Allison Mansion is, at least in my opinion, deceptively ordinary on the outside. Oh sure, it's a…read moremansion and you can tell it's a mansion. However, looking on the outside can't begin to prepare you for the wonder of what's on the inside of this former residence that now serves as the Office of the President for Indy's Marian University. The mansion was first built by James Allison, co-founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. The ceiling's Tiffany stained glass windows allow the sun to shine brightly inside. The mansion's most impressive room was, in fact, originally designed as a marble aviary by Allison to contain his wife's exotic bird collection. The 2-story, red-brick arts and craft style home continues to have an expensive chandelier imported from Germany, a sunken conservatory, and a 2-story pipe organ. Seriously. The property itself is remarkable. Atop a cliff that overlooks a wetland, the property includes greenhouses, ponds, and orchards. Seriously, I would become Marian University's president just to spend time in the office. Allison passed away in 1928 and the property remained unsettled until it was acquired by the Sisters of St. Francis - the founders of Marian University. At one point, public tours were offered but this is no longer the case. You can, however, rent it for events (which is how I've been inside, though it's definitely not wheelchair friendly in any real sense).

Circle City Tours took a roll through private Catholic Marian University and my eyes feasted upon…read morethe beautiful Craftsman Allison Mansion. One reviewer stated "The Allison Mansion remains perfectly restored and beautiful to an almost eerie degree." Eerie alright--there is a disquiet about the Mansion: it is said to be haunted! Builder James Allison was a wealthy man and founder of the Indianapolis Speedway and Allison Engineering Company. The mansion was built between 1911 and 1914 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Allison died young from pneumonia at age 56. The mansion was later sold to what is now Marian University,. However, many locals and visitors feel that Allison never really left the building! Most stories claim Allison still haunts the mansion, rearranging books in the library and furniture as he sees fit. But there are other ghostly goings-on here: the spirit of a little girl who drowned in the basement pool still lingers around the mansion. "Visitors claim to have seen the ghost of a little girl and even heard shrill screams and heartbreaking cries from the basement. Voices in the attic have also been reported," said www.onlyinyourstate.com. I can understand the ghost of Allison hanging around: this place is plush! No expense was spared while building the two-story, red-brick, arts-and-crafts-style Mansion. The exquisite marble aviary was built for Allison's first wife's exotic bird collection, Also impressive: the expensive chandelier imported from Germany, a sunken conservatory, and a magnificent music room with a two-story pipe organ. Outdoors, enjoy lush gardens, manicured lawns, greenhouses, ponds, and orchards that overlook a wetland now restored and maintained by Marian University. Upon Allison's death, there was some concern about the historic property's fate. Bless the Catholics: Allison Mansion was eventually acquired by the Sisters of Saint Francis, who also founded Marian University. Allison Mansion is still part of the university. It is open for public tours and can also be rented for private events. The Mansion is a feature on annual Halloween Ghost Tours. 5 YELP STARS for spooky spectacular!

I was lucky enough to attend a beautiful wedding here over the weekend. Both the ceremony and the…read morereception were hosted in the space. Upon arrival, parking was widely available and easily marked. The venue itself is comparable to a greenhouse overlooking a wooded landscape with a pond and large deck overlooking the water. You couldn't ask for a better space. Natural light pours in and there were tons of plants making it a cozy and natural atmosphere. With the lighting features and design of the space, you can easily customize it to make it your own with flowers, color additions, bars in different spaces and a variety of table layouts. All of the staff that we encountered were friendly and on top of it. I can only speak for the space as an attendee versus the actual event planner. In summary, this place is a beaut and probably one of my favorite venues I've encountered in the Circle City.

Great Venue! Quiet Location! Amazing Building! Spectacular Deck! I was an event planner for a…read morewedding here and it was a gorgeous venue! The glass and black beams at night make you feel like you're amongst the stars. I figured I would let the pictures I took speak for my review!

The pictures tell it all. I know I have reviewed this before but for some reason the pictures fell…read moreoff so I wanted to add them back. I would have to say that service is the number 1 one thing you can expect from this place besides location and the jaw dropping beauty of it. All the brides I have talked to for referrals say: Bill will find a way to make your wedding dreams come true.

High end gallery some very interesting pieces. If you want to look around or are looking for…read moresomething for you our a gift. Art is of course very subjective ... what one person loves .. another might dislike but I saw a lot here that I thought was interesting.

It's gorgeous! I was…read moreonly a guest but everything seemed to run smoothly. Staff was present but not annoying. Bartenders were attentive! Very clean!

A really cool venue for a gathering or wedding. Room for a lot of people. We started downstairs…read morewith a couple bars and tables, chairs, couches and tons of standing space for a great cocktail hour. Then we headed upstairs for a meal and dancing. Do open and really nice. There is also a patio that you can go out and look at the city. Two bars upstairs too. Decorated nicely, too simple. A great place for a wedding.

From the first visit to the end of the event, there was never a doubt that this venue was the right…read morechoice. Everyone I worked with was amazing! The communication and helpfulness is everything you'd expect and want from working with a venue and they were so open and welcoming. I hosted a conference for the non profit I volunteer for and it was such a beautiful space. I would book another event in a heartbeat! It was an all women event and they even have a sign to put over the men's restroom sign to have more restrooms for women! They have thought of everything!!

