Advertisement

After COVID-19 delay, IHG's Hotel Indigo Tallahassee debuts in time for FSU football season

Hotel Indigo Tallahassee - CollegeTown debuts with its take on the area's railway past and underground caves.

The seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel operated by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has about 5,650 hotels through its brands Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, among others.

Tallahassee's Hotel Indigo was initially slated to open in May. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its global impact on the hospitality industry pushed back the date to August.

“That allowed us to make sure we really had all the right protocols in place, and we didn’t have any retraining. All of our staff was brought on with the current protocols and procedures in place for COVID.”

The hotel is utilizing social distancing and mandatory masks inside the hotel. In addition, rooms are not serviced daily, but Xenophon said guests can request items, such as towels, as needed.

“We can get guests anything they need, but right now we’re cleaning every five days,” Xenophon said. “Then we schedule a time for a guest to be out of the room for an hour so that our staff is safe, and we go through our proper cleaning protocols.”

Xenophon said the hotel is using hospital-grade disinfectants, a standard practice in the hotel industry.

Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel, recently opened in CollegeTown.
Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel, recently opened in CollegeTown.

Florida State's football season is still scheduled to begin Sept. 12 with a home game against Georgia Tech, as long as public health guidance does not change dramatically.

With that working in the hotel's favor, Xenophon said he’s hopeful the new hotel will still do well. However, tourism and hospitality insiders are watching occupancy rates and industry trends to discern the pandemic's impact to local hotels.

“Our expectation and hope are for the hotel to do well and that means having a good number of people staying with us,” Xenophon said. “Right now, the occupancy for the market is about 30%, and that continues to grow on a month-to-month basis. We put all these protocols and procedures in place with the idea of us being busing.”

A busy season, he said, would be at least 70% occupancy. Xenophon is looking to two upcoming move-in weekends as the first wave of potential guests coming in.

R&R Eatery inside Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.
R&R Eatery inside Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.

Despite properties in major Florida cities like Gainesville, Sarasota and St. Petersburg and dotting the globe in London, Madrid and Paris, no two Hotel Indigo properties are alike.

That's an intentional distinction as company designers swoop into cities to infuse an area’s history and character into the aesthetic.

Hotel Indigo’s concrete floors, black brick walls and industrial touches bring a signature look that marries the past to the present.

The Gaines Street District was once an industrial hub of rail lines that birthed lumber and brickyards, gristmills and bottling companies. Today the area is a buzzing cross section of boutiques, restaurants and nightlife sandwiched between the boundaries of Florida State and Florida A&M universities.

Mark Xenophon is the general manager of Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.
Mark Xenophon is the general manager of Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.

"The railroad motif is apparent throughout the property," General Manager Mark Xenophon said, adding shades of blue pay homage to the area's underground caverns and the water motif connecting Cascades Park and Wakulla Springs.

The soft opening took place Aug. 3, and the hotel began receiving reservations three days later.

The hotel has an on-site restaurant called "R&R" that features local vendors like Bradley’s Country Sausage and Lucky Goat Coffee. It also includes a private board room and roughly 1,800 square feet of meeting space.

“Anyone who called the property directly or walked into the property, we were able to have them be a part of our soft opening,” Xenophon said. “It was a great experience for them, and it helped us.”

A standard room inside Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.
A standard room inside Hotel Indigo, a seven-story, 143-room boutique hotel that recently opened in CollegeTown.

Tourism insiders see Hotel Indigo as an extension of the “hip-and-happening” coolness of CollegeTown and the Gaines Street District, said Kerri Post, director of Leon County's Division on Tourism and Visit Tallahassee.

"I would envision a similar impact with the new (AC by Marriott Hotel) and Cascades development coming online early next year," Post said. "These two properties will bookend the flourishing Gaines Street area, significantly increasing the appeal and access for both visitors and residents."

Upon visiting Hotel Indigo, Post said she was impressed. Tallahassee has not had a new full-service hotel of this caliber in years, said Post, who praised its unique attention to detail.

"This property was built specifically for Tallahassee, and for CollegeTown in particular, and was built from the ground up to address all of those specific needs," Post added. "Hotel Indigos are upscale boutique properties renown to reflect the markets they serve. It is an outstanding brand in a superb location with a proven leadership team, and it will undoubtedly be very well received by visitors."

Contact TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com or follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Hotel Indigo Tallahassee - CollegeTown debuts in time for FSU football