Conrad Indianapolis Review

Our Verdict

So to be 150% honest, we stayed at the Conrad Indianapolis in November of 2018. And we had an awful experience. But, we felt it was a series of unfortunate events. And we decided to give the only true luxury property in Indianapolis (at least in our opinion) another shot.

The Conrad Indianapolis

So this year when we visited Indianapolis again for Thanksgiving, we decided to give the Conrad Indianapolis a second shot. And we couldn’t have been happier.

The Conrad Indianapolis opened in 2006 with 247 rooms and suites. And it was the first five star hotel to open in Indy. The Conrad is located at the corner of Meridian and Washington streets right in the heart of the Circle City.

The Room

While all of the rooms and suites at the Conrad Indianapolis are great, the Conrad Indianapolis has four suites that are quite special. These four suites are part of the “Collection” and are located on their own private floor. They are essentially a hotel within a hotel. Staying in one of the collection suites provides an intimate, relaxing escape and makes you forget you’re in the middle of the city.

The Collection Suites all feature unique art. Here’s how the Conrad describes the four collection suites:

Experience The Collection, an inspiring group of luxury suites featuring world-renowned art, each devoted to the exploration of a particular art genre. The Collection at the Conrad Indianapolis hotel boasts its own private lobby area and carefully curated furnishing, rich wood and marble details. Hand-signed pieces by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and many others adorn the walls and set the tone for each suite in The Collection.

This year we were fortunate enough to spend Thanksgiving in the Contemporary Collection Suite. The suite is 730 square feet with a separate bedroom with ensuite bathroom, living room and a second half bath off of the living area.

The master bathroom is definitely a spa-inspired bathroom with large vanity and a perfectly lit mirror. The floors are also heated in the bathroom which makes it nice for those chilly mornings. The large walk in shower with rain shower head will make you want to stay in the shower longer.

The Amenities

Located on the 6th floor of the hotel, The Conrad Indianapolis has a full service spa and salon, The Evan Todd Spa & Salon. In addition to the spa, the sixth floor features other amenities like an indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center and men and women’s locker rooms with saunas and steam rooms.

We took advantage of The Evan Todd Spa & Salon and had wonderful treatments. And of course we took advantage of the fitness center to workout those Thanksgiving calories. The Conrad Indianapolis fitness center features plenty of equipment and weights, definitely enough to get a good workout on. And we love the fact that all guests of the hotel can use the locker rooms and enjoy the sauna and steam rooms.

And the hotel’s pool and hot tub make a great urban oasis to relax and unwind after a long day.

Dining

The Conrad Indianapolis has two attached restaurants located on property. The first is a wine bar, Tastings, which is incredible. Tastings offers Wine on Tap and a limited but delicious food menu. And the second is the Capital Grille which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ve had breakfast and dinner at the Capital Grille and you simply can’t go wrong.

And while we typically don’t indulge in room service, the Conrad Indianapolis has some of THE BEST room service of any luxury hotel we’ve stayed at. We ordered room service breakfast two different mornings and each day, it was fantastic. And on Thanksgiving Night, since there aren’t many options in Downtown Indianapolis for dining, we ordered salads for dinner, which were delicious.

Needless to say, you can’t go wrong with any of the dining options or room service at The Conrad Indianapolis.

Parking

The Conrad Indianapolis only offers Valet Parking, however there are numerous parking garages located near the Conrad Indianapolis for self-parking. Valet Parking is $49 per day, which is a bit steep. However the valet service was quite efficient and our car was always waiting on us.

Pet Friendly

The Conrad Indianapolis is pet friendly. The hotel does charge a one-time $75 pet fee, per stay. And the area around the Conrad Indianapolis has numerous areas to walk your four legged friends.

Conclusion

We are definitely happy we decided to give the Conrad Indianapolis a second chance. Despite some uncertainties, the stay was perfect. And again, while all of the rooms are great, the Collection Suites offer an intimate hotel within a hotel experience.

Extra Perks

And don’t forget, when you book the Conrad Indianapolis with Live Luxe Travel Co., through our Hilton Impresario partnership, you’ll receive a $100 hotel credit to use on dining or at the spa, daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade (if available at check-in) and double Hilton Honors perks.

Le Meridien Indianapolis Review

Our Verdict

The Le Meridien Indianapolis offers up-scale accommodations, a great location in downtown Indianapolis and excellent service. This review is based off of our personal stay in July of 2019. And don’t forget, if you are planning to stay at the Le Meridien Indianapolis, book through Marriott Luminous to take advantage of exclusive complimentary extras like a confirmed room upgrade, daily breakfast and a welcome amenity. To request Marriott Luminous rates, just visit liveluxetravelco.com/marriott-luminous.

The Le Meridien Indianapolis

We visit family in Indiana frequently. And that means we typically spend a night or two each trip in Indianapolis. Indianapolis hasn’t been the easiest city to find that perfect hotel that fits our needs for an enjoyable stay.

We’ve stayed at the Hilton, Conrad Indianapolis, Omni Severin Hotel and Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. And while all of them were decent enough hotels, they also didn’t compel us to go out of our way to stay there a second time. So our search for that perfect hotel in Downtown Indianapolis continued. And then on our last trip to Indianapolis, we stayed at the Le Méridien Indianapolis. The first hotel we’ve experienced in Indianapolis that had us wanting to return.

The Le Méridien Indianapolis was originally the historic Canterbury hotel, a landmark property in the heart of Indianapolis. But following a $9.5 million renovation of the historic hotel, the Le Méridien Indianapolis reopened featuring a chic design ethos that combines the property's historic architecture with a contemporary style.

Compared to many hotels in Indianapolis, the Le Méridien is a smaller, more intimate, boutique style hotel featuring just 99 modern guest rooms.

We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite which was plenty big enough for us to spread out and have a comfortable stay. The rooms were chic, yet functional and very comfortable.

The living room had a large and comfortable sectional, desk and large television. It was great for relaxing, yet functional enough to get some work done.

The bedroom was done in the same design and the bed was extremely comfortable.

And unlike many historic hotels, when the Le Méridien was renovated, they made the bathrooms extremely functional with spacious walk-in showers and large vanities.

The Le Méridien Indianapolis supplies guest bathrooms with toiletries by Malin + Goetz. And while these aren’t our favorite hotel toiletries, they are more than adequate for a luxury hotel.

One of our favorite things about the hotel was that they are extremely pet friendly. Madi definitely appreciated the pet amenities. And they don’t charge a pet fee. Definitely a huge plus in our book since Madi normally travels with us when we visit family.

The hotel’s restaurant is Spoke & Steele Restaurant. And Executive Chef Erin Gillum takes a progressive approach to reinterpret authentic modern cuisine. We only had the opportunity to have breakfast at Spoke & Steele, but the food and service was excellent.

Otherwise, the Le Méridien has a fitness center and lounge areas on the small ground level floor. And even while it might not have as many amenities as other downtown hotels, we liked the small, charming feel of this boutique hotel. It made us feel comfortable and we definitely plan on returning. And we hope to have a chance to enjoy dinner at Spoke & Steele on our next visit.

In terms of negatives about our visit, the only one that comes to mind is that the valet parking service was a bit slow. In fact at one point, we waited over thirty minutes to get our vehicle. We’re hoping this was just a fluke and not a consistent issue.

Extra Perks

And don’t forget, when you book the Le Meridien Indianapolis with Live Luxe Travel Co., through our Marriott Luminous partnership, you’ll receive daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade (if available at check-in) and a welcome amenity.