trail will branch off to the Indianapolis Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium making this a very pleasant walk from the hotel for conventioneers, Colts Fans, or others on Indianapolis group travel.
Once completed, the Indy Cultural Trail will connect with the existing Monon Trail which will give guests staying at the hotel easy access to Broad Ripple Village as well. Check out the Cultural Trail's
site if you get a chance. The storm water planters and natural vegetation will really add to the feel of Downtown Indy and enhance the experience for both cyclists and pedestrians. Very cool stuff.
To check out our own environmental projects check out our own environmental statement at the top of the screen.
Yesterday we received the final approval for the furniture design and color scheme of the updates to our lobby area. As we are a Historic Hotel the designer was very careful not to affect any historic aspect of the building or lobby area but merely freshen the colors and give the atmosphere a slightly more contemporary feel. The lamps and furniture can be seen below.
The colors will be a brighter pallet than what is reflected here and will feature functional space that will allow visitors to utilize laptops and other electronic devices that can take advantage of our wireless internet access.
In keeping with our environmental commitments to be a more green hotel Indianapolis, all lobby furnishing that are being replaced will be either reused or recycled elsewhere.
The hotel rooms, meeting rooms, and restaurant are also being renovated and once completed we will be the most newly renovated hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Target date is the end of the year.
Check out our Solar Panel Production link on our
Hilton Garden Indianapolis Downtown website's environment page. We installed this 4.05KWh system on March 19th earlier this year and in that time it has produced over 1,600 KWh of electricity. While this represents a small portion of our hotel overall electric use, it does reduce our demand on peak or during the hottest portion of the day, thereby reducing our overall electric bill. This project was completed with the help of the Indiana Department of Energy and Defense, and we are the only Indianapolis Area Hotel to have such a visible green component. I snapped this photo back in early April on a clear day and you can just see the Soldier and Sailors Monument and the State Capital building in the background. The three other prominent buildings are the Key Bank (Market Square) Tower, the Old National Bank building, and the One America Building (formerly AUL).
I was interested to see today that Indiana continues to become more involved in the encouragement of alternative energy sources and is currently soliciting the headquarters of a wind turbine manufacturer to relocate to the state. We considered wind energy initially but were afraid it would detract from the exterior, whereas the solar panels were low profile and would not change the profile of the building. We take our responsibility as a historic hotel Indianapolis seriously and wouldn't want to detract from this unique character of our hotel. These solar panels allow us to continue to green our hotel and not interfere with the historic exterior profile of the building.
One of the most Guest Focused of the Downtown Indy Hotels continues to green it's business! If you are looking for Hotel Accommodations Indianapolis with an active commitment to the environment this is the place.
During the last 12 months we have worked diligently to incorporate more sustainable practices and become a more green hotel in Indianapolis. This process is a logical extension of our historic building and a more clearly stated desire of our guests to be more eco-friendly.
The Fletcher Trust Building, constructed in 1915 is a classic example of the period's architecture and great care was taken with preservation of the existing structure when the Hilton Garden Inn was opened in 2003. The hotel carries a historic landmark status making it one of best examples of a historic hotels in Indianapolis. Preservation and Conservation are very compatible goals and partly for this reason last year we began to actively incorporate green business practices in our operation.
To check out our environmental statement visit our site
www.hiltongardenindianapolis.com/green. You can even view the current electrical production of our new solar panel array commissioned just 2 months ago. As we continue to evolve into one of the more prominent Green Hotels Indianapolis we welcome you input on what else we could be doing.
The Hilton Garden Inn is one of the closest hotels near Conseco Fieldhouse and the closest of the hotels near Murat Centre. Our proximity to these venues and our beautiful hotel accommodations makes us an ideal destination for group travel to Indianapolis to see your favorite band or sports teams at one of these venues. Our guest rooms have always been comfortable and fresh, and even though they still look great, we are beginning the selection phase of our interior design refresh.
We'll want to make our new design both pleasing to the eye and functional for the traveler by incorporating contemporary comfort and some of the newest technology. By the end of the year our hotel will be the most newly renovated hotel in Indianapolis. This redesign will be particularly careful to preserve the characteristics of this 1915 historic hotel of Indianapolis. During this process we will incorporate some aspects of reuse and recycle as we continue to strive to be one of the more green hotels in Indianapolis. We will certainly welcome any ideas that might be proposed from one of our readers or guests. One of the first adopted practices will be the commitment to send the replaced carpet to a carpet recycling facility.
Mike Campbell, General Manager
Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Indianapolis
Welcome to the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown blog! For our first post, we would like to tell you a little bit about our downtown Indy hotel and what we will discuss.
The Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown is an historic hotel in downtown Indianapolis renovated from the American Fletcher National Bank building which was built in 1915. The Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown is a three star hotel located on the corner of Market and Pennsylvania Street. Our downtown Indianapolis hotel is within walking distance to Conseco Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium and the Murat Centre.
Our bloggers and what they will be discussing:
Michael Campbell - General Manager
Mike will be blogging about our sustainability efforts. Mike has been instrumental in implementing eco-friendly practices to make the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown a green hotel in Indianapolis.
Teresa Tracy - Assistant General Manager
Teresa will blog about what's going on in downtown Indianapolis and how it relates to the hotel. There are lots of events throughout the year so she will have much to write about.
Megan Mills - Guest Service Manager
Megan will be discussing what's going on at the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown. Whether we are welcoming convention attendees, reviewing a recent client function or recognizing a member of our staff, Megan will write about it.
Lindsay Gill - Leisure & Online Sales Manager
I will be discussing the special offers and hotel deals, hotel packages, weddings, meetings and banquets at the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown.
The Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown staff looks forward to telling you more about our hotel, our team and what's going on in Indy!
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