Staybridge Suites Indianapolis-Carmel by IHG — Hotel in Carmel

Let me preface this review by saying two things: 1) this is the first time I've felt like my experience was polar opposite from what online reviews lead me to believe! And 2) in my entire life, I’ve never checked into a hotel, surveyed the scene, and promptly checked right back out. Until now. Staybridge Suites Indianapolis-Carmel, congratulations - you’ve set a new (and impressively low) bar.||From the moment we pulled into the lot, the red flags started waving like we’d just driven into a NASCAR pit row at a county fair. One gentleman was performing what looked like full-blown mechanical surgery on his car, hood up, vehicle on jacks, tools scattered everywhere. Another man, clearly on his personal Tour de Marlboro & Miller Lite, had all four doors open and was circling the building like a chain-smoking Olympic hopeful. Safe family environment? Not exactly.||The lobby didn’t help. Dark, silent, and eerily lifeless, it felt less like a hotel and more like a funeral home that lost power. No music, no warmth, just… void. Later, when we walked into a competitor’s lobby, the background music and welcoming atmosphere made me realize what this place was missing: literally any sign of hospitality.||Maintenance? Let’s just say this property hasn’t merely “fallen behind.” It’s gone AWOL. Trim pieces broken, scuffs on doors, windows with streaks that looked like modern art gone wrong, and a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser so neglected it had grown a white fuzzy life form. I half-expected it to ask for spare change. And the fire alarm in the front desk area? Held together with scotch tape. Because nothing screams “your safety matters to us” like dollar-store adhesives keeping the fire system alive.||The cafeteria - a place where food should inspire confidence - instead displayed a collection bin of dirty dishes at 7:15 PM. Breakfast had ended that morning. Lunch and dinner aren’t even offered. Translation: those dishes had been aging all day. For added flair, a grimy vacuum cleaner was stored right next to the food service counters. Nothing whets the appetite quite like thinking about where that vacuum’s been.||The pool? Imagine a swamp in a Motel 6 horror flick. A greasy film floated on top of the water like a bad salad dressing, and the surrounding area looked like it hadn’t been touched by a mop since the Bush administration. The sticky blackened tile floor was the cherry on this very unsanitary sundae.||The business center was more of a junk drawer than a workspace, with stray flyers littering the area. And the soda machine looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Y2K.||Finally, the room. The best I can say is that it may have been nice… in 2010. But after 15 years of hard use, it wore its age like a cautionary tale. Outdated furnishings, worn surfaces, and a permanent “funk” that clung to the air like a bad memory. I wouldn’t have let my kids set foot outside the room alone, and even staying inside felt questionable.||So we did the only logical thing: left. Checked in around 5:10 PM. Returned at 7:00 PM after dinner, bags still in the car, and asked to check out. The clerk asked why, and I was polite. His response? To tell me he thought I had “enough money that a refund shouldn’t matter.” Bold customer service strategy - insult the paying guest and keep their money. Ultimately, they refunded the remaining nights but forced us to pay for the first one… even though we never so much as unpacked a toothbrush.||We drove down the street to the Residence Inn, which was cleaner, safer, cheaper, and infinitely more welcoming. In short: everything Staybridge Suites was not.||If you value cleanliness, safety, and sanity, run - don’t walk - away from this place. It was...

Please take the time to read my honest review. As the old saying goes, it's all in the detail. I'm what people call a road warrior. Unfortunately, there are times where I am in hotel rooms more than I am at my own home. Which means that I have seen the gamut as far as hotels go. This hotel was absolutely phenomenal. Outstanding. I'm going to get a bit wordy so bear with me. Staying here made me feel like I was in my own home. First of all the hotel is ridiculously clean. I had an issue with my mother passing away suddenly and Kevin at the front was just as compassionate and kind and accommodating as can be period the rest of the staff is incredible. I don't know if they do at nightly or not but they have a mixer where they offer free glasses of wine, beer, and snacks. It was nice to be greeted with a large glass of chardonnay! The rooms are set up like a studio apartment. They offer real dishes, cutlery, silverware, a full size refrigerator, full size microwave and a full size dishwasher. There was a very large desk that I could work at. Never had an issue with complimentary wi-fi. I had a very large sofa bed to kick back on and the bed was crazy soft and comfortable. They offer complimentary toiletries such as hand soap, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, body wash. And they made sure that everyone of those containers were full of hopping in the shower and realizing there's no soap. The bathrooms have full size drawers and a cabinet underneath the sink like you would at home. This was great because I could store all of my things instead of them having sit on the counter getting in the way. I always judge a hotel by what I call the hair test. If I find hair in the bed, on my towels, or anywhere in the room, it signals to me that the room was not cleaned as thoroughly as it should be. I did not find one hair in my travels! The heating and air conditioning worked perfectly. Never ran out of hot water period water pressure was great. I probably have bored you to tears at this point but you get the gist of what I'm trying to say. This hotel was outstanding. I also believe that they accept pets which was not a problem because I did not hear any barking and again the hotel was incredibly clean. Lastly there's free parking. Do yourself a favor, book as many days as you can if you're traveling to this hotel. Enjoy your stay!! Signed,...

I booked this hotel for National FFA Convention. I called a week in advance to verify I had the rooms I needed. They called me about 2 hours before check in (I had and 8 hour drive with 8 kids) saying they allowed their extend stay guests to extend so they didn't have room for us as well as several other chapters. They gave me two options a hotel the same distance away that was slightly more expensive (they would pay the difference) that they said was clean and safe and my second option was 30 minutes farther out but they would give me a $200 dollar gas card. I chose the one that was closer. Below is my review of the Comfort in by the pyramids on 9090 wesleyan road. First and foremost, the reviews consistently cite bed bugs as a problem. We stripped our beds and checked our rooms, but multiple chapters did leave saying this was their reason for departure. The hotel ran out of towels by 8pm on Thursday. This was still a problem at 11pm Friday. Every hallway reeked of marijuana. My kids were repeatedly harassed by another tenant that I reported. The harassment continued. Another individual was seen brandishing a knife openly in the hallways, and some students said he was threatening them. The renovation was not done right. I had one room where the tub was leaking and another where the tub would not drain. There was not a single fixture that was securely fixed to the wall. The rooms appeared clean but multiple rooms had lamps that didn't work because they did not have bulbs and not one coffee maker was accompanied by cups. No workout room was available and the pool that was outside would not have been open in the middle of the summer.

The manager relocating people seemed very nice and like she had my best interests at heart. I don't blame them for relocating me and I appreciate the help they did offer because not every hotel is so accommodating (which some chapters sadly found out) since legally they don't have to honor reservations. I am upset though that they would put us somewhere that was not even remotely comparable in...