Conrad Indianapolis

Conrad Indianapolis

"Just 20 minutes from the Indianapolis International Airport, and affixed to the Indianapolis Convention Center, this high-class crash pad is every businessperson’s dream—convenient for early morning meetings and late night flights—but it’s also embedded squarely in the city's downtown, near the trendy Wholesale District, and has no problem pulling double-duty for a long girls’ weekend (see: the in-house hair salon for last-minute gussying up) or a family trip. You might be stuck in a slog of meetings—but if you brought your brood along, direct them to the skywalk that connects the hotel to Circle Centre Mall for a way to pass the time. Rooms are clean and classic, but it's worth it to wrangle a suite, instead—the décor of each one riffs off a particular painting by the likes of Warhol or Dali, and features furnishings wrought from an impressive list of designers (Eero Saarinen, Jonathan Adler, and Philippe Starck, to name a few). The informal museum tour continues downstairs at the Long-Sharp Gallery, where works on paper by modern masters like Picasso, Haring, and Basquiat can be seen in the comfort of your PJs. You can’t go wrong with Capital Grille, wedged in the hotel’s lobby—nobody ever objected to a solid steak dinner—but it’s only an eight-minute cab ride to Bluebeard, where Bread is its own menu item—grilled and smothered in anchovy butter and garlic oil, the call-out is warranted—and killer platters of charcuterie and chicken liver pate are always at the ready."