We don’t often post about our travels and certainly not about a hotel. Most of the hotels we stay at here in Florida are very nice – with only a few standouts. Then there’s this hotel.

Hotel Indigo at Jacksonville-Deerwood Park on Jacksonville’s southside. Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood which was once known as “Hollywood East” before Hollywood (the LA one) was even famous. From around 1908 to about 1920, Jacksonville was the spot for making movies. The Hotel Indigo does a nice job of paying homage to that history in their decor and with a ten-minute film that runs continuously on one of the TV channels.

Situated along a large lake surrounded by a boardwalk in the European-styled Tapestry Park Village, you get the feeling that you’re staying in an apartment vice a hotel room and that you’re part of the neighborhood and not a visitor.

The view from our fourth-floor suite looking east across the lake. This area of Jacksonville is in the heart of a large business complex with many corporate offices here. It’s just far enough from major highways to make for a peaceful stay but close enough to I-95, Southside Boulevard and Butler Boulevard to make getting around pretty easy. The St. Johns Town Center is nearby, Jacksonville’s beaches are just down the road, UNF and downtown Jacksonville are an easy drive too. Oh, and there’s a Starbucks just around the corner!

Hotel Indigo Jacksonville-Deerwood Park is a 4-star hotel and is part of the IHG family of hotels. This marked our first stay at any of their properties and we booked our room (a king suite) directly on the hotel’s website.

The Room

The room was exceptional in every way imaginable. It was huge!  We had an end unit on the fourth floor so we had windows on two sides and our view of the lake was beautiful. The room was clean and it had absolutely no smell to it. Why do I mention the smell? We’ve been disappointed lately with the hotels we’ve stayed at – they looked clean at first glance but the background (and foreground) chemical smell were enough to give you a headache! Why so heavy handed with the “air fresheners”? They were hiding the smell of dirty carpets from the more than likely pet and people “accidents”. Too much DNA left behind! Yuk! What made this room different? No carpets – hardwood and tile floors throughout with only a few area rugs by the bed and couches. I’m sure that made it much easier for the housekeeping staff to maintain.

In Summary

IHG looks like they designed a winner… the Hotel Indigo in Jacksonville-Deerwood Park has earned our business. Quiet (even though the hotel was booked solid we never heard our neighbors), clean, no bad smells, clean (gets mentioned twice), large suite with big rooms, great bathroom, huge tub and shower, comfy bed and furniture, no carpeting and have I mentioned – no bad smells!

Here’s the hotel website if you want to check out the rest of the hotel. We didn’t use the common facilities like the bar and restaurant, pool and fitness center but they looked great.

Oh, by the way, we’ve received no compensation for our review. We just wanted to share our experience at this nice hotel. It’s not often that you can be impressed with a hotel in your hometown.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit our camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com for some awesome cameras and photo gear. We’re running a 10% off everything sale at the moment! – Chris

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