The Alexander

Enough with the coastal condescension. Why on earth shouldn’t Indianapolis have a high-end luxury boutique hotel with a museum-quality art collection? Ever since the 21c opened in Louisville, Kentucky, it’s been our express wish that every American city of feasible size should follow suit. And Indianapolis has done so, in the form of the Alexander.

This one happens to be a very credible partnership with the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and features some original commissions alongside collection pieces. And for patrons of the hospitality arts, the hotel side of things more than holds up its end. The rooms are visually stylish, sedate, and full of modern furnishings and contemporary comforts, with plenty of attention paid to the other senses: surfaces in wood and leather, plush down duvets, extra-large California king beds, and bath products by Gilchrist & Soames.

Market Table is the Alexander’s free-flowing, open-kitchen restaurant, serving breakfast and lunch made with the best of Indiana’s local produce. Meanwhile Plat 99 is the craft cocktail lounge, augmenting its substantial drinks menu with charcuterie, cheeses and other tapas-style dishes. On the whole it’s a thoroughly cosmopolitan experience.