Crowne Plaza Hotel Union Station Indianapolis

Another short stay in Indianapolis led to a new hotel experience in the downtown area. This trip we ended up at the Crowne Plaza at Union Station. As evident by the name, the hotel is actually located inside a fully remodeled rail yard building.

The hotel is very nice and quite unique. As part of the train station there are actually 26 rooms that are located in old Pullman rail cars that run through the middle of both sides of the hotel. I was not in one of these rooms but even just walking around and seeing the train cars in a fully furnished, stately hotel is slightly disconcerting.

The Crowne Plaze is located directly across the street from the RCA Dome and is very close to many restaurants and other activities in downtown Indianapolis.

As for the hotel itself: The rooms were nice, but spartan (a typical hotel room). My only complaint was the lack of a business desk where I could effectively try to get some work done in the evenings. The train station is still active so there is the occasional rumble and vibration of the trains throughout the day and night. If you are a very light sleeper this could potentially be an issue. The hotel does supply ear-plugs if necessary.

Other amenities: The fitness room was decent and was open 24 hours. Valet parking was expensive although you get unlimited in/out privileges. The hotel also offers a shuttle to take guests around downtown. Decent restaurant and bar are located on site although I would look at going to some of the other restaurants in the area before partaking of the hotels.

All in all wouldn't mind getting to this hotel again, and would be interesting to get a chance to actually stay in one of the train car rooms at some point in the future (just for something different from the regular old hotel room).