The Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown is the most newly renovated hotel in Indianapolis downtown. These changes make us one of the best hotels near Indianapolis Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium. As of today all projects are complete. The project required some great coordination by the housekeeping, maintenance, and front desk staffs to ensure that our guest service did not suffer during the renovation. We accomplished this by keeping any work well away from any guests that might be staying in the hotel at the time this work was completed. The results of the renovation are terrific. The designer took our comments about ensuring our desire to continue giving great hotel accommodations Indianapolis.
Already we are getting very positive feedback from frequent guests about the enhancements made to the décor as well as our conversion to the GSS bedding system. In addition to replacing the carpeting throughout the entire building, we added a new soft seating chair and ottoman that compliments the existing décor as well as being a comfortable place to watch the big game on our LG flat panel televisions.
I am by no means a great photographer, and these photos don't do the changes justice. The most dramatic change is to our lobby and restaurant . As an important historic hotel of Indianapolis, we had to ensure that the changes were in keeping with the great flavor of the Fletcher Trust Building. The new colors compliment the historic flavor of the building while adding a new design element . The restaurant design enhancements have opened up the area to a more relaxed atmosphere. Whereas the feel of the restaurant was classic and established, maybe even a little boring before, the new semicircular booths, additional flat panel TVs, and lighting enhancements give the area a trendier atmosphere that is more fun to hang out in.
Let me know what you think, or better yet stop in and see for yourself.
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.
It's been all over the news lately: How will Indianapolis fix the Capital Improvement Board's $46 million deficit? Most of the talks have centered around taxes. It has now fallen on downtown Indianapolis hotels, and all Marion County hotels, to help fund the ailing CIB.
Hotel taxes in Marion County will increase from 9% to 10%. This will make total taxes paid on a hotel room 17%. From hotels near Indianapolis Convention Center to hotels near the Indianapolis Airport, east, west, north or south will make that jump on September 1, 2009. This means that $99 rate will be $115.83 instead of $114.84 - not a huge difference right? The $199 rates during races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will now be $232.83 instead of $230.84...again, not a large difference.
There is a lot of media hype about Indianapolis being one of the nation's highest in hotel tax. That is a fact but look what little difference it makes. We all have to roll with the punches sometimes and make changes when it comes to supporting and improving our city. This is just one thing Marion County will be doing to help the CIB.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think!
In this age of technology, social media like
Facebook and
Twitter let us stay in touch. Gadgets like portable GPS trackers and map applications on our PDAs make it easier to find that Indianapolis conference hotel or hotels near Indianapolis Convention Center. So, why wouldn't those hotels you're searching provide something to make life easier on you?
Let me introduce Hilton eTools!
Group Value Dates let you search for our hotel and find out what hotel deals we're offering for holding your event or setting up a room block here. From here you can submit a request for a proposal and get an email back shortly.
Guest List Manager allows you to keep track of those guests in your room block, see if there are rooms still left in the block and edit/make/cancel hotel reservations.
You can plan your meeting, all online, from the comfort of your own home/desk/office with Hilton's
event resources. My personal favorite, the
Personalized Group Web Page, allows guests to reserve their rooms inside the block without inputting a group code or making any long distance phone calls. The best part about it? You, as the group administrator, can build the page and add in group-specific information. For example, an itinerary of a wedding weekend, schedule for a meeting or family reunion activities. You can also add up to two pictures to really personalize it and make it yours.
All Hilton Family hotels have these tools. So the next time you're using that GPS on your PDA to search for "Indianapolis Wedding Hotels" or "Indianapolis Meeting Hotels", why not check out the
Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown to see how we can take some planning stress from you with these great eTools!
...since I've blogged. I had the privilege of meeting my
favorite band, Incubus, for the second time this past Wednesday, July 22. Every time I see them live, it's a great experience and my eyes and ears are glued to the stage. It got me thinking, what are our guests passionate about? Maybe it's the upcoming concert at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Colts games this year at Lucas Oil Stadium or our three star hotel downtown Indianapolis. Feel free to tell us what you're passionate about, including comments about
our hotel!
We're near the Indianapolis Speedway and this is the perfect time to be one of many downtown Indy hotels close to that venue. Saving Abel is playing there this weekend, practice is running and the Brickyard 400 is Sunday! I'll be there, will you? There are lots of upcoming events this summer including some major conventions. GenCon, the Best Four Days in Gaming, will be held downtown in August and we are near the Indianapolis Convention Center - only a five block walk!
Since my favorite topic is live music, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra plays at Conner Prairie every year for Symphony on the Prairie. I've not been myself, but I hear it's great. If you'd like to stay in an Indianapolis area hotel after the Prairie,
get online and check out our special rates for this event! Just input Group Code
SOTP09.
There's only a couple months of summer left! Tell us how you'll make the most of it!
Follow us on
Facebook and
Twitter! We will soon be setting up a Facebook and Twitter rate, too...stay tuned for more...
We are excited to be one of the Downtown Indianapolis Hotels that is participating with the guest of Do It Best. Being one of the hotels near Indianapolis Convention Center guest are within short walking distance for the convention.
We are also one of the hotels near the Indianapolis Speedway. Our hotel sits directly on the parade route for the Saturday festivities. We are also hosting a client event during the parade, come rain or shine, you can enjoy the view from one of our fabulous meeting rooms that overlook Pennsylvania Street.
Looking for the Face2 face Tour for Elton John and Billy Joel? We are one of the hotels near Conseco Fieldhouse. Visit our website and reserve one of our wonderful Indianapolis Hotel Packages.
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