Courtyard by Marriott Indianapolis Downtown — Hotel in Indianapolis

My husband and I acquired a room here for two nights to be conveniently located next to the venue we were attending a show at, I was media for the show and a social media influencer here to report my concert details and meet with the bands. Check in was easy, woman who checked me in was super nice, advised me of the smoking policy verbally, saw no signs or anything stating the no smoking policy not that I was looking because it doesn’t pertain to me. I specifically recall saying “well we don’t smoke so you don’t have to worry about that” get to our room, observe that there was damage on the cabinets, looked to be from pets or water damage, textured wall paper had some damage (deep scuff marks) and we had a water bug crawl out of the shower drain and greet us as I was unpacking my hygiene products, this was observed all within 30’mins of being in the room. Husband and I settled in our room for the first night after having a lack luster dinner at the bistro. We ate dinner, I gave myself a breathing treatment with my portable nebulizer machine as I have severe asthma and travel flares me up. We both crash after traveling from Ohio and get awoke at 9pm by a phone call to our room from a stern gentle that states “you are being charged $350 for smoking in your room our sensors earlier in the day were triggered in your room” neither I nor my husband smoke for obvious reasons. I am half asleep at this point, trying to make sense of this call. We checked in at 3:30pm parked by 4, in our room by 4:15 at the latest. I told the guy on the phone we haven’t even been in our room for 4hrs and 45 mins. At 5pm we wondered down to the bistro for dinner and ate down in the lobby for an hour and watched a football game. We came back up and went to sleep. I told the man on the phone my asthma nebulizer machine must have triggered it and I asked that he come to my room to show him and do a controlled test to see if it triggers the sensor. He said “you are being charged $350 and hung up” I didn’t argue or think anything of it, I’m just not that type to argue with irrational rude individuals, clearly on a power trip. The next day we go to our media meet and greet of the bands, did our interviews and came back to the hotel to rest for a min, I went OUTSIDE and did another breathing treatment as I was having a hard time with the heat and humidity and went back to the show. We checked out the next day at 10:30am, I notice at every check out station was clear sign holders and disclaimers for the non smoking even with vape policy, they were NOT there when I checked in the day prior, don’t think anything of it other than I noticed and we start out on our way back home to Ohio and I look at my bank account and they indeed charged me $350. Of course being a social media influencer I take to the camera and my platforms to air my grievances about the hotel and my concert experience. My PR manager gets an email from a hotel nearby in the same area who heard my story because one of their staff members is a subscriber of mine and offered me a complimentary full service room on my next trip to the area and for any show in the future we attend at that venue for a media trip.

Just be aware of this hotel, if you fart it might trigger their sensor, don’t spray aerosols, do a breathing treatment or even spray perfume or cologne, you might get awaken in your room by a man on a power trip. He could have given a warning, or asked if it was something else, jumping to conclusions that someone smoked in a room is obscure. Sensors can be faulty, clearly in my case my nebulizer set it off. Just beware. Will never...

The hotel advertises "room service" but in actuality what they mean is, you can order from TGI Fridays and walk over and pick it up to eat in your room. The Bistro in the lobby has an odd menu, my child couldn't find anything "traditional" to eat. The market in the lobby does offer some snacks however a normal sized bag of candy that you would pay .99 for at a grocery store was upwards of $4. Additionally many things (including the alcohol) did not have a price listed so you couldn't even make an informed decision about how irresponsible to be with your money. We had no issues with the front desk staff but the lady we encountered at the Bistro while looking for breakfast for my daughter was nothing short of rude and dismissive. The elevators make a lot of noise when riding them, which isn't an issue unless your room is close to them (ours was not, my parent's was). There were kids running up and doen the hall outside our room until about 1:30am yelling and laughing loudly. This didn't really bother me as we were there for our daughter's competition and knew the hotel would be full of children. However, my daughter had a hard time getting to sleep the night before competing due to this. Our bathtub appeared dirty upo. arrival (black marks where you would stand during a shower) but it wouldn't clean up so I guess it was just wear that looked dirty. (Gross, I know) We all wore shoes to shower just "in case". There are a lot of options to stay in this area (we wanted to be connected to the convention center) and I ususlly try to book a Courtyard as I typically have no problems there but I can say with certainty if we travel to Indy again to compete we will...

I've been a loyal Marriott customer for over 10 years and have stayed in many places around the country. This was the worst experience by far. The room smelled moldy and couldn't be cooled, but even worse was an experience with the staff. The people in the room next to us came in at 2am and shouted about how much drugs they had done. I had kids sleeping in the room so I called the hotel staff. After two hours of continued occasional outbursts and hearing their induced hysteria, I walked down to speak with the night manager. As the hotel was at 30% capacity, he suggested moving me and my kids into another room. I suggested moving the drug users to which they refused. Hotel security went to their room and told the drug users to keep quiet which lasted for about 30 minutes until more of their friends returned. The outbursts from the room next to us continued until 6am. By 8am we were leaving to begin our day of driving. I spoke with the day manager which offered only her apologies. No one should have to deal with this from a reputable hotel, much less pay for this. I will be switching hotels.

The bottom line is, you have to be careful where you stay, especially during this time where these typically more expensive hotels have lowered their prices. Even worse, Marriott has clearly endorsed an incompetent staff which will be costly after this review. That's just bad business. I should have just walked next door and started a fight with them at 2am in the morning....