Sybaris Indianapolis — Hotel in Indianapolis

UPDATED REVIEW JUN 2023: We did our 2nd stay at Sybaris in Indianapolis. This time we stayed in the "Majestic" suite. We were just as happy with this visit as the 1st one back in 2021. Pretty much everything was great!

ORIGINAL REVIEW AUG 2021: So Sybaris in Indianapolis is pretty amazing. We got the Chalet for 2 nights and it definitely did not disappoint. I'll try to break it down a bit here. Please note that this review only refers to the "Chalet", not any of the other types of accommodations.

Structure / Room - The appointments are nice (if a bit dated) and the atmosphere is so much fun. Warm, wood tones in the pool area for the walls above the mirrors. The upstairs bedroom was really neat. It's pretty open-feeling with the solid wall of windows looking over the pool area. There were 2 massage chairs, whirlpool bathtub, a large TV and a sounds system that plays in the bedroom and the pool area. You can choose the speakers to play in one or the other or both at the same time. Also, there were 2 barrel chairs and a small table. It was large enough to eat dinner on, but not huge. The bathroom was a bit plain, but perfectly functional with commode, shower and bidet. Oh, and the bedroom section had tons of lighting options. We had fun messing with that when creating the right "atmosphere". Yes, there is a mirror above the bed and several at the head in a raised corner area. And again, lots of lighting options. Basically, the bedroom area is great for both relaxation and "play".

Pool area - The pool was clean and clear. I found out that it is tested daily to ensure the chemical balance is correct and that it is clean. It was reassuring to both of us know that the establishment takes guest health and safety seriously. The slide from the balcony was fun. The slide always stay on, so at night you can hear some water noise while lying in the bed. However, it is not loud. More like a moderate rain hitting a house roof. Kind of peaceful, actually. The pool ranges from 3.5 to a little over 5 ft in depth. The rain shower above the pool is really fun. It is controlled by a timer on the wall and while the water coming out is not cold, it is cool for a few moments until it warms up to a decent heat. Feels amazing when standing under it in the pool. There is a steam room and it gets really hot and steamy (obviously). As part of it, there is a shower head and 3 ceiling nozzles that can spray water down on you. Great for rising off the sweat from sitting in there. About the only complaint I have about the pool area is the speakers for the sound system. Some guest blew them out at some point and you can tell. It's not bad, but noticeable.

There was also a garage to park our car in, which adds to private feel. Very nice perk.

Service - From making the reservations, to changing the dates (because we had to change our trip plans) to checking in/out and everything in between, the customer service was excellent. Each person I spoke with was courteous and professional. Well done, folks.

Food - There is no room service. However, you can order food using GrubHub or a similar service, which we did. Evidently, both Sybaris and those services are old hands at what to do. No issues whatsoever. There are also lots of different restaurants within 5 miles of the place, if you decide to eat out.

Overall, we very much enjoyed our time there. If we lived closer, I think we might become regular visitors. As it is, we will have to just enjoy it when we pass through the area about once or...

Let me preface this by saying that we stayed in an UN-remodeled unit so hopefully a lot of these things are being fixed when this unit gets remodeled.

My husband and I stayed in suite 19 (paradise suite) overnight with a late check out. We absolutely loved the pool and it was 100% worth the price just to have a private pool. If you break down the cost per hour, it's actually really reasonable compared to renting a pool anywhere else. We spent probably 10 or more hours in the pool during our stay and loved every minute of it.

The room was very clean and the pool was crystal clear when we arrived (it got a bit cloudy when we ran the pool jet though). There were lots of towels available in the room plus 2 robes and a plethora of toiletries. They also had ice in the mini fridge freezer cubby and 2 bottles of water and a Keurig with some K-cups.

We also loved the bluetooth sound system, especially since you can hear the music in the pool room. We had a lot of fun singing along to our favorite songs while we relaxed in the pool.

The rest of the room left a LOT to be desired though.

