Hotel occupancy rates are way down in Indianapolis, as they are elsewhere, but local operators and national analysts think
the city is in a good position to bounce back when the economy improves.
Evansville officials plan to build a new 11,000-seat arena in conjunction with a major remodeling of a downtown hotel.Work could start as early as next month on what Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said will be a transformation of the city’s downtown.The plan, announced yesterday, will put the $127 million arena on a different site than […]
Hawaii hotels offering bizarre deals With tourism in the dumps, Hawaii hotels are offering unprecedented discounts, freebies and other incentives in hopes of drawing tourists to the islands and survive the economic slump. The wide range of perks include free nights, rental cars, upgraded rooms, 2-for-1 activities, daily breakfast, round of golf, free parking, spa […]
The Marion County Capital Improvement Board’s bailout depends on the success of Indianapolis’ new downtown JW Marriott convention hotel.
Conrad Indianapolis has been recognized as the No. 1 U.S. hotel by Expedia Insiders’ Select List 2009.
An overnight robbery of the Residence Inn on Digital Way in Indianapolis could be linked to a string of other robberies. Just after 2:30 a.m., two men pulled a knife on the desk attendant and made off with a small amount of cash. Investigators say the men fit the description of two thieves who robbed […]
Raising Indianapolis’ tax on hotel rooms-already one of the highest rates in the nation-could be the tipping point that causes conventioneers to bypass Indianapolis, some industry experts say. Marion County hotels already pay 16 percent in sales taxes-the 9-percent innkeeper’s tax, plus the 7-percent state sales tax. An increase in the innkeeper’s tax would push […]
The recession, coupled with personnel shifts, have grounded the more than $50-million hotel project adjacent to the new terminal.
Plans for a 250-room hotel connected to the new Indianapolis International Airport terminal are in the deep freeze as the lodging industry contends with vacancies at a 20-year high. Just when the project might be revived is difficult to say. One thing is certain; the hotel won’t be open in 2009 as planned-and 2010 is […]
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are looking at a plan to build a new hotel, possibly with a new IMS Hall of Fame Museum, sources close to the Speedway say. IMS officials announced yesterday that the Brickyard Crossing Inn, which is adjacent to the fabled race track, has closed because it would be too costly to […]
Johnson County officials this month approved a 7-percent tax on hotel-room stays.
A central Indiana consortium of 128 hotels offering 14,000 rooms at prices below market rates was key in securing a deal to bring the FFA National Convention to Indianapolis in six of 12 years from 2016 to 2024. FFA officials announced at Conseco Fieldhouse this morning that Indianapolis and Louisville will hold the convention in […]
If you’re not using your own computer that’s been religiously scanned for malware, you’re leaving yourself open, and the elegance
of the hotel is no indicator of how safe its computers are.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are in talks to move their Hall of Fame Museum from the interior of the oval to a spot
just outside the south end of the track, an area that could also house a new Speedway hotel.
Allen County officials have stopped construction of a Fort Wayne hotel because a section of the seven stories that have risen into the air is sinking, according to WANE-TV Channel 15. The project, which is near I-69 and U.S. 24, is settling because it was built on topsoil, the Fort Wayne station reported. The contractor, […]
Huntingburg office furniture manufacturer OFS Brands Inc. has acquired Loewenstein Inc., a maker of hotel furniture headquartered in Pompano Beach, Fla., for undisclosed terms. Family-owned OFS said the deal opens a seamless expansion into the hospitality market, and that OFS would protect the character of the Loewenstein brand and allow it to operate independently in […]
Developers White Lodging and REI Investments have made some changes to their plans for a Courtyard by Marriott and a SpringHill Suites next door to the JW Marriott convention hotel, at the request of city planners. Among the changes: signs…
Staggeringly high gasoline prices and a sputtering economy are preventing scores of would-be travelers from packing up their thirsty sport-utility vehicles and heading to their favorite vacation destinations. Nationwide, hotel occupancy rates slipped to 68 percent through June of this year, down from 71 percent the same time last year, according to the most recent data from Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research. For the most part, local hotel operators are feeling the same pain. Through the first six months of the…
