at the College Inn Bed and Breakfast
The College Inn Bed and Breakfast offers warm, inviting Hoosier Hospitality and combines to be the best value and location for all your stays when coming to this area. Our Marion, Indiana inn features 10 distinct rooms creating an upscale boutique-hotel atmosphere without sacrificing the charm and appeal of an intimate Inn.
College Inn is not your typical bed and breakfast; it is a place where memories and friends are made, and you can expect a unique experience with superb value and good, old-fashioned hospitality.
Guests can expect the best beds this side of heaven, each room with a private bath, flat screen TV, and cozy bedding and decor. Visitors also relax on the porch, connect over breakfast at the table in the common rooms, along with campus and area maps, and even bicycles for when the weather is good. Special menu considerations are also given; all you have to do is ask.
People come to College Inn for various reasons. Weddings, family and high school reunions, university parents and grandparents, VIPs, guest lecturers, faculty candidates, administrative candidates, and consultants are among those who have enjoyed the first-class service and excellent life experience in the inviting College Inn Bed and Breakfast.
From job interviews and business meetings to wedding or graduation celebrations, sporting events, and even family reunions, we want College Inn to be your home away from home. God has a way of bringing special people together, and it often happens at College Inn.
The unexpected blessing of College Inn has been the relationships we have made over the years.
A Little History
After being an award-winning band director and principal for many years in secondary education, Jack Gardner began pursuing his dream of owning a bed and breakfast by purchasing the first house at the corner of 39th & Washington and beginning extensive renovation, doing most of the work himself. Creativity was a must as closets were converted to bathrooms, and each room took on its own personality. Grand opening was in 2008! The “breakfast porch” was a popular place for wonderful breakfasts and ‘strangers’ who became friends.
For the first few years, Jack continued as a school administrator while some amazing Innkeepers gave us our start. College Inn became so popular that in 2014 Jack retired from education and began running the Inn full time, purchasing the house next door and (in 2015) expanding to the 10-room Inn you see today. The next year, JAX Cafe, featuring delicious coffees and teas opened and became the center for guests to eat, relax, unwind, and make new memories.
In late 2020, Andrea Vinluan and Krista Brown noticed that the College Inn was for sale and started to dream with their husbands about the possibility of running it themselves. That dream was made a reality in June of 2022 with the partnership of Thompson Management, Inc.
Andrea and Krista have spent years preparing for this day. With a 20 year friendship as the basis, they hosted a local AirB&B successfully for 3 years, they have taught bible studies and Sunday school classes together, served on multiple committees and boards and raised families together. Hospitality has always been at the heart of this friendship anchored by the Friday homemade pizza night.
Andrea and Krista are excited and looking forward to making memories for a lifetime and pouring into the lives of those that visit the College Inn and Lolas’ cafe.
Ultimately, while our location, comfortable amenities, and commitment to excellence in service and experience for guests makes staying at College Inn a must, it is the wonderful people you will find here who make College Inn extra special.