Hotel Review – Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Acme Michigan

Mark and I were preparing for a whirlwind 24 hour trip to Bellaire and were in need of a Hotel room for 1 night.  I knew that I wanted to stay in an IHG Hotel because I am saving up points for our next big trip.  There are 3 options in the Traverse City area.

Holiday Inn West Bay Beach Resort

This hotel is one of our favorites.  We have stayed there on several occasions.  It was once just a regular Holiday Inn, then they remodeled it incorporating an additional nearby building and renamed it West Bay Beach Resort.

What I like about this hotel is it is located very close to down town activities and you can head to the outlying Traverse City areas easily from here as well.  My favorite rooms are some that have picture windows facing directly out to the West Bay.  The windows are directly across from the bed, so you wake up to a beautiful water view.  This hotel features a bar that often hosts local entertainment, a Starbucks coffee shop, pool, hot tub, gym and all the usual hotel bells and whistles.  Breakfast is an additional fee but offers either full menu service or a great buffet.  It depends on our trip whether I add the breakfast during my booking or choose to visit local eateries.  Parking is on site and free.

What I don’t like about this hotel is that all the rooms have not been remodeled (at least as of my last visit there).  So you may get a good room, or you may not.  I try to be very clear when making my reservation what my Stay Preference is.  Even so, last time I had to have them switch us after finding we were in the “old style” rooms.  This hotel was already in the high-end price category before the change to a Resort, but the price is now even higher.  I can usually get a little better rate because we often travel to Traverse City in the off-season (less crowds)…but it is still high.  IHG Rewards nights here are 50,000 points.  Yikes!

Hotel Indigo – Traverse City 

This hotel opened in May of 2018.  Since it is fairly new, I was very interested in staying here.  Like the Hotel West Bay Beach, the price is pretty high in comparison to other similar local properties. An off-season Saturday goes for $160 a night without breakfast,  plus you have to pay $12 daily for parking.  IHG Rewards nights are 50,000 points.

According to the IHG website, this hotel offers a Full Service Restaurant (breakfast for a fee) and a Fitness Center but no pool or hot tub.  It is somewhat near the West Bay Beach Resort, so it is also close to any down town activities and easy access to other outlying Traverse City areas.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites – Acme

We had not stayed at this hotel before, but decided to give it a try.  Listed as Holiday Inn Express and Suites Acme, it sits the furthest East of the 3 hotels.  It is about a 10 minute drive to reach down town activities or 30 minutes to reach Leelenau Peninsula locations.  This actually worked for us this stay since we were starting our trip in Bellaire which is North and East of Acme.

Even though this is a more basic hotel on the outside of town, the IHG Reward Nights go for 40,000 points at this hotel which I felt was too high.  I gladly paid for the room instead with my IHG card to get the 10 times points.  The rate was only $118 per night for a Saturday and I added 1000 bonus points  package to my stay for an additional $5. Since it was my first Hotel stay booked with that card, they gave me a Welcome Bonus of 500 additional points.  This was a good value for a 24 hour trip where we would just be using the hotel as a crash pad for the most part.

What I liked about the hotel was the location in proximity to where we were starting our trip from.  Perfect.   I had requested a high floor (most likely to give good views) and to be located away from the elevators for the stay (I am a very light sleeper). They put us in a third floor room that I was pleasantly surprised had lovely Bay views.  Bonus!

Our room was comfortable with 2 Queen Beds and 4 pillows per bed.  Just Right!      There was a Sitting area with a table, 2 club chairs and a dresser with a TV.

The bathroom was clean and there was ample room to spread out while getting ready. There were plenty of towels and the usual toiletries.  That was all we really needed.

In the Lobby there was a 24 hour coffee station, complimentary local newspapers, a sitting area with a fireplace (we hung out here after breakfast – super inviting) and the breakfast area.

Behind the breakfast area was a pool and hot tub room and the fitness center was also nearby.  Guess who forgot her swimsuit….sigh.  No hot tub for me, but Mark found time for a quick soak while I showered.  It was nice that I could get ready while he was gone and not be in his way when he returned to do the same.

We utilized the included breakfast and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and selection that was available.  The breakfast area looked appealing as everything seemed shiny and new.  On the breakfast bar were cold cereals and yogurt, pastries/cinnamon rolls, make your own pancakes, fruit and juices, a cooler full of milk varieties and 3 chaffing dishes.  One contained Biscuits and sausage gravy, one had both veggie or cheese eggbeater omelets and the last had breakfast meats.

What I didn’t like.  Not much sound barrier in the rooms.  The room across the hall had 2 small children that were constantly yelling while running down the hall and then slamming their door.  Ugh! This went on until 9:30 pm or so on Saturday and started up again first thing Sunday morning.   I also had to call the front desk at 6 am because an alarm had been going off down the hall for 15 solid minutes.  They did come right up to investigate and it stopped soon after.  Apparently an alarm had been left set in a nearby vacant room.    I had hoped to sleep in a bit that morning, but once I am awake,  there is no more sleep for me.

Final Thoughts

I am adding this to my list of places to stay in the Traverse City area as a good choice for an economical 1 night stay.  I would definitely  reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Acme again in the future.  I felt this hotel was a good value.  The room price and the quality of the breakfast were very good.  The room was comfortable and the hotel offered everything that we need for a basic overnight stay.

Location would be a key deciding factor.  For this trip being on the farthest East side of Traverse City was fine, but sometimes we prefer to be more centrally located based on our planned activities.   For the added comfort and more central location, I would probably pay a little extra for the West Bay Beach Resort  if we were staying for a few days or coming for a special occasion.

I am very interested in trying out the Hotel Indigo but with a higher cost, plus breakfast and parking, I am not sure what the benefit is to me.  There really aren’t any extra amenities that make it that appealing except that it is new.  I will watch for a special in the future that allows me to try it out and see what it’s all about.

Until Next Time, Happy Travels!

Leave a comment if you have stayed at the Hotel Indigo – Traverse City, I would love to hear your thoughts.