Welcome Inn

After sort of accidentally encountering the Welcome Inn, I'll admit that I found myself thinking "Why would I possibly review it?" People know what to expect from the Welcome Inn. However, on the offbeat chance that out-of-towners might check out some travel website and see this semi-affordable hotel located conveniently on Indy's eastside I've decided to go ahead and serve up a review. So, here's my tip. Don't. Simply don't. Welcome Inn is one of those lowbrow hotels where people go when they don't have other choices. With semi-low rates and even lower standards, Welcome Inn takes you when others won't. It reminds me of a motel I stayed in once on a Tenderness Tour where I was staying in a rough part of town and getting weird knocks on the door and weird phone calls all night. In other words, it was a room used for purposes other than, ahem, sleeping and I didn't get much sleep that night. I encountered Welcome Inn because of my encounter with someone staying there who, yes, had experienced an emergency and had no where to go and little money to get there. They were being offered very limited support but it was enough to at least stay in from the cold for a bit. Welcome Inn is located just shy of 30th and Shadeland. It's a somewhat industrial area with a former strip club just down the road and lots of unused space including old factories and a few other retail spots. If you were to Google Welcome Inn, the first thing to pop up would likely be an October 2021 crime that occurred at the hotel. Welcome Inn, to its credit, does offer free parking, free Wifi, and does have some accessible options (though I'd say they're poorly done - they do, however, have roll-in shower rooms). The Welcome Inn was formerly a Motel 6, though even Tom Bodett turned the light off. Please know that I'm in no way insulting those who have no other options. In fact, it absolutely infuriates me that this is an option. The rooms are poorly kept. The room I experienced had a floor that looked like it had never been cleaned (and I'm a complete slob with low standards for cleanliness). Theoretically, the prices here are modest but they far exceed what's being offered. Truthfully, I might consider offering a second star if the price didn't so complete exceed the actual value. There's no question the accessibility features are leftovers from Motel 6 as Motel 6 has always had a reputation for doing pretty well with accessibility. The color combination even retains the Motel 6 design. The building is on two floors. It appears a good number of folks are here either on an extended rate or possibly actually living here. The person I know staying here actually has support while staying here (they are exploring other options) as pretty much the entire atmosphere screams out unsafe environment. While it can be difficult to find decent, affordable hotel options in this area there are definitely much better options including a couple at 21st and Shadeland that should be considered. I simply can't recommend the Welcome Inn in any way at all. The motel has obviously seen much better days. The employees I met were less than friendly. The rooms are poorly kept and the room I was in was depressingly dirty and lacked any sort of extra features you might expect (likely because theft would be expected here). As I visited Welcome Inn, I honestly hoped for the best. While I certainly knew it wouldn't be a fancy place, I hoped for a solid, working class hotel. Unfortunately, that's not what I found. While not quite claiming the title of Indy's worst motel, the Welcome Inn is easily in the bottom 10. There are just as affordable hotels/motels within 1-2 miles and if you're struggling with housing instability right now I hope you'll reach out to a program like Homeless Initiative or Horizon House.

This is a residential motel with many long term renters. This means loud party music all hours. In this case the rooms are run down. Nest to avoid this one.

I'm definitely going back to visit it was a very pleasant exudes wish I could come see you now