Hotel Reviews
Travel Tuesday: Intercontinental Indianapolis Hotel Review
Last week brought me back to Indianapolis as I attended my third Gen Con. After having previously stayed at two other Downtown Indy hotels, for my 2025 stay, I ended up at the Intercontinental. Incidentally, when I saw this list on the site, I was wondering how I hadn’t come across it in prior years. Well, as it turns out, this particular property only opened in February! That makes this the newest hotel I’ve ever (knowingly) stayed at, besting my stay at Crockford’s by a few months.
So, how was this new Indianapolis hotel — and is it a viable option for those headed to the Convention Center? Let’s take a look.
Intercontinental Indianapolis Hotel Review
Booking and How I Booked
The thing about booking a hotel for a huge event like Gen Con is that prices get a bit crazy. With that context, I’ll tell you that my boss paid a total of $2,700 for my five-night stay at the Intercontinental. As obscene as that is, it was still cheaper than some other hotels in the area (in the past, we’d booked using points, but it seemed many hotels were even blocking this option this time!).
Intercontinental is an IHG brand, so you can book directly through them. Alternatively, you’ll find the hotel on several third-party portals, such as Expedia. In fact, despite my protest, my boss ended up using Priceline to complete my booking. Nevertheless, the front desk agent was able to add my IHG account number to the reservation when I checked in so that I could at least track my stay in the app.
Parking and Check-In
Like most hotels in the area, Intercontinental doesn’t have official self-parking — and charges handsomely for valet. Valet parking is $65 per night and is available right in front of the hotel’s entrance on Market Street. Be aware that Market and the rest of the circle are often closed off for festivals and events (at least it seems that way whenever I’m there), although there was a gap open to access the hotel parking even when there were closures beyond that.
Jumping ahead to the end of my trip, I do want to note that I appreciated the ability to tip digitally when requesting my car from the valet. I did have a few dollars on me for this purpose, but using Apple Pay was even easier.
Back to my arrival, something to note is that the front desk isn’t located on the ground floor. Instead, you’ll want to head up a floor to check in. I will say that the desk was pretty small, but I never saw much of a line. Sure enough, when I checked in, I was helped right away. That also meant that, soon after I pulled up, I was ready to head to my room.
Elevators
Upon arriving at the hotel (on my way to check in), it seemed as though the elevators were pretty busy. So, with my room being on the third floor, I just took the stairs from the lobby. Seeing how easy this was, I went this route for the majority of my stay — although, when I did choose to use the elevators, I didn’t have any issues. Moreover, while it takes some getting used to, I did come to like the “select a floor first” system. I suppose it just takes getting everyone on the same page in order for it to work at top capacity.
The Room
When I first walked into my room, I was immediately impressed. In particular, the chandelier above the bed grabbed my attention while the tall ceilings made the room feel huge. Once I got my bearings, I realized it wasn’t as large as I initially thought, but it still had plenty of space. It also featured several seating options, including the bench seat in front of the window, the small sofa on the other side of the bed, and the desk chair. As for the bed, it was comfy and led to five full nights of sleep.
Moving over to the amenities, each room is equipped with a Nespresso machine. Honestly, this isn’t my favorite, but it’s better than most in-room coffee options, so I’ll take it. Meanwhile, there was also a mini bar with various snacks and drinks. I actually tried the $6 potato chips from Broad Ripple — and they were so good that I’d say they were nearly worth it!
While we’re talking amenities, on the Intercontinental site, it confusingly lists both a mini bar and a mini fridge. In reality, there’s no dedicated mini fridge for guest use. Instead, there’s a small shelf (that description is generous) where you can put your own items while the rest of the space is occupied by beverages for purchase. On the bright side, unlike some mini bars, this is not the type where you’re automatically charged the second an item is removed. Because of this, I was able to put a couple of the sandwiches I brought with me for the week on top of the mini bar items while positioning the other two on the “shelf.” This worked well enough, even if I did feel a bit weird about it.
