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Review: Hotel Indigo, Glasgow – how was it?

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This is my review of the Hotel Indigo in Glasgow.

I had a one night stay in Glasgow last week and decided to give IHG’s Hotel Indigo a try.  I needed a 3rd IHG brand to trigger 19,200 bonus IHG Rewards Club points via the current promotion and this seemed like an interesting option.

I had never spent the night in a Hotel Indigo before, although I did a couple of £49 mattress runs at London Paddington a few years ago.  IHG sees Indigo as its upmarket lifestyle brand.  I like the concept, with modern design often mixing – as it does in Glasgow – with the shell of a historic building.

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

This is not a detailed review, because I didn’t eat in the hotel.  I had also booked the one and only suite (at just £127 in the recent flash sale, it seemed daft not to pay the extra few pounds over a standard room) so my room is unlikely to be your room.

The hotel website is here.

Where is Hotel Indigo Glasgow?

The location is amazingly central.  It is about a 2-3 minute walk to Glasgow Central railway station.  The airport bus runs along the same road (Waterloo Street) on its way to the airport and on the parallel road on its way into town.

If you are arriving by train at Glasgow Central, leave the station by the side entrance to the left by M&S Simply Food.  Keep walking forwards, across the road and passing Nando’s, and the hotel will shortly be on your left.

Despite the central location, the location is oddly static.  All of the neighbouring buildings are office blocks so it doesn’t actually feel as though you are in the middle of things even though you are.  It does ensure that the area around the hotel is quiet in the evening.

Hotel Indigo Glasgow opened in 2011 in an 1892 building which was apparently a power station, although the facade looks like an office block.  It has 94 rooms.

The ground floor (stock photo below) shows the lobby and bar.  Tucked around the corner is a Marco Pierre White restaurant.  This was surprisingly busy for a Monday night, and the majority of diners did not appear to be hotel guests.

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

Check in was friendly and efficient.  Here is one thing to note: I was offered 600 bonus points or a welcome drink as my Spire Elite amenity.  I assumed it would be ‘drink and snack’ as is usual at a Holiday Inn, but it turned out the Hotel Indigo policy is just a drink. 

Once I got to the room it turned out that my free mini-bar had a small bottle of wine in it anyway.  In retrospect, I should have taken the points this time ….

The corridors were classily done, although there was a worrying wobble in the floor on the way to my room:

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

The suite was on the fifth floor in a new glass box tucked onto the roof.  This meant that there was a huge amount of light.   This was certainly not the biggest suite I’ve ever had – the website says it is just 34 sq m and I can believe that – but it felt bigger with the wrap-around glass walls.

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

and:

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

The free mini-bar included – and this is just a sample – a small bottle of wine, water, diet coke, crisps and a Tunnock’s caramel wafer.  A complimentary bag of fudge was also waiting for me on the bed.

Tea and coffee facilities were also available.

The bathroom was smaller than I expected.  There was no bath, just a large rainfall shower.  There was only one sink.  The toiletries are advertised as Aveda but were actually branded The Scottish Fine Soaps Company.

I did like the tiling on the shower:

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

It is worth flagging up that the little balcony outside the suite, which you can’t access, was popular with the local bird population which did get a little noisy at times:

Hotel Indigo Glasgow review

Conclusion

There’s not much else to add.  I ate out, although I did sit in the bar with my free glass of wine for half an hour and it felt a suitably classy place.  The number of people in the restaurant on a Monday implied that this is one of the better options locally.

I didn’t stay for breakfast since I knew I would have time to eat in the airport lounge, and Hotel Indigo does not offer free breakfast to IHG elite members.  There is a small fitness room in the hotel but I didn’t visit.

If you need somewhere to stay in Glasgow city centre then I am happy to recommend the Hotel Indigo.  The rooms are stylish, the staff are pleasant, the hotel isn’t too large at 94 rooms and it is convenient for the airport bus and the railway station.  If you can get the suite for a modest premium and intend to spend time in your room then it is decent value.  What more do you need?

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.


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Comments (39)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Paul says:

    It’s a great hotel and the breakfast is fabulous. The staff are brilliant and nothing is too much trouble.

    Stayed here with my young kids just after it opened. One of them was ill during the stay leaving much of what they are that day all over the brand new carpet. Hotel didn’t bat an eye at 2am send up cleaners right away.

    Also my best ever redemption. I bagged a room for points when rate was £600 on the night of the commonwealth games opening ceremony.

    One thing, there is no parking! You need to use the nearby multi storey but like the rest of Glasgow that’s expensive. You can park on the streets at weekends for free but it is restrictive. Given location and excellent public transport a car is not needed in Glasgow if you keep within the are served by the subway.

    • CV3V says:

      In terms of weekend parking, watch out as the council are introducing charges for Sunday parking, dont know if it affects the hotel street. Not just the underground (aka Clockwork Orange), the overground trains are pretty good too.

  • Alan says:

    I’m generally a fan of Hotel Indigo when staying with IHG.

