Clarion Inn & Suites Indianapolis Northwest — Hotel in Indianapolis

I would NEVER recommend this hotel to anyone!!! Not even my worst enemy. We stayed here because we got locked out of our Airbnb at 2 AM and were desperate. I would have rather slept in our car.

It smelled terrible in the room, there were old fries in the microwave, and stains on the pillows and sheets. We had the window open to try to air out the smell, but it was too freezing. We had went to Taco Bell beforehand, spending over $100 on food, and couldn’t even heat up our burritos since we opened the microwave to find dirty, surprise, nasty old fries. My peer could not even eat her meal at all because she was so disgusted by the rancid odor that filled the room, possibly being used to try to cover up moldy, dirty stenches.

Some of the outlets in the room did not work. We could not charge our phones. When we ran the water in the sink bathroom, it was clogged and the water barely went down the drain. We were told toothpaste would be in the bathroom, which it was not. We had no luggage because it was locked in our Airbnb, so we didn’t have our toiletries. The free toothbrushes they gave us, the bristles fell out as we were brushing with just water. That was horrible because we were at a concert all night, had eaten Taco Bell and my friend had just thrown up in the parking lot. I also have Invisalign braces and could not brush my teeth before putting my trays back in my mouth, which is likely to cause cavities. We didn’t have the toothpaste that was promised to be in the bathroom, so we had rancid breath all night. Luckily, my acquaintance had a piece of gum, so we were able to gnaw on that to try to alleviate the stench of our putrid mouths. We had attended a concert, all of us wearing heavy makeup. I used toilet paper and water to remove my makeup, which likely will cause breakouts in the next few days. The others slept with theirs on, which will clog their pores.

The front desk worker was a teenager and not helpful or accommodating at all. We had told her about our circumstance and she just stared, blankly, in no response. You could just tell the place is not regularly cleaned. There was minimal selection of vending machine snacks. A man was walking around barefoot in the lobby, sneezing without covering his mouth. There was a red unknown substance all over the air conditioning unit which didn’t work. I attached a photo for reference. There was also a black curly pube on the toilet paper. There was a mystery cookie found on the floor by the bed; we did not know where it came from.

The couch in the room looked like it was picked up from the dump. There were various stains that were different colored, sizes and from time periods that clearly were never cleaned. We used towels for pillow cases because the pillows were that nasty. When I opened the toilet lid, there were still fresh poop streaks from the last guest. The toilet paper holder was also broken off. One of my group members was so distraught she did not use the bathroom at all.

The group I travelled with prefers to sleep with white noise. There were limited channels on TV, except footage of violent flashes of lightning. No access to streaming services. One of my companions requires watching Twilight to fall asleep to, and she was distraught that we could not turn it on. We were forced to use our low battery phones to play thunder sounds to fall asleep to, but it was still a restless sleep.

Overall, this hotel was disgusting. We left 5 hours after checking in. Over $300...

I hate to leave critical reviews but I’ve got to be honest about the Clarion. Customer Service fell way short!||The hotel itself is nice enough. It’s near a few restaurants and is in a quiet area. The interior of the hotel is a bit aged but it’s comfortable. Check-in was straight forward and could have been improved with a “hello”. But it was fine enough. ||The King room was very nice and roomy. There was a standing closet to hang clothes, a somewhat separate area with a desk as well as a couch, a bar area with a fridge and microwave and a comfortably sized bathroom. The A/C worked well despite the heat and humidity outside. The property was quiet. Waffles and muffins were available at breakfast. There was a good sized indoor pool. All of these things were the positives and would have called for a better review had it not been for a few issues. ||The first night, the shower water barely got to “warm” after running for about 5 minutes. I was tired and settled for a “cool” shower. The 2nd night, the water was still “cool” after running 5 minutes. I called the front desk and was told to just let the hot water run and eventually it would warm up. After 10 minutes, it was acceptable, but far from “hot”. They could use a better hot water system other than just “let it run”. The towels could use some fabric softener. They were the softness of sandpaper. A bit “scratchy”. ||The 2nd morning, I asked the front desk to have someone change the sheets in my room. Early afternoon I came back and the sheets had not been touched. As I headed out again, I asked the desk a 2nd time, reminding them that I had already asked once. I was told it would get done. The Housekeeping staff was still working the rooms. ||When I returned that night, the bed had not been touched. I called the front desk and was told Housekeeping had left but they would bring me fresh sheets. A few minutes later the staff held out damp sheets for me. I pointed out the sheets were very damp, the staff person agreed but just stood there, obviously expecting me to make my bed with very damp sheets. I told the person I would remake the bed with the existing sheets and closed the door. The staff member said he would mention the issue to the manager the next morning. At checkout, nothing was mentioned by the staff. ||So while there were a number of things about the Hotel that exceeded expectations, the hot water issue, being ignored by housekeeping then being offered damp bed sheets took all that good right down the drain. It just seemed like the staff didn’t care about these things or about taking care of the concerns of the guests. ||So, despite the positives, I’ll not be staying at the Clarion NW Indianapolis on...

I stayed at the Clarion Inn & Suites Northwest for one night in November 2024.

Overall, my stay was average and acceptable. There are certainly much nicer hotels in the area but it could be worse. At least I didn't have any major problems.

The room was definitely worn and showing its age (2 stars) with various cracks and unknown substances on the walls. There were some unfortunate stains on the couch. Maid service could have done a better job because there were some random hairs from previous guests (on the bathtub and in one drawer).

The carpet in the main hallway (on the 2nd floor) definitely needs to be vacuumed.

One good thing about my Clarion Inn room was a surprising amount of space.

Having previously read the negative reviews for this hotel, I was half-expecting roaches and house centipedes to be crawling out of the woodwork but I did not see a single insect and I was being extra vigilant. I asked two of my colleagues and neither of them saw any bugs either.

Service was fine/average (2 stars). Some of the negative reviews mentioned that the front desk was rude but I did not have any issues (but nothing stood out positively either).

The location is reasonably good (3 stars), which is the same rating I have previously given to other hotels in the area. It's close to Eagle Creek Park and some shopping areas/restaurants, but you do need to drive into downtown Indianapolis.

The breakfast was free but very basic/average (4 pictures included). There was a limited selection of fruit (bananas only), cereal (2 options), Activia yogurt, and bread/muffins. Coffee and juice were available. There was a waffle maker, some sausages that did not look very appetizing, and eggs (initially fried egg patties but they said they would offer scrambled eggs later).

I ate a banana, an egg, a waffle, and some orange juice. All of it was average. Not particularly tasty but it fulfilled the basic purpose of sustenance.

Talking to my colleagues, two of them thought the hotel was fine (and probably would have rated it higher than I did). The other said that there are better and worse hotels, which I agree with.

I regularly stay in the area and my favorite nearby hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn (unfortunately the Taylor Swift concert that weekend resulted in limited hotel options). I've also stayed at the nearby Holiday Inn Express & Suites, which is roughly on par with the Clarion Inn based on...