My husband and I were looking for an inexpensive but decent place to stay for one night in Columbus and selected this hotel based on price + reviews. The hotel is conveniently located at the junction of major highways, but is in a dreary and seedy-looking area that's pretty devoid of businesses other than one Wendy's right next door to the hotel. I would not want to walk around this neighborhood on foot (except maybe across the driveway to Wendy's) and there is nothing to walk to anyway. However, if you have a car, no problem as it's about a 5-10 minute drive straight down E. Hudson to N. High Street and the "Short North" area which has many inexpensive restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and a few bars, mostly targeted towards the college students on the OSU campus also located off N. High Street. So if you have a car, you will be fine staying at this Holiday Inn Express even though its immediate area looks dingy.
Having said that, I felt that this was a better-than-average Holiday Inn Express and was nicer inside than other hotels in its price class at which I've stayed. It looks like the hotel is trying to compensate for its not-so-great neighborhood by being extra nice inside. We understand the hotel is undergoing renovation, although we saw no evidence of this on our floor (second floor) and there was no noise, no missing door number or other issues.
The lobby, breakfast area and public area looked like they had already been renovated, and were nicely decorated with some Asian/ Indian accents, and an antique telephone for the "house phone". I especially loved a lamp near the elevator which had an elephant as part of the base and little elephant beads hanging from the lampshade. I mention this because it's the first time I've ever gotten excited over a furnishing in a budget hotel. The decorator has nice taste.
The hotel offers a free breakfast which was very good, included hot items like cheese omelets, hot fresh baked cinnamon rolls, sausage, and gravy biscuits as well as cold cereal and juice. The breakfast room is big with plenty of space for lots of people to eat. There is no food service other than the free breakfast, however the hotel maintains an extensive list of restaurants to which you can drive, as well as places that deliver to the hotel (note: delivery is very heavy on pizza, Chinese and overstuffed sandwiches, as you'd expect with a big campus close by). The desk clerk on duty was very accommodating and helpful when we needed to locate a place to get food.
It's possible our room had already been renovated as the furnishings and fixtures looked clean and new. Our room had a large refrigerator and a microwave located in a bar area, in addition to a king bed, a desk and chair, an easy chair and a sofa. The bed was comfortable and clean, the bathroom was free of mold and also clean, and everything worked great including the free Wi-fi.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would definitely consider staying here again, especially for events on the OSU campus or in the Short North area. It's a good value for money as long as you have a car.
- Holiday Inn Columbus
- Holiday Inn Express Columbus
- Columbus Holiday Inn
