Traverse City, Michigan: Hotel Indigo

January 2020, weekend, 1-night, king guestroom warehouse district #407

We stayed in this hotel shortly after it first opened in June 2016, and this is the first time we have been back since then.

View from Hotel Indigo guestroom 407

Platinum perks and check-in

I did not receive a room upgrade or status recognition, other than the front desk associate asking if I wanted points or drink coupons for my on-property benefit. I chose points, and they posted to my account that evening. The valet parking charge has increased to $15 since our last stay. Information I found online for Traverse City parking said that there is no overnight parking in town, so we valet parked our car. The next morning, we noticed cars that had been parked in a lot overnight kiddy corner from the hotel (across the street on the right in the photo above). We checked out that parking lot before we left town, and there were no signs that said no overnight parking, nor were there any fees posted to park there. If we had seen this when we first arrived, we would have parked in that lot. If anyone has done this, please share your experience!

Another view from guestroom 407

Guestroom 407

This hotel has five floors; our guestroom was on the second floor from the top. It is near the end of the hall and overlooks the hotel entrance. This guestroom is considerably smaller than guestroom 432, which we had in June 2016. If you follow the link above to that post, you can see photos of that guestroom and the guestroom diagram.

Shower in guestroom 407

We love the showers in this hotel, although the shower in this guestroom did not drain well. A puddle of water developed in the area where I was initially standing. I was able to reposition the shower head toward the entrance so I did not have to finish my shower in standing water. This did not happen because of a clogged drain; the water settled into the area because the floor did not slope toward the drain from that area.

Hotel Indigo Traverse City guestroom 407

A cabinet outside the bathroom contained a coffeemaker with supplies, ice bucket, and glasses. There were hooks for hanging jackets, etc. on the wall next to the cabinet. The room also contained a full length mirror, wardrobe closet, flatscreen TV, work table and chair, one soft chair, small table that slides under the chair, king size bed, and two nightstands with lamps (one did not work). All of the items except the bed and nightstands were scrunched together along the wall at the foot of the bed. The soft chair touched the work desk, and there was not room to walk through at the foot of the bed if someone was sitting in the work chair. There was just enough room next to the wardrobe closet in front of the full length mirror to open the luggage rack. Unfortunately, there was no light in this area, which made it impossible to see the contents of the suitcase without a flashlight. The closest light would have been the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed; however, that lamp is the one that did not work.

The sheets and pillows were comfy; however, the bed was very hard. The room was well soundproofed; we heard only minimal noise from the hallway and from running water in the morning. We did not hear any noise from outside. I did not think to check the clock when we arrived, and we were rudely awakened by the alarm from a deep sleep at 6:00 AM! This has only happened to me a couple of times over the years, and I often forget to check the clock time and alarm when arriving in my hotel room.

Food & Beverage

We did not have any food or beverages in the hotel during this visit. See my next post for information about local dining and Happy Hour places we visited this trip. You can also find more local information in previous Traverse City posts.

Misc. and overall

We did not call for our car before going to the front desk to checkout, and we waited about five or six minutes for our car. Fortunately, we saw the valet drive our car up (outside the overhead drive in front of the entrance), because he then exited the car, and disappeared. We were not acknowledged, and we did not encounter any staff members before loading our luggage into the car and then departing.

Overall, this visit was disappointing. No one inquired about our satisfaction during the stay, so I did not mention the alarm, non-working lamp, or any of the other things we experienced. The morning of our arrival day, I noticed that the guestroom rate had dropped $5. Sometimes when that happens, I contact the hotel, and they adjust the rate. This time, I did not call because I thought it would even out if we received an executive upgrade (executive rooms and suites were still available at that time). When we arrived, I was told the hotel was sold out, and that our rate could not be adjusted. I tend to choose hotels based somewhat on the status that I have and the perks that come with it. Since this hotel does not treat loyal members as loyal guests, there is really no reason to choose this hotel over a hotel where I do not have status.

Traverse City is a tourist destination, and it is often an expensive place to visit. In my next post, I will share some tips for places to visit that will not hurt your pocketbook!