100-key Le Meridien Indianapolis Opens
Completes the $13M Redevelopment of Circa 1928 Building
INDIANAPOLIS - December 9, 2014 - Downtown Indianapolis' highly anticipated new hotel, Le Meridien Indianapolis, 123 South Illinois Street, will officially open Thursday, December 4, 2014. Rockbridge invested $13 million into the exquisite transformation of the iconic 1928 building, combining subtle influences from the city's rich racing history, geography and art culture with Le Meridien's signature European touches. The exterior façade has remained unchanged to preserve the landmark's historic significance.
From floor to ceiling, Rockbridge and its development affiliate, RB Hotel Development have completely refined the building's interior, leading the project from acquisition through redevelopment and repositioning. Le Meridien Indianapolis features 100 artfully designed guestrooms, including 10 lavish suites with contemporary and Mid-century influenced furnishings, more than 2,600 square feet of upgraded meeting space, and a brand new fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment. Spotlighting the renovation are the completely reconfigured first and second floors, creating space for the sleek, new Indianapolis dining destination, Spoke & Steele.
"We are thrilled to share our hotel with new guests and make our vision a reality," noted Jim Merkel, Rockbridge president and CEO. "Strategically, we wanted to preserve the feel of the property while modernizing the end-user experience, and we knew our team would bring this property back to life and make it the best hotel in Indy."
Every part of the hotel was touched to create a custom experience that today's upscale traveler desires. The 12-story boutique hotel is only the second Rockbridge property worldwide to offer King-size Double bedded rooms, a departure from the typical Queen-size Double bedded room. Each guestroom will boast complimentary wireless high speed internet access, ergonomic workspaces, 47-inch flat screens in all guestrooms as well as 55-inch flat screens in all of the suites, pillow-top LM Beds, and even LED Mirror TVs in each suite bathroom.
The 160-seat restaurant Spoke & Steele features sophisticated "American Fare", with menus focusing on domestic meats and aquatic delights as well as locally sourced and sustainable produce. The craft cocktail program will offer artisan spirits, straight from the cask, and unique beer and wine on tap. Spoke & Steele will also introduce a custom cocktail club, allowing members to enjoy a rotating house made cocktail in their own personalized bottle. The custom-branded bottles will be refilled monthly with a seasonal and fresh libation. The Bar will display the bottles as the centerpiece of the room, offering one of the most unique cocktail programs in the world.
As the ultimate social gathering place in downtown Indianapolis, Spoke & Steele will feature the Steve McQueen-inspired private drinking room and a separate, elegantly designed private dining room. In addition to serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Spoke & Steele will also offer traditional coffee drinks by Illy and Le Meridien signature Eclairs at Latitude Bar throughout the day. For more information or to book, please visit www.lemeridienindianapolis.com.
( Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. )
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About Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts
Le Meridien , the Paris-born hotel brand currently represented by nearly 100 properties in more than 40 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) in November 2005. With more than 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Le Meridien provided a strong international complement to Starwood's then primarily North American holdings at the time of purchase. Since then, Le Meridien has gone through a brand re-launch, which included a large scale hotels product consolidation and redefined brand strategy. Through creation of the LM100 artist community, Le Meridien has transformed numerous guest touch points, thus bringing unique, interactive and curated experiences to its guests. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts within the next five years, concentrating on markets in Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Le Meridien recently opened new hotels in Chicago, Tampa (Florida, USA), Cairo, Bali, Atlanta, Dallas, Istanbul, Oran (Algeria), Zhengzhou (China), Arlington (Virginia, USA) and Santa Monica, (California, USA), and will open in the next 12 months in Bangkok, New Orleans, Mahabaleshwar (India), Gandhinagar (India), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Charlotte (North Carolina, USA) and Indianapolis (Indiana, USA). For more information, please visit www.leMeridien .com or www.facebook.com/leMeridien . Follow @LeMeridien Hotels on Instagram and Twitter.
About Rockbridge
Rockbridge is a hands-on, vertically-integrated private equity firm that invests in hotels. Rockbridge is a private equity firm that invests in hotels. Over the past 20+ years, it has made more than 333 debt and equity hotel investments in 44 states in transactions worth more than $5 billion. Through its deep, in-house experience and strong foundation of industry relationships, Rockbridge has delivered a track record of attractive risk-adjusted returns across multiple cycles and is well positioned as a leading investor in hospitality. For additional information about Rockbridge, visit www.rockbridgecapital.com.
About Azul Hospitality Group
Azul Hospitality Group, a Preferred Management Company for the Le Meridien brand, has a robust infrastructure of industry professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of hotel management and development services. The company's primary focus is on upscale hotels and resorts, with unique destination and product attributes. Other notable projects with Starwood Hotels and Resorts include Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, Aloft Sunnyvale, and Aloft Cupertino.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
