Best Western Port Columbus — Hotel in Columbus

My 13-year-old son and I stayed here over a Friday and Saturday night during our out-of-town trip to attend Origins gaming convention in downtown Columbus. The convention parking structure on Goodale was between 8-10 minutes away (based on traffic, according to Google Maps). The night before arriving, I saw the recent negative reviews on Google Maps, and I actually spent an hour shopping around for better accommodations until I realized that I couldn't afford any other available hotel options and there were not that many available options due to the convention and other concerts and conventions going on that weekend.

In comparison to the recent negative reviews that I read on Google Maps, I want to state that:

Our 3rd floor hotel room was clean. My car did not get broken into. The shower and toilet worked. The indoor pool was open though we did not have time to go swimming. The pool was close to the main entrance of Best Western, and as a result, my sensitive nose noticed a slightly musty and chlorinated pool smell when we first walked into the hotel, but I'm also a lap swimmer, so it did not bother me. The Wi-Fi worked.

We didn't use the big flatscreen tv in our room. We brought a cooler with ice and food in it, and I can verify that the ice machine next to the elevator on our floor worked well and was clean. I filled 3-4 small buckets of ice per day to refill the cooler.

The continental breakfast looked good each morning. Each morning, I grabbed 2 cups of coffee from the breakfast and a banana for my son, but we didn't try the food because he's gluten free and I'm low carb, (and frankly I brought better food in the cooler for our breakfast).

Yes, I got a small whiff of marijuana once over those 3 days around the elevator, but since it's legal in Ohio, I smell it occasionally everywhere where there are lots of people. ... At restaurants, in the locker room at the YMCA, in the parking lot at work (during lunch breaks), in movie theaters, in grocery stores.

Also, whenever the bathroom was last remodeled, I noticed that paint had dripped on the base molding. So, yeah, the quality wasn't as good as I would do for my own house, but it was completely acceptable.

Also, I did see a gnat / flying-bug in our room that resembled the gnats that I see near the showers in the YMCA locker room. I only saw one, and it did not keep me awake and it was not a mosquito, and I would prefer a bug to wondering if there are pesticides on every surface to keep bugs away.

I sometimes have ants or spiders or centipedes or (rarely) fruit gnats in my house, but I didn't see any of those in the hotel. I actually prefer spiders to any of the bugs as spiders eat the rest...

I didn't see or experience bed bugs, but always assume they are there, and as a precaution, we don't put our suitcases/satchels on the floor or bed, and I brought separate garbage bags for our clean and dirty clothes, and we showered after getting out of bed changing in the bathroom and not getting back on the bed with clean clothes on, etc..

I would totally stay at this hotel again, and I would recommend it to family and friends due to its great location to the highway, and its affordability. The other guests were well dressed, and in conversation I learned that other guests were staying at the hotel due to their work or to stay while in town to attend other...

Best Western, a jacuzzi room for my son turning 9 during Covid 2020.......Walking up to the lobby entrance door, "Masks must be worn prior to entering" was clearly taped. I had my mask on, the manager behind the desk had his on but another employee behind the desk didn't. He said something to the Mgr, walked past me and went away. I was really confused that an employee in the service industry wouldn't comply with something basic as a mask.

Once I approached the Mgr, who was located behind a wall of plexiglass, I stated that I was there to check into my room. He asked my name and then I was presented a form to complete with a pen. This was very odd, I've stayed at many hotels and when I've booked online (also, I booked this direct with Best Western, no 3rd party booking), I've never had to fill out documentation. These are usually completed from the online information.

Now, with this form, I was also instructed that I needed to provide a deposit for the room, an amount of $200. IN