Hotel Indigo Traverse City by IHG

Hotel Indigo was an easy walk from the main downtown strip, with plenty of pubs and restaurants, even in the cold December weather. I stayed in mid-December 2025, in Traverse City's off-season, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Google Maps directions were a little confusing, but I found the hotel, unloaded, and checked in without much trouble. Parking costs extra and is valet only. The rooms are gorgeous and spacious, with lovely decorations. I took photos, and my friends raved about how they looked. Everyone was warm and welcoming, which isn't always my experience. As a very tall transgender woman, I sometimes get double takes or blank stares, but at Hotel Indigo I got warm smiles and friendly faces. I didn't eat at the hotel restaurants. I highly recommend the hotel.

The food was stellar, and the chefs are doing it right. Valet was prompt every time and good value compared with top hotels in major cities. The ground-level bar servers were kind and attentive, and Thursday night's bartender was excellent at easing the frustration after an 18-hour travel day and a six-hour wait for our room. Still, for what the hotel charges per night, I don't think the value is quite there. I understand it's hard to find staff, but that seems to be hurting the quality in noticeable ways. Our stay started badly. We arrived around 4 p.m. to check in and were told the room wasn't ready. After checking with Will at the front desk several times, we finally got in six hours after check-in should have been available. They gave us drink and breakfast coupons to make up for it. At the ground-level bar, one cocktail came in a filthy plastic glass, even though draft pints were served in real glass. On Friday, we went to the rooftop bar shortly before 4 p.m. and left right away. It was packed, the line for food and drinks was very long, and one employee was left trying to handle it all. The rooms themselves are beautiful, with river stone tiles and an open-concept bathroom and shower.

The location gets an A plus: you can walk to everything, and the wineries of Old Mission are just minutes away. Will got us settled in and went above and beyond more than once. Thanks, Will. We had a really clean, well-appointed room, and the hotel is awesome for an awesome area. Breakfast at the restaurant was really good, too. Ask for Katie, she's a great server. Best hotel in town, five stars!

The hotel is decent overall, with large rooms, nice views, and friendly front desk and valet staff. On our recent stay at the Indigo Traverse City, though, we ran into a couple of problems. On New Year's Eve, after returning with my family from the cherry drop, I stopped at the bar. The bartender refused to serve me, saying I was slurring. I was sober, and I believe he mistook my accent for slurred speech. It was surreal, but I left rather than escalate things. I reported it to the front desk employee that night and the manager the next morning. I don't know whether management spoke with him, but he certainly needs some kind of training. I wondered whether he was incompetent at telling the difference between drunkenness and a foreign accent, or whether he was bigoted. One of our rooms also hadn't been cleaned properly: the table, shower, and fridge were dirty, there were no bathroom towels, and the phone and fireplace weren't working. I told the front desk, and they fixed the situation promptly.