Indianapolis Revs Up Its Meetings Infrastructure

Things are moving faster than ever in the “Circle City.” This month Indianapolis will celebrate the 100th annual Indy 500 and welcome a new CEO to the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association (ICVA). Leonard Hoops comes to Indy from San Francisco, where he was executive vice president and chief customer officer with the San Francisco Travel Association. He will begin his new post May 31, overseeing the ICVA’s annual budget of $13 million and 59 full-time staff members. 

“Indianapolis is a rising convention and tourism destination, with $3 billion of first-tier infrastructure that came online in the last few years,” says Hoops. “I’m excited to be asked to lead the ICVA’s efforts to bring more visitors—and visitor dollars—to the region.” 

Hoops is taking the reins just as Indianapolis makes a major push to increase its meetings and convention business. The Indiana Convention Center completed a $275 million expansion earlier this year that added almost 350,000 square feet of exhibition space, bringing the grand total to 749,000 square feet. This puts Indianapolis in the same league as New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles in terms of convention space. Also of note is the new Crowne Plaza Skywalk, which connects the convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium to the 273-room Crowne Plaza, as well as the Indianapolis Artsgarden and the Circle Centre mall.

An expanded convention center calls for more hotel rooms, and JW Marriott stepped up to the plate; in February the hotel giant opened a 1,005-room property downtown. The new JW Marriott Indianapolis has 55 meeting rooms, making for a total of 104,000 square feet of meeting space, and two restaurants, the Tuscan-themed Osteria Pronto and the low-key sports bar High Velocity. The building itself is 34 stories tall, making it both the tallest hotel in the state of Indiana and the largest JW Marriott in the world. The glass-fronted behemoth has earned the nickname “Big Blue” from locals, and it has already sold out for when Indianapolis hosts the Super Bowl next year.

The hotel is generating so much attention that John Willard Marriott, Jr., the chairman and CEO of Marriott International, visited the property in person for its gala grand opening. “It was a thrill for me to visit the largest JW Marriott in the world,” said Marriott of his February visit. “This property is truly spectacular and more than worthy of bearing the JW Marriott name.” He dedicated the hotel’s griffin statue before the 950 attendees invited to the hotel’s launch party.

The massive new JW Marriott is part of the even more massive Marriott Place Indianapolis, which brings together five of the brand’s hotels at different price points for a total of 2,200 rooms and 145,000 square feet of meeting space downtown. 

Sheraton is also showing Indianapolis some love—the 560-room Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites is expected to debut a $12 million renovation later this month. Upgrades include new windows and exterior panels, and new bedding, furniture, and televisions for most of the property’s guest rooms. 

Nearby is Indianapolis’ newly-opened Seasons 52, which specializes in healthy, seasonal cuisine. The menu changes frequently, but you can expect to choose from dishes like roast artichoke-stuffed shrimp with pasta pearls or oak-grilled filet mignon with Yukon potatoes for your group. There are sinful desserts like chocolate peanut butter mousse and Belgian chocolate rocky road ice cream served up in angelically tiny portions. The restaurant can host up to 72 guests for a seated dinner, with smaller rooms available upon request and a chef’s table that seats 12. Seasons 52 has an extensive wine list, and many of the wines are organic. 

Another new restaurant that’s generating buzz is Sensu, a pan-Asian bistro that opened in March. The chef’s menu focuses on seafood, and there are separate sushi and sashimi menus. Entrees also include Thai chicken satay, bamboo-steamed vegetable dumplings, and pork pot stickers. Sensu is slick and clubby—in fact, it plays host to VIP nights with cocktails and dancing. The drink menu includes custom martinis like The Golden Charm, which is Gray Goose Le Citron mixed with white grape juice and rose essence, and The Dragon, Grey Goose Original mixed with tangy citrus juices and sweet cucumber liquor, topped with a hint of ginger syrup.