The Tallison Hotel, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Carmel

Stayed for five nights in late June 2025. Was solo to visit local family, but was here during the Pacers' NBA playoffs so the hotel was sold out two of the five nights. ||TL;DR: Luxury is service, not so much marble and stylish furnishings. The Tallison is still new, but they're not getting the service aspect right which seems solely due to inadequate staffing. ||Pros: |- front desk and bar/restaurant staff are uniformly friendly and helpful. |- Excellent menus for breakfast and for dinner, and good bar selections. |- Good location for the North Side of Indy or anywhere in Carmel area, easy access.|- Rooms are stylish, bed is comfortable, love the large powerful shower. Good quality Lavazza coffee maker and they refresh bottles of water every day (when they actually service the room; more on that later)|- nice indoor pool and outside patio with seating area and fire pits - I didn't use either of these as it was very hot and humid when I stayed but would be a nice amenity in the right weather.|- Good well-equipped gym shared with the Element which shares the same building. ||Cons:|- Service and staffing. Though front desk and bar restaurant staff are friendly, both the bar restaurant and housekeeping are really understaffed. The one server in the restaurant in the mornings struggled to keep up with serving guests, and I seldom saw managers trying to help her out, as if they weren't paying attention. Housekeeping also seemed to be understaffed, I was out of my room from 8 to around 3 every day and each day the room wasn't serviced when I came back. Twice I needed to track down a housekeeper in the hallways just to get replacement towels and skipped the cleaning since I need to shower and change and head out to dinner. |- The room is stylish but (at least my King-bed room) was cramped and awkwardly laid out. You walk straight into the sink/bathroom area, OK, that's a design choice. The bedroom is dominated by the bed facing the window. There's a stylish looking leather bench that's narrow and a bit hard. And the bed faces the window, and the AC duct blows from that side, so it blows directly on you when you're in bed. That's common in cheap hotels that have through-the wall air conditioners stuck under the windows, they should have designed a hotel trying to be upscale so the air doesn't hit you directly in bed. |- EV charging (this may not be under the control of hotel management but whoever developed the property but worth noting for future guests driving an EV) As noted by previous reviewer John L, There are four Level 2 (J-1772) chargers on the side of the building by the Element. So far so good. However, according to the name on the front of the charger they're from a company I have never heard of. The screen says to activate using the app, scan a QR code, or use an RFID card. Searching in the Apple App Store, there's no app with the name of the company on the box. I tried several of the major apps and they didn't connect to these chargers. OK, the QR code. The only QR code on the side of the charger appears to be for the electric provider and not the charging company. Lastly, of course I don't have an RFID card as I don't know who they are. Basically, if you're going to offer an amenity to your guests and it doesn't work, put up a sign that explains how to use it. Or replace them with a mainstream provider that most people will be able to use. Something that could be a nice perk just became an annoyance and...

I stayed one night at the Tallison while visiting Indianapolis last weekend. The hotel is very new, with a beautiful lobby and hotel rooms. ||What I liked:||* Bed was comfortable|* Power outlets and USB charging ports in room were plentiful|* Front desk staff was friendly|* The room was quiet, even though the hotel seemed fairly busy. I've seen other reviewers have complained about the highway noise, and this hotel is indeed right at the intersection of I-465 and US-31. Despite my room overlooking the I-465 WB to US-31 NB ramp, the road noise wasn't that noticeable to me. Admittedly, I stayed Saturday night / Sunday morning, maybe the road noise is worse other days, but I only heard it if I stood right at the window.|* I also liked that the room has a separate sink area outside of the toilet and shower.|* for such a nice hotel, the price I paid was competitive with other hotels in the area.||What I didn't like:|* This was the first time I've seen motion detecting lights in hotel room, and I hated it. I'm up once or twice in the middle of the night to use the toilet and don't want the very bright bathroom lights turning on automatically when I walk into the bathroom area. Fortunately I was traveling on my own this trip. If my wife was with me, I don't think she would have enjoyed having night turn into day every time one of us needed to use the toilet, either. It's especially odd since the room also has the built-in nightlight in some of the bathroom area power outlets, so it's not like you can't find your way in the dark without the lights kicking on and blinding you in the middle of the night.|* The shower is beautiful, but there's no shelf or anyplace to put any toiletries you bring with you. So, use the hotel provided body wash and shampoo, or bring your own shower caddy, I guess.|* I'm always excited to find a hotel with electric car chargers, and grateful to the hotels that offer them. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 car chargers at this hotel were not working. This was probably one of the worst car charging experiences I've ever had -- not just that the chargers weren't working, but everything else about the process for a new user. The car chargers are from a company I've never seen before ("Electron Charger"). The screen on the charger says "Please Use the APP to Scan QR Code" ... but there's no QR code displayed and no further info on what the name of the app is. I eventually figured out the QR code is not displayed until you plug the charger into your car. As for finding the app ... if you look for "Electron Charger" in the Apple app store, you won't find their app. If you go to electroncharger.com, it's not there either (as of today, anyway). So, after standing around in the rain for minutes trying to figure all this out, I finally found the name of the app (ChargeLab) using Google. Only then did I discover that 3 of the 4 chargers weren't working. The 4th was in use by a Rivian. Another Rivian driver pulled up, had the same problems I did, then lamented he hoped he had enough battery left to get home. I let the front desk staff know that 3 of their 4 car chargers weren't working, and also submitted a report to Electron Charger, so hopefully these will be...

This is going to be an outstanding hotel. Stayed last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Everything is new and pristine. ||Pros:|-Location is right off 31|- it’s all new and shiny|- room was good size|- shower was delightful|- robes in closet|- espresso machine but can make it like coffee too if that makes sense |- REAL creamer |- Babyliss blow dryer|- six, yes SIX amazing pillows|- cool light fixtures|- the bar looked good|- big tv|- friendly check in (one of few hotels ever to thank me and welcome me as bonvoy gold elite) |- Frank Lloyd Wright esc. |- free parking |- mini fridge |- ice machine also dispensed filtered water|- pet friendly for a fee ||Things that will no doubt improve:|- the place is brand new. Some of these are likely just in the pipeline to be finished and are glitches that will be worked out. But because it’s brand new, I’m making note since they will likely read this review. ||- there is one sign by road that says “the talisman and essence (I think). There are two hotels in one big building. There was no sign above either entrance. It was raining. I didn’t know which entrance to park at or which on to enter. I got lucky on first try. ||- in my room, the alarm went off on intercom in the room. It wasn’t like a normal blaring fire alarm. Then a voice said “please hold for announcement” (or something to that tune). Gentleman came on and said it was a false alarm. This has happened at every single new hotel Ive ever stayed at. ||- there was a bar. There were seats like there was a restaurant. I searched for some indicator in the room that there was room service. I found nothing. I found that the website said there was a restaurant and the phone had a “room service” option but I had no menu. I Checked every drawer.||- there is no shelf or place to put your personal items in shower, like a razor or soaps you may have brought. I always have a razor and my face wash. Had to put them on floor. ||- automatic lights. Now. This was delightful, until I was in the shower and they shut off. Yes. I took a long shower because it was relaxing and then I was cast in to sudden darkness. Some dancing and waving my arms followed by opening shower door turned them back on. ||That’s all I can remember and told my husband I will definitely stay there again. Once they get the bugs figured out, it will be a five star in my book. Excited...