Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus Univ Area – Osu

20 family members converged on Columbus for an anniversary party. I booked the hotel — I was feeling responsible for the happiness and comfort of a large group. This Holiday Inn Express exceeded all of our expectations.
From the comfort and attractiveness of the rooms (love the «Soft» and «Firm» designations on the pillows!), to the bathroom amenities, to the ease of using their high-​speed internet, everything was wonderful.
What really impressed us was the staff. They went above and beyond to accommodate a large and often raucous group. Dealing with groups can be confusing, but Mohammed and the rest of the staff got us all sorted — and offered to help us in any way possible. They even opened the breakfast room in the evenings for us to continue the fun.
I received many compliments for choosing this hotel — what a relief!

Would not recommend this hotel to ANYONE! They cancelled our room on the DAY OF arriving. The credit card expiration had changed and we were given until noon that day to respond with a new date before the room would be released. We called them at 10:30 and they had already released our room with no phone call saying this was happening! We tried to book another room, but they were booked for the night! Poor management if you ask me! Take your business somewhere else!

Very disappointed with this location. Cancelled our reservation the day we were travelling because we had to update the expiration date on the credit card holding the room. When we called back (from the car– we were travelling!) to update the information they said JD Singh had made the decision to cancel our room without further notice, and they had no other rooms available! I would not recommend this hotel due to this horrible customer service.

If I could give zero stars I would. I made my reservation a month before I was planning to be in town for 2 days of meetings. On the morning on my arrival at 9:00 am, I got a call from the front desk manager, who informed me that my credit card on file had been declined due to an expiration date. I would need to call her back by noon, or the room would be released. I called her back at 10:00 am to update the card information. She told me that the room had been released and they did not have any other rooms available. «The decision was made by senior management» I wanted to know why she told me I had until noon to call her back with the info, and the current time was 10:00 and she had already released the room? Again, the response was the same — «The decision was made by Senior Management» I asked to talk to senior management and of course, they were unavailable. Because I had made my reservation over a month ago, and didn’t call them back immediately – (HELLO– I was driving to your hotel) they wasn’t sure if I was coming. Not sure, if I was coming??? It was the day of my arrival. And, why would you tell me I had until noon??? I am a frequent traveler, and have never encountered such poor decision making on behalf of senior management. I scrambled to find another hotel close to my meetings, and found the Fairfield Inn by Marriott at the Airport. THIS is a great hotel with great customer service. If you are in the Ohio area, don’t waste your time and money at the Holiday Inn Express!

I thought our hotel turned out to be a pretty decent experience. Checkin was painless, the two men at the front desk were pretty friendly, and we transitioned quickly into our room without difficulty.
Our hotel room was great! There were two queen sized beds, with an assortment of firm/​soft pillows, a coffee maker, a clean bathroom, and a little table with two chairs on opposite side of the table. I would say that splitting the cost of the hotel up among a couple of us made the price seem so great in comparison to the experience that we had.
A highlight to the hotel was the spa and pool. When we arrived at the hotel, there was a sign posted that said that the pool was closed until further notice. Not too long after we checked in, we were in the hot tub and the pool was up and running within an hour. Talk about good service and care to the amenities! The hot tub was wonderful, by the way. Super hot and bubbly. Nothing more relaxing than soaking in a hot tub for twenty minutes.
The bed was okay, a little on the firm side. I flipped around a lot but I generally have trouble sleeping. I think the eight pillows that were on the bed came in handy… they softened the bed and helped me feel relaxed.
There is a breakfast buffet in the morning which is hearty and great. Last breakfast buffet I went to at a hotel, it was horrible. But I was very surprised at just how well everything tasted. The eggs are mixed with melted cheese and were nice and hot when they reached my lips. Muffins and breakfast desserts galore. Yummy!
We didn’t need anything from the front desk staff. At occasion, they seemed aloof or very concise with their wording which came off as a little rough, but overall, they didn’t factor too highly into my experience. The cleaning staff did a good job as well; the tidiness during our stay was excellent.
Thank you Holiday Inn Columbus!

Spacious suites. Not much nearby to walk around too but its only about two miles from campus. Seems pretty we maintained. Comfortable beds. Ample free parking and free wifi. There are cheaper hotels around but it seems you get the comfortable necessities and a reasonable price here. There are a couple other hotels in this same area. It’s a shame this isn’t in the heart of campus so you could walk to places to eat but its much quieter than campus.

I made a reservation for the weekend of September 6, 2014 back in October of 2013… over 10 months in advance. They waited 8 months into my reservation to let me know that construction had been scheduled (prior to October of 2013 when my reservation was booked) and that they would be offering me a room at the Hampton Inn off I-​270 15 miles from the studium. Dealing with their owners and management has been one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done especially in such a customer focused industry and I can’t believe they are even able to get dressed in the morning, let alone operate a business.

This may make me sound snobbish, but I have to confess that I was not happy to be «stuck» with a reservation at this Holiday Inn Express. Hotel options for the weekend were slim pickings thanks to (apparently) OSU graduation, a marathon, and a volleyball tournament.
However, I now can say that my opinion of their brand has been greatly rehabilitated by our two-​night stay. Simply put, the service was great and the facility itself was a lot nicer than I expected. Both the rooms and common areas were relatively recently and tastefully painted and furnished. When I walked on the carpet in my bare feet, it actually felt clean. That is huge.
Some other notes:
+ Microwave and mini-​fridge in the room
+ Responsive HVAC controls
+ Exhaust fan in the bathroom
+ Double ledges in the shower
+ Real hangers
+ Good pillows, labelled «Soft» and «Firm»
+ Potable water
+ A nice citrus-​scented soap and shower gel
+ A satisfactory complimentary breakfast served from 6:30 to 9:30 consisting of four cold cereals, oatmeal, scrambled eggs (unfortunately runny and cooked with cheese and ham – why?), biscuits, sausage gravy, potato cubes, toast, bagels, pastries, make-​your-​own pancakes, apples, bananas, yogurt, four fruit juices, milk, hot cocoa, tea, and coffee
— Towels were a little rough
— The bathtub drain was slooooooow
— Housekeeping put a really hard tuck on the bed covers. Really hard.

This hotel is a great deal. I paid 124 a night, including all taxes, for a very large King Bed room with a sofa living area, free wifi, free hot continental buffet breakfast (with eggs, pancakes and the like) and a great location close to OSU. Granted there were problems with the wifi code asking me to login in the middle of my browsing session, but my colleague staying in another room said she had no problems with the wifi. I signed up for the Holiday Inn rewards program and the front desk person greeted me by name and offered candy and bottled water upon checkin. Some other hotels in the area didn’t have both free wifi and breakfast, so if you need a better-​than-​motel arrangement near OSU, I would highly recommend this hotel.