A model single king guest room is now on display for the future Westin Indianapolis International Airport hotel, giving travelers their first real glimpse inside the 253-room building rising next to the terminal. A hallway leads visitors to the mock-up room, and renderings circulating alongside it show what the hotel's exterior will eventually look like once construction wraps.
The preview arrives as the project pushes toward a late-2027 opening, according to the Indianapolis Airport Authority, which announced in May that the hotel's structure was complete after its highest beam was set into place. “The steel is up. The highest beam is in place,” the authority said in its announcement marking the milestone, adding that the project remains on track to open its doors in late 2027 as planned. The model room itself was photographed for IndyStar by photographer Mykal McEldowney, offering readers a tangible sense of the finishes travelers can expect once the Marriott-brand Westin finally welcomes guests.
A 253-Room Hotel Built Into the Terminal Garage
When it opens, the hotel will offer 253 guest rooms along with a full-service restaurant, a fitness center, a seventh-floor bar and lounge, and roughly 10,000 square feet of meeting space, the airport authority's announcement states. Hotel-specific parking with valet service is also planned. A pedestrian passage will connect the hotel directly to the airport's parking garage, letting arriving travelers walk straight from their cars to a room without stepping outside.
That connection traces back to February 2025, when the Indianapolis Airport Authority Board voted to approve contracts officially moving the project forward. At the time, the authority said the 253-room hotel would connect to the west side of the IND Terminal Parking Garage and operate under the Marriott Westin brand. Construction broke ground that June, according to Visit Indy, with crews pouring the first phase of the ground floor on September 18, 2025, and logging more than 24,000 labor hours on the project by the end of that month, per the authority's own progress update.
Financing Without Tax Dollars, Authority Says
The airport authority has said no tax dollars are being used to fund the hotel. Instead, the project draws on airport general revenue bonds, Marriott key money and an airport equity investment, the authority's May release explained. The authority's February 2025 approval set the overall project budget at $205,850,000, while separate coverage from IndyStar has referred to it more simply as a $205 million Westin hotel.
Beyond the financing structure, the authority has pointed to broader economic impact tied to the build. More than 100 Indiana companies are involved in constructing the hotel, and the project is expected to generate nearly 3,500 construction jobs overall, with roughly 140 permanent positions anticipated once the doors open. Visit Indy's development tracker lists a December 2027 completion target for the project, consistent with the authority's own late-2027 timeline.
What's Still Unknown
Room rates, booking windows and final staffing plans also haven't been released. For now, travelers passing through Indianapolis International Airport can watch the hotel's steel frame give way to finished floors, with the airport authority's topping-out milestone standing as the clearest public marker of progress so far.