    If looking for an Accor option in Glasgow then the Ibis Styles is good value and well-kept with some quirky touches. Just the other side of George Sq from Queen St Station and much nicer than the Mercure round the corner.

    • Chris says:

      The second Ibis Styles is now open in Glasgow and is pretty much opposite the Indigo. I’d say it’s actually better than the George Sq one as the rooms feel slightly bigger and as Rob mentioned re the Indigo it’s a lot quieter in the evening.

      • Rob says:

        Yes, I saw this – it is literally under a minute away. I’m generally fairly positive about Ibis Styles too.

  • Iwantloungeaccess says:

    No free breakfast. Yep. Even with Spire Ambassador there’s no breakfast and no lounge, the two things I value most. On reward nights there’s not usually an option to book club rooms so it’s down to luck for upgrades and asking for club access which I do sometimes get given or sometimes have to pay for. I’d prefer more certainty. Platinum is easy to get for almost nothing via credit card, so fine, but Spire is pointless.

    • Billie says:

      But Hotel Indigo’s don’t have lounges do they? My success rate with lounge access at Crowne Plaza is 100%. Some are average. Some are much better than the typical Hilton offering. I’ve stayed at nearly every Hilton with a lounge in Europe. If you count the number of CP’s with a lounge in Europe and the number of Hilton’s with a lounge, you’d be surprised. For me, IHG is a better option. Plus the dates are typically not as silly as some Hilton’s.

  • Whizz68 says:

    I recently stayed at the Hilton Glasgow hotel, which was a fairly good experience. The executive lounge had a good evening food and drink offering. The breakfast was included at the restaurant, as a diamond member. I would recommend the Hilton, if you find a good price.

    • John says:

      April fools!

    • Curious says:

      Isn’t the lounge in the windowless basement with rubbish drinks selection?

      • Whizz68 says:

        Yes, that’s right the lounge didn’t have any natural light due to no windows. But the evening food and snacks were fairly good.

  • Mike says:

    Rob – “the location is oddly static”. Personally I prefer my hotels to remain static, as it makes it much easier to find them again at the end of the night……

    • CV3V says:

      Hotel was static, but the floor did wobble.

    • Vasco says:

      I once wondered why my hotel’s front door was padlocked. Turns out I was at a different building. I may have had a bit too much to drink that night. xD

  • Genghis says:

    We stayed last year for one night as we went to No 16 again. Very good hotel. Free mini bar had plenty of spirit minis.

  • chris says:

    I stay here fairly regularly (10-15 times a year on average). I find the corner rooms are better than the suite. They have at least four windows so plenty of light during the day.

    The restaurant is as busy as they flog two course offers and Chateaubriand with wine offers constantly on sites such as Itison etc.

    If you are staying and intending to dine in the hotel it’s worth checking these out. You obviously lose the IHG points from the spend but it can be significantly less. One word of warning though is that they have got into a nasty habit of running the restaurant from the side part of the bar on quiet evenings and setting the restaurant up for breakfast so you may be seated in the bar rather than the restaurant. If I was paying menu prices I don’t think I’d be particularly happy with that.

    My only bugbear with this property is breakfast. It can go from great to totally disorganised from one morning to the next. Nothing wrong with the quality of the food but if a lot of people arrive at breakfast at the same time they crumble and never recover.

    • CV3V says:

      On the subject of itison website, and upcoming article on flight to Barra – the itison website has a brilliant promo on their website this morning for Fyre Festival 2, on Barra. Will only be available today….

      • ankomonkey says:

        Do you need to retract this comment at midday?

        • chris says:

          On an absolutely serious note re Barra however I would recommend a visit as it’s lovely. It must be the only airport in the world where the scheduled planes (Dinky twin otters) land on the beach. It’s an experience and a half.

      • Brighton Belle says:

        Zero probability the luggage carouse will break down as on my trip your bags were put out back on a shelf. I used the flight as a starter …up though the Outer Hebrides by public ferry and bus. Everything connected all the way to Stornaway… which is more than I could say taking a train from Brighton to Victoria on a Saturday. The Hebrides are on another planet.

  • Fiona Macadie says:

    I am not a business traveller so don’t collect hotel points but if you are looking for great value, first class room and central location in Glasgow, the Premier Inn just off George Square, which is a short walk from Central Station, Queen Street Station, Buchanan Street Bus Station and Glasgow Underground, is an excellent option. The rooms are as good as any of the main hotel chains. There is a paying car park opposite the hotel – £25 Overnight but as a guest at the hotel you have 50% discount.
    As a matter of interest, I have only once had experience of the Hotel Indigo in Glasgow where I had afternoon tea in the Marco Pierre White restaurant which was very disappointing. The sandwiches were very dry and had obviously been made several hours beforehand and left uncovered.

    • Rob says:

      The first comment on the hotel’s FB page makes the same point, I spotted today!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Not sure why not being a business traveller means you don’t collect hotel points. Find they are far more valuable than airline miles myself.

      • Jimbo says:

        Not more valuable. But arguably easier to obtain. Especially if you sleep more often than you fly. 🙂

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