Hotel Indigo Cleveland
At the heart of Cleveland’s cultural core, where the arts, theater and athletics districts meet, a 143-key hotel has taken on a new persona as a distinctive boutique hotel. The Hotel Indigo Cleveland Downtown emerges from a substantial cosmetic transformation into a sophisticated, comfortable hotel designed by Kraemer Design Group (KDG) for International Hotel Group (IHG). Taking inspiration from the nearby entertainment districts, the design embodies a modern, approachable version of Hollywood Regency. The new vibe creates an atmosphere for guests where they can comfortably socialize and feel glamorous before heading out to a nearby event.
The hotel encompasses a historic 1940s building and a taller addition completed in 1997. KDG worked closely with the local advisory committee to develop a successful facelift to the façade that preserves historic materials and elements while updating and unifying the street level experience. The balconies and metal grilles on the historic building were repainted while the ground floor restaurant façade was completely replaced. The new restaurant, Headliner, features glossy white brick cladding and black brick base that complement the existing materials. To unify the two buildings, the black base continues in porcelain across the newer building and the panels on the large canopy where changed to sleek back painted glass panels.
The ground floor lobby and amenities spaces were fully renovated. Replacing revolving doors with modern sliding doors allows the traveler ease of entering. Raising the architectural ceiling gives the space a grander, more sophisticated scale. The lobby features a bold monochromatic black and white palette and highly geometric decorative trim. The introduction of brass curtains creates an elegant, whimsical feature. The furniture of the lobby entices guests to reconvene after returning from a nearby event. All the fabrics are touchable glam such as velvets and leathers. The reception desk was separated into two guest-friendly pods with durable brass studded leather fronts. Dangling above the reception desk pods is a light fixture that is reminiscent of a pearl necklace.
The market is an added amenity and extension of the lobby which introduces another means of sales and creates an added area for guests to converge and interact with people. The market display shelves feature the lines of a chinoiserie cabinet that is also echoed in the drapery fabric.
The business center was relocated closer to reception and the fitness center to be more integrated into the lobby. A large fitness center that overlooks the refreshed interior courtyard replaced an under-used board room. To honor the nearby sports district, the fitness room has a feature wall that is a collage of vintage Cleveland sports team posters and the existing brick walls and columns received a black paint wash treatment that suggests the patina of a common local brick building. All of the meeting rooms received updated finishes that compliment the design.
The interior courtyard was revitalized to be used year-round and provide an outdoor extension to the restaurant. The newly placed AstroTurf brightens the space while minimizing the maintenance for the operations team. New string lights, furniture groupings, and patio heaters allow for longer outdoor visits together for multiple groups of guests.
New finishes, fixtures, and furniture have completely transformed the restaurant and correlate with the renovated lobby. The revised finishes and furniture layout makes the restaurant feel larger and more welcoming for people passing by and stop in on their way to an event. White washed paint brick walls evoke repurposed buildings and retro light fixtures over the bar nod to history. The dining room artwork honors celebrities that originated from Cleveland. The light fixtures above the bar tables are made of a material similar to netting of basketball hoops.
Guests exiting elevators on upper levels experience light corridors with bold patterns. Additional lighting along with off-white, striped wallcovering notably brightens the spaces. The corridor carpet introduces a gem cut pattern that brings on the glamorous Hollywood Regency look.
The guestrooms were also brightened with lighter wall treatments and lighter toned linen-textured casegoods. The headboard wall features a baseball-stitch geometric design as the design focus. Art on the headboard wall features abstracted black and white prints drawn from desk art of a historic theatre, the White Elephant, which was located nearby. The guestroom carpet correlates with the corridor carpet through its geometric pattern in a bold color palette.
The guestroom bathrooms incorporate a calacatta ceramic tile, black accents and custom designed wallcovering. The newspaper clip inspired wallcovering incorporates the individualized narrative that is the theme for the hotel design.