Heading to the bathroom, the shower was beautiful and functional as well. Featuring both a rainfall showerhead and a handheld, it was easy to swap between the two. I also enjoyed the provided toiletries, although the scent of the body wash may be a bit strong for some.
As for the view, well, there wasn’t one. I almost thought that was literally true as, when I arrived in my room, looking out the window was so dark that I couldn’t tell if I was looking at rooms across the way or just the reflection of my own lights. But, in the morning, I could see that my room was facing a courtyard of sorts (not one you can access or would want to — but, being on the third floor, it almost looked like you could).
On the one hand, this positioning made it so that absolutely no road noise was present. However, given the choice, I might have preferred to see the street.
Speaking of quiet, though, I was impressed by how the air conditioning was effective while never standing out. It actually wasn’t until I was writing this review that I even realized just how quiet it was — but, in hindsight, that’s quite a plus.
Finally, one feature I loved about Intercontinental wasn’t in the room itself but in the hall. With the hotel being a single-use-plastic-free property, each guest floor is equipped with a “hydration station.” What I loved was that, in addition to still water, these even included sparkling water (the dispenser was similar to what I’ve seen in Centuriion Lounges). Even better, you could borrow a glass bottle from the station to take back to your room. Believe me when I tell you that I made heavy use of this sparkling tap and would also regularly fill the bottle I got from 21c with cold water before heading to the convention center. Overall, this was a great feature and was way better than having a couple of bottles of water in the room IMHO.
Location and the Sky Walk
The Intercontinental Indianapolis is found just steps from the iconic Monument Circle in the heart of downtown. Of course, that also puts you just a few minutes away from the Indianapolis Convention Center (which continues to Lucas Oil Stadium). On that note, easily the biggest downside to the Intercontinental for convention goers is that the property doesn’t directly connect to the Sky Walk. That said, you do have several options for accessing it — none of which are very far.
My path of choice would be to cross Illinois at Market and enter the building near TJ Maxx. Alternatively, you could take Illinois to Washington and sneak through the Conrad to get up to the ArtsGarden. Note that this may not be an option on the way back, though, as you’ll need a Conrad room key to access the property. At worst, you could also just walk over to the PNC Building to get to the Convention Center and onto Lucas Oil.
Dining
The Intercontinental houses a few dining options. First, there’s Serliana in the lobby. This is where you’ll find breakfast in the mornings but the spot is open for lunch and dinner as well. Then, there’s the Astrea Rooftop Bar, offering views of Monument Circle and more. Finally, in-room dining is also available.
As for me, trying to keep my spending down, I skipped dining at any of the on-property locations. Instead, I hit up a few of the quick service spots in the area while also relying on the aforementioned sandwiches I packed with me. I also made return trips to Command Coffee and Coatcheck Coffee, while also checking out Java House (which was another short walk from the Intercontinental). So, while I would have loved to have checked out the view from the bar upstairs, that’s something I’ll have to save for another time.
Final Thoughts on Intercontinental Indianapolis
Weighing my stay at the Intercontinental Indianapolis against other hotels in the area, there are some pros and cons. The downside is that, unlike my experiences at Conrad or Le Meridien, there’s no direct access to the Sky Walk. This means I did have to step outside for a least a couple of minutes when coming to or from the Convention Centers.
Having said that, I think the benefits of this property outweigh that minor inconvenience. For one, I loved my room and felt very comfortable. Second, the hydration station amenity saved me a ton by providing me with free sparkling water (and helped keep me away from sugary soda!). And while I would have preferred a dedicated mini fridge, allowing me to put personal items in the mini bar sufficed.
All in all, the Intercontinental is a beautiful property that is just steps away from some of the coolest spots Indianapolis has to offer. Therefore, I look forward to returning to this hotel in the future — and hopefully taking my wife along next time!
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