Great property. Nice and clean and comfortable and friendly staff. Very close to the Indy Motor…read morespeedway.

The hotel is very clean, and the rooms are spacious and comfortable, with a nice size bathroom. I…read morewould definitely stay here again if I were in the Speedway area. It is easily accessible from the 465 interstate and would be a great hotel choice for the Indianapolis 500 race weekend. A special shout out to Maria who helped me check into my room an hour earlier to attend a wedding 15 minutes away. I love the Chat function on the Hilton app that allowed me to converse with the front desk and state my request ahead of time. That is another reason why I am a Gold member with Hilton! I also like the bar and lounge area in this Hampton. It was much larger than I expected with a wraparound bar and big screen TVs. I want to give a shout out to the bartender, Shakeata, who was a pleasure to talk with and who makes a great cocktail! There is also a nice fitness facility and a free breakfast, with good options. Parking is also free. Overall, everything was great. The only issue I had was the shower and the lack of adequate hot water right away from the shower head. It took a FULL MINUTE for the warm/hot water to come on (around 11am). Considering it was 20 degrees outside at the time, it was initially concerning that I may have to contact the front desk to determine if the hot water system was working properly. I was on the 6th floor (top floor) and maybe it takes that long for the hot water to reach that level, but this might be something the management may want to look into at this facility.

I guess this used to be called Dallara IndyCar Factory, and you could do tours and simulated…read moreracing. But as of this writing, that is no longer the case. Now, this space is called Dallara Experience Hub, and it mostly serves as a venue for events. That's how I ended up here! I visited Dallara for a media event. One of the things that initially struck me about the space is that it's so open and airy. There is a lot of natural light coming through the huge windows that face Main Street. That's definitely nice. The second thing that struck me is that it was incredibly loud in there! The floors are concrete and the ceilings are high, so the sound of people talking bounces all around. I had a hard time hearing the people right next to me. But the space itself is nice and minimalist. There was lots of room to move around, and there were even Indy cars displayed here and there. Plus, the location is nice and relatively central. (Well, more on the west side of Indianapolis, but still.)

Now closed to the public, you need an "open house" to be able to tour the facility. Today and…read moretomorrow are just that, an open house event with racing simulators available too. Plus they are selling "spare" parts. For example, you can buy the bottom of an IndyCar and make a table or buy a seat and make a video chair. These same chairs are used for their theater seating. I paid $15 for a tour. I saw a short film on the history of Mr. Dallara, from his start with Enzo Ferrari in Italy, to Lamborghini, then Maserati and F1, and eventually IRL and IndyCar. Everything in an IndyCar and IndyCar Lights except the engine and electronics is manufactured by them. The carbon fiber "tub" that the drivers sit in is so light you can pick it up with one hand. Did you know they are developing an autonomous car (driverless) for the IndyCar Lights? It is to be used for R & D purposes to test tires for instance and it goes 180 mph. It is planned to be showcased in Las Vegas soon. They have also worked with Raytheon Missile systems in Tucson to adapt their quick release system to missiles on planes and other military vehicles. Something else I learned was that paint is no longer used on today's race cars because it is too heavy. What you see on cars is basically a giant decal provided by a graphics company that also works inside this facility. And I did not know A.J. Foyt racing is located directly across the street. The tour was short but highly interesting for an IndyCar fan such as myself. Even some of the houses in Speedway near here are decorated with racing memorabilia and Indy 500 signs. See you this weekend at this year's 2nd IndyCar Road Course race along with the NASCAR double header.

Enticed by a kid and dog friendly location . Pleasantly surprised they had Guggman beer which is my…read morego to , but was interested in trying Centerpoint beer and they didn't have any Good: dog and kid friendly, room for kids to roam, but it's all concrete so at their own risk. Loved the yard games and chalk, a worker (I assume) came out and gave my son a ball and balloon which made his day and kept him busy which was kind. Not so good: first time here and they were out of almost all of the food, and I think only one person working because it took a good 10+ min to see anyone to order my beer. Again first time here so I was confused; was I in the wrong spot, do I go up front to order? Do I need to use the QR code for beer? I ended up asking some people in the area and they said "oh you're in the right spot, I just haven't seen anyone in quite some time." Suggestion would be more signage as to where to order, and maybe even a "will return in X min" sign so you know someone is working somewhere and have a better idea of when they will return to set expectations. If the guy, who I assume worked there, didn't come out and give my son a ball, fill the dogs water bowl up, etc. then I would have been uninterested in returning, but I think I'm going to chalk it up to a holiday and it being hard to find service people. Since they have Guggman beers I may be back if I'm looking for a dog and kid friendly location.

What a perfect chill spot! This place has great drinks and you can order from 317 BBQ next door,…read morethey'll bring it out to you. The beers are great, they have a few that are always on the menu. I like to try the new ones that come out. What I also like about this location is that they have coloring pages, probably meant for kids but I partook in that. I did however do some work while I was there. Didn't need the internet and I'm not sure if they have WiFi for clients. The bartenders are always great and patient when I'm asking to sample all the new beers. Check it out if you're in the area.