The bed was extremely uncomfortable. I woke up over and over again and eventually got out of bed at 5am (which is 4am in my home time zone) because I just couldn't fall back asleep again. The wood base around the mattress is also very easy to bump into and makes getting into and out of bed uncomfortable. I hope they change that to something else in the future.

The hot water situation is really bad. You have to wait up to 30 minutes from when you arrive for the hot water to replenish and then you have to run the hot water for 3-4 minutes each time you need to use it for a shower or in the tub. To make matters worse, the hot water runs out extremely quickly. I shower fairly quickly but there wasn't enough hot water for my husband to shower too. Water pressure in the bathroom shower was also sub-par. The one by the pool was way better but the shower toiletries are mounted on the wall in the bathroom shower so I couldn't actually use the poolside one as a shower. I just used it to rinse off after getting out of the pool.

Also, the shower pan in the bathroom shower is very slick and sloped so I was very nervous about falling in there. Thankfully I did not.

The tile in the bathroom side of the room is very slick overall, it would be better if it were textured.

The air conditioner is also pretty bad. It really struggled to get down to even 70 degrees and it kept resetting itself to a higher temperature. We set it to 68 degrees overnight and we woke up to it being 77 degrees and the thermostat had reset to 80 degrees. That's too warm for sleeping and likely another reason why I struggled to sleep.

Other minor quibbles include the mini fridge not getting very cold, the decor was outdated (which hopefully the remodel should fix), the massage chair is laughably small, and the whirlpool tub jets were very wimpy.

There is a note in the room to call if you have problems but honestly there was almost nothing they could have done to fix the problems we had in the moment. They're big problems and require repair, replacement, etc.

I plan to return in the future but I think next time we'll stay at a normal hotel to sleep and just book an afternoon getaway to enjoy the pool. If the remodel fixes all the problems, we'll definitely stay...

My spouse and I first went to this location over twelve years ago. We've visited five times since. We've rented the Majestic or Chalet rooms each time.

What can I say about this location? Not a single thing about this location has changed since our first visit a decade ago, and unfortunately that is not a compliment.

I'll start with positive thoughts first. Now, having your own private indoor heated swimming pool is pretty awesome! The swimming pool was well kept and seemed to be in good condition. The staff is friendly and the location is private and secure. Each room is a self contained unit with no common walls or anyone above or below you.

Now for the not so positive thoughts. I mentioned that the pool was in good condition, unfortunately I can't say the rest about the rest of the room facilities.

On our initial inspection upon checking in we noticed many things that were not quite right. We would have called the front desk, however their phone in our room didn't work.

The rooms themselves haven't seen a design remodel in at least since the time we visited a DECADE ago, and based on the decor style, I could say it's probably even been longer than that.

The furniture is worn down, the massage chairs don't work very well, in our last visit they made a screeching sound that was so loud, that it was not relaxing at all to receive a massage from it. The star display / mirror above the bed was scratched so badly so you can see light leaking through the star display, this definitely took away from the ambience. The mattress was lumpy and uncomfortable. The room fan didn't work, in our previous visits the dehumidifier didn't work. Not that we watched any TV, but it wouldn't turn on.

There are virtually no hooks to hang towels inside the room or in the bathroom. There is a very little place to store and hang clothing.

The water pressure in the shower was poor and the shower itself was just worn down and old looking.

In a previous visit, the air conditioning wasn't working and both the room and swimming area were sweltering. They sent maintenance to do some kind of work on....something, and it helped a little, but it still wasn't very comfortable or romantic. They made an excuse for the environmental controls, saying that it was summer...ok? Previous and future visits during the same time of year didn't have this issue.

There are so many numerous small issues, but when it comes down to a one line summary; "Everything in the room was old, worn down, barely maintained, and/or broken."

While none of these issues are deal breakers, at the nightly rate of $699 per day, I expect a certain level quality that this location did not deliver on. Without the swimming pool, I wouldn't have paid a quarter of that rate based on the quality of everything else that is wrong with the room.

For our next Sybaris visit (Yes we're still going to give them one more chance), we are going to try a new location in a different state. Hopefully their other locations are higher quality than the...