My spouse and I
stayed at the Indigo Lower East Side for two nights in mid-February 2017 and
again for one night in early May 2017. (We encountered a serious problem during
our first stay for which we were offered a second stay.) We reserved the room for
our first stay online using the InterContinental website. (InterContinental Hotels
and Resorts [IHG] owns the Indigo brand, as well as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn
Express, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Kimpton, EVEN, and
Hualuxe.) For our repeat visit, we arranged our stay with the manager via
telephone.
The main entrance to
the Indigo Lower East Side is located on Ludlow Street between Houston and
Stanton Streets, with a second entrance on Orchard Street. The Ludlow Street
entrance features brick walls with painted directional signs, a wooden tunnel,
and chandeliers that resemble tiers of bicycle tires. The Orchard Street
entrance features cobblestone floors and allows non-guests to access the
hotel’s restaurant and bar. The lobby area features high ceilings with walls of
windows from which to enjoy the downtown view, varied seating choices, a few
computers for guest use, and a small lobby cafe. Wi-Fi is complimentary
throughout the hotel. The hotel’s amenities include a 24-hour fitness center (a
small room located on the third floor, with a few pieces of equipment and a
window/door that allows access to a tiny outdoor balcony area), an outdoor
heated swimming pool and bar (open seasonally from May through September),
restaurant Mr. Purple (a loft-like space with indoor and outdoor terrace, seating
areas, and bars), and a private meeting room (including a 600-square foot room that
seats up to 40 people and a 500-square foot terrace). Pets are permitted with a
one-time fee, and the hotel offers beds, bowls, toys, and treats for your furry
friend. The neighborhood inspired the unique furnishings and contemporary
artwork seen throughout the hotel, including a piece that hangs from the sky
lobby. (Only a concierge desk/bellman desk is located on the street level.)
Varied graffiti-style artwork decorates the elevator lobby area of each guest
floor (with interesting room numbers and lights); for example, some of the
floor lobby areas contain a plywood backdrop papered with mock event flyers.
The Indigo Lower
East Side offers 293 guest rooms, including 5 suites, spread over 26 floors in
the following categories: standard (300 to 350 square feet), double deluxe (245
to 404 square feet), king deluxe (285 to 404 square feet), king grand deluxe
(300 to 405 square feet), king superior terrace (285 to 330 square feet, plus
the terrace), king studio (541 to 614 square feet), and king suite (541 to 614
square feet). We booked a king grand deluxe, and for our February stay, we were
assigned Room 1205, a larger room that was positioned directly in front of one
of the elevator banks; however, we were not bothered by noise. (The hotel
offers at least four elevators: two are express elevators that run between the
lobby and the fifteenth floor, and two other elevators stop at all floors from
ground to 24). On our second stay, we stayed in Room 1007, which was also near
the elevators, but again, we experienced no noise. (It looks like each floor
offers three king grand deluxe rooms, located adjacent to each other and
positioned in front of the elevators, with numbers ending in -05, -06, and
-07.)
Our king grand
deluxe room was one of the larger units and included a small seating area with
sofa, chair, coffee table, and side table. However, the position of the
furniture made it difficult to view the television (which was a wall-mounted flat-screen
on a stationery bracket. (The TV would be easier to see from the seating area it
were mounted a telescoping bracket that could be tilted outward; currently, the
TV faces directly to the bed.) Our room contained a king-size bed, with a small
nightstand on one side and a longer table on the other side. A sort of pushcart
contained a Keurig machine and pods and a weighted minibar. (Do not move/remove
any objects or you will be charged even if you do not consume them.) If you
need an empty refrigerator, you might be able to request one from housekeeping
like we did; however, we only received one on our first stay, not on our
second. An ice bucket, glassware, and a cocktail shaker were located nearby. A
large desk with chair offered plenty of space to work. The bathroom was large,
with a double-size walk-in shower (no bathtub), lots of mirrors, adequate
storage space, good lighting, fun patterned tile floors, toiletries by C.O.
Bigelow (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shaving kit, dental kit, shower
cap, makeup remover), and a sliding pocket door. Our closet offered two robes
and two pairs of slippers, a luggage rack, and a small electronic safe. Décor
accents include metal door handles, mirror frames, and shelves, interesting
bedside lights, and a huge opaque glass panel printed with a retro-looking
postage stamp design that divides the shower from the room. (You cannot see
through the panel, nor does it seem to allow any light through it, so we are
curious why the designer chose to use the glass insert rather than just
applying the design to the regular wall. In any case, it is an interesting
visual decorative element.)
We liked the
location and the design of the Indigo Lower East Side, and the size of our room
was generous.
