Hotel Indigo

Hotel Indigo's frontage.

The Indigo at night.

The colourful stylish lobby, which is a feature of the Indigo brand.

A typical Indigo guest room, with photo-mural.

One of the King guest rooms.

Indigo Hotels is a new branded boutique product offered by the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) as part of its Indigo brand, which has rolled out eleven hotels across the US between 2005 and 2007. The Hotel Indigo Sarasota, the brand’s first new build, opened in October 2006

A further six hotels are under development with another 50 in the planning stage. Four new Indigo Hotels in Newton in Massachusetts, Columbus in Ohio, Baltimore in Maryland, and Fishers in Indiana were opened during the first quarter of 2008.

Each of the rooms have signature colourful photo-murals and a range of luxurious features, such as Wi-Fi, CD player, distressed furniture, hardwood flooring, plush bedding, comfortable rugs and spa-style showers. The hotel corridors also have murals which change according to the seasons.

The Indigo Sarasota is situated conveniently for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Centre, the Ringling Museum, beach areas and a whole range of downtown shops, such as St Armands Circle.

RESTAURANTS

The hotel dining rooms are based on a relaxed café / bistro style. The Golden Mean (bar and restaurant), offers seasonal, health-conscious food with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients along with more substantial fare for evening meals. Starbucks coffee is also available and food is prepared quickly to suit the time-conscious traveller. The hotel café / bistro ‘Phi’ offers a menu including fresh salads, pizzas and panini sandwiches.

THE INDIGO BRAND

The Indigo brand was conceived to move away from the beige neutrality of traditional hotels and appeal to more style-conscious, lifestyle-focused guests. The hotels are located in urban, midtown and suburban areas, close to businesses, restaurants and entertainment venues.

SERVICES

IHG decided it wanted the hotels to resemble their location and launched Interpret Indigo, a programme that instructs franchisees (as all of the chain’s hotels are franchised) on how to create interiors that reflect the environment, whether they are desert wall hangings at the Indigo location in Scottsdale, Arizona, or birch trees in Ottawa.

The Hotel Indigo lobby offers the business traveller a productive area for work with all the essentials including a free wireless internet ‘hotspot’ in the lobby and free high-speed internet access in all of the guestrooms.

The hotel has excellent wellness and spa facilities (called the Phitness centre), cardio equipment, a ballet bar for stretching and a whirlpool hot tub and sauna / steam room. The hotel also allows dogs and cats to stay with their owners.

A 24-hour business centre with free computer access is also available.

CONSTRUCTION

The hotel was constructed by Robbins Construction and Maintenance Company Inc. The four-storey hotel has 95 guestrooms with 12 suites; 76 single bedrooms; and 19 double bedrooms. There are 125 free parking spaces for guests.

The hotel design is based on the universal design constant called the Golden Mean, or PHI. This mathematical ratio is referenced throughout the Hotel Indigo, such as the nautilus shells used in the logo and in the shape of the front desk.