After more than a decade, InterContinental opens downtown. See inside the luxury hotel
Step inside the first floor of the new InterContinental hotel in Indianapolis, and you're in the building's original lobby where golden accents transport guests back in time to the roaring 1920s when the Illinois Building first opened. But when you head up to the second-floor main lobby, you'll find a modern hotel housed in the historic Indianapolis building once at risk for demolition.
Indianapolis-based developer Keystone Group bought the Illinois Building at the corner of Illinois and Market Streets in 2013, investing $110 million and promising to rejuvenate the languishing site. Now, 12 years later, the nearly century-old building opened to the public once again Monday as the first new luxury hotel in Indianapolis in nearly two decades.
Keystone added an eleventh floor, which now serves as home to a penthouse suite with views of Monument Circle and a rooftop restaurant and bar. The hotel includes 170 guest rooms, some of which look out to the building's atrium, two restaurants and 5,000-square feet of event space for weddings, board meetings or other private events.
The entire hotel pays homage to the city's creatives, with works by Indianapolis artists commissioned for the hotel in the lobby, hallways and guest rooms. Mini fridges stock snacks and drinks from local brands such as Just Pop In! and the South Bend Chocolate Company.
More: Intercontinental sets winter opening date; 5 takeaways on the luxury hotel before it opens
Alysa Guffey covers business and development for IndyStar. Contact her at amguffey@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: See inside the InterContinental, downtown's newest luxury hotel
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