Shawn Q.
Yelp
With this year's visit to the Texas Pinball Festival in the books, it's time to review the hotel where I stayed during the trip. There's a lot of advantages that the Hotel Indigo had for this particular stay: close proximity to the conference center; only the Embassy Suites (co-located with the conference center), the Hilton Garden Inn, and maybe the Hyatt House are closer. My advice last year to other show attendees, in particular players in the pinball tournament, was to book the closest hotel possible, and it is a huge help to not have to worry about driving some distance to go play in the tournament and see the show.
For those unfamiliar with IHG's brand positioning, Hotel Indigo is one of their top tier hotels. And the Frisco location delivers in just about every respect. About the only minor quibble I have is that the restaurant is not open for lunch, only breakfast and dinner. Though to be fair, I can understand why they might do this as lunch is likely to be much less busy than the other two meals. (The restaurant is listed separately, so I will be reviewing it separately.)
Hotel Indigo doesn't charge for on-site parking (something the Embassy Suites will gleefully do; even on Sunday it was $10 to park for the remaining day of TPF). This is a huge bonus if you're road-tripping it from Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, etc. Unfortunately the parking lot isn't suited for larger vehicles like U-Haul/Ryder-type trucks, so it may not be the best option for someone bringing a bunch of pinball/arcade games to the show. (I did see a truck with a trailer parked in a five-space "parking pig" position while I was there; thankfully there were still plenty of spaces available the whole time I was there.)
There is a fitness center and a pool, though with the silver ball calling my name throughout the weekend, I didn't have a whole lot of time to try out either.
If you are used to hotels/motels that provide a mini-fridge and microwave, unfortunately these are not part of the package here. There are ice machines on four of the six floors, though I did not get to evaluate these as I never needed ice during my stay.
Each room has a TV, which also remained powered off for the duration of my stay. What did get tested, however, was the internet access. Rooms have a wired Ethernet connection, though the regular wireless internet (wi-fi) is also available after logging in with your last name and room number (the information on the room card envelope about a password is incorrect/out-of-date).
Both check-in and check-out went smoothly with friendly service on both occasions. I've done enough travel to know when the staff just doesn't care, and the people at this hotel do care about their guests.
Overall, this is a great place to stay if you're looking for a hotel in Frisco. In addition to the close proximity to the conference center, Comerica Center (Dallas Stars hockey games), the minor league baseball field, and the Stonebriar Centre mall are nearby. There's also a 24-hour 7-Eleven a short walk away, and a Target in a shopping center not too much farther to the east.