The Good: Affordable, Decent room size, Friendly staff, Wi-Fi
The Bad: Breakfast options, Cleanliness options
The Basics: The Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis, IN is an inexpensive hotel option for those looking for a place to crash near Indy!
Like many people, my life has been full of change the last few years. I moved away from New York State, which is honestly something I never thought I would do, I revitalized my own business and I have more animals in my life than I ever expected to be happy with. Amid changes of life, love, and death, I've searched for some sense of normalcy and that meant this year for Thanksgiving, I spent the holiday on the road. There's an annual fan-run Star Trek convention in Indianapolis I used to do and I was surprised by how normal it felt to return to doing that show this year. But, as all things change, this year the convention was in a new location, so I had to find a new place to stay for the show. That led me to the Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Quality Inn & Suites in Indianapolis is part of a small complex of hotels situated on the southwest side of Indy and it was over twenty-five dollars less expensive per night than the hotel for the convention and the others in the area.
After my stay, I had some pretty good ideas why.
Location
The Quality Inn & Suites Airport Indianapolis (IN158 in the Choice Hotels numbering system) is located at 2631 S Lynhurst Drive in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is a short distance from I-70, a major north-south route through Indianapolis. The hotel is easiest to access from the Sam Jones Parkway Expressway, which connects right with 70 near the hotel. Mapquest gives perfectly accurate directions to the address and there were actually no issues with finding the hotel when I arrived.
This is not a tourist area and it is not a scenic area by any means. The hotel has no grounds, just a wraparound parking lot, and a front lot filled with Semi trailers. Easy to find, the hotel has four stories and is reminiscent of an apartment building design, as opposed to a motel design. Rooms are accessed through central hallways, not from the outside.
The Quality Inn & Suites Airport Indianapolis is a multistory drab gray concrete building, but it is brightly lit, allowing visitors to feel very safe immediately. I had a room with a single king bed, nonsmoking, and the room was instantly available to me with early check-in on Thanksgiving morning.
Room Size
The room I was rented was actually a decent size, especially for the price. The room was a nonsmoking room and had no hint anyone had ever smoked in it. The room had a great sense of space to it with the king-sized bed not at all dominating the approximately 11 X 24 ft. room.
The bathroom was fairly small with a shallow bathtub and the curtain style that provides the illusion of space by having a bar that curves outward. The main room had a corner nook desk, bed, table and drawers; the television was mounted into the wall. The room did not feel cramped, which was nice because the view out the lone window in the place was terrible and having the shades constantly drawn, the room felt like it was a good size and not at all claustrophobic.
Cleanliness
The fundamental detraction against the Quality Inn & Suites in Indianapolis was its lack of cleanliness. The public areas in the hotel are fairly dank, though the lobby was clean enough to not alarm me when I entered. The stairwell had a sticky run - like fluids that had dripped out of a garbage bag - the entire three days of my stay. The walls had stains in the hallways and stairwells and the white paint on the ceiling is discolored in several places, leaving me feeling a bit unclean.
As for the room, the room was nonsmoking and was all right. The room was not quite as dirty as the rest of the hotel felt, but some of the linens had noticeable stains on them. The bedding was clean, though!
Amenities
This Quality Inn & Suites had the feeling of a place one passes through, not where one stays for real enjoyment. As a result, along with my own hurry to be on the road, I did not spend time at the pool, which was adjacent to the lobby and not very inviting (who wants to swim and be watched by strangers?!) and I the breakfast nook portion of the lobby was a disappointment.
There was a safe in the room, but by prepaying, I avoided the the usual hassle of having the $1.50 taken off the bill. The room was equipped with the usual Quality Inn shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, soap and coffee. The television in the room was of decent size with about fifty channels worth of choices. The heating unit worked fine. The room had a kitchen area with a little refrigerator and tiny microwave, which might have been the lowest power microwave I've ever used. The wi-fi in the room was solid, but slow.
The breakfast was served in a dining area in the lobby. The breakfast was especially unimpressive, even for an inexpensive hotel. For sure, few hotels in the Choice Hotel system have sausage gravy and eggs. But the eggs were powdered, the gravy was cold and unflavored and the sausage was overcooked and cold. There was the usual coffee, tea and the only juice option was apple juice, though there was an orange juice. The orange fluid was clearly from a mix, much like a camp's bug juice. There were a couple of cereal options, danishes, bread for toast, yogurt, and a make your own waffle station. I could not find any milk for the cereal. There was also fresh fruit in the form of oranges and apples.
Overall
Staying at the Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis was good for the staff. They were friendly, knowledgeable and recommended a wonderful pizza place. Beyond that, the room was affordable and I got what I paid for . . . but it was hardly the most inviting or enjoyable hotel I've ever been to!
For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Comfort Suites Grand Rapids North - Comstock Park, MI
Quality Inn Niagara Falls
Quality Inn Brockton - Brockton, MA
5.5/10
For other travel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page!
© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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