The buzz around the winter opening of the Bottleworks District may have faded, but as COVID-19 vaccination becomes more widespread, the appeal of an indulgent getaway has only grown. Four months in, nearly all of the businesses are now up and running, making it easy to schedule a staycation full of pampering, entertainment, and dining. Here are 12 good reasons why:
- Quite simply, everything is finally open, or will be very soon. You could easily spend a couple of days pampering yourself within the Bottleworks District. A bar, a spa, a nail salon, upscale dining, a movie theater, bowling, a food hall, a café, and good shopping are all in full swing in close proximity.
- Pins Mechanical Company will be the latest business to open on April 29. The playground has both standard and duckpin bowling, arcade games, pinball, oversized Jenga, cocktails, beer, and a sophomoric sense of humor about the word “balls.” And you can bowl in your own shoes, no gross rentals required.
- Modita, a new Asian-fusion restaurant, is another hit from Indy’s powerhouse Cunningham Restaurant Group. Take a seat in the swanky dining room for their Modita noodle bowl, full of steak and shrimp wontons;, palm-sized wasabi potato cakes; and delicate flower-garnished cocktails.
Cocktails at Modita in the Bottleworks Hotel - Sundry and Vice, an apothecary-themed cocktail bar that goes all out with its theme, will replace the hotel’s current, temporary lounge sometime this spring.
- The Woodhouse Day Spa knows what it’s doing. The local business’s fourth location does it all, the better to melt your stress away and polish your bod with facials, massages, skin-care treatments, body wraps, nails, and waxing. Seaweed foot mask, deep head-and-neck massage, facial peel? Get a glow-up one afternoon.
- The Bottleworks Hotel in the historic Art Deco building is the star of the district, and while anyone can pop in and look around at the ravishing lobby gilded with original brass and tile details, there’s much more to see if you decide to stay a while. Upstairs, the renovation gives its rooms and hallways a dark, sexy attitude. Black walls and ceilings feel like a museum setting for endless rows of gritty five-foot-tall portraits, depicting workers from the Bottleworks construction crew. Glossy Coca-Cola-red room doors pop, so to speak, a nod to the product once bottled in this building. Walk each hushed hallway, taking in the art, the vibey background music, and the building’s bones on display with its giant metal trusses and towering windows.
- You might pick up on subtle luxury of the hotel space, as well—evident in the broad lounge spots by the elevators, the four-lane hallways, generous windows looking out onto downtown, and deep foyers outside some rooms, something we’ve never seen in a hotel.
Bottleworks Hotel - The rooms are spacious and plush. You’ll want to take multiple showers a day in the gigantic walk-in with a rainhead and a standard shower head. King Terrace rooms ($369/night) have a large balcony overlooking downtown. The rate for a standard king room is $249. But they might be lower on off-peak weekdays.
- Indiana Landmarks trained the hotel staff to give history and architecture tours. Anyone is welcome to ask at the front desk for free guided look-see when it isn’t busy. Heartfelt tipping is never a bad idea.
- The Garage food hall is so full of delicious choices, you’ll want to have more than one meal there. Certain Feelings, a local coffee roaster, has opened its first counter in town and crafts culinary-inspired drinks like a blackberry “shakerato” garnished with a fresh squeeze of grapefruit juice. Azucar Moreno not only has the most charming cashiers, it specializes in a unique Venezuelan stuffed cornbread dish called a cachapa. A griddled, buttery sweet-corn pancake is folded like a big, soft taco shell around your choice of fillings, including meats, cheeses, and vegetables.
- The Living Room Theater is bringing art films to downtown—and you can order a Smoking Goose charcuterie board from your reclining lounge chair.
Living Room Theater at Bottleworks District - You can while away several hours shopping at spots like Good Neighbor, opening its first boutique outside of Detroit with the puffy-sleeve dresses and sandals you need for summer—plus a men’s section and great knitwear. Becker Supply Co. and Pumkinfish in The Garage are local boutiques offering outdoor-inspired lifestyle wear and a riot of pop-culture giftables, respectively. Out on Mass Ave, you can hit Boomerang for more clothes and accessories, Crimson Tate for fun fabrics, Homespun for all things handcrafted, and Mass Ave Wine Shoppe for bottles and gourmet items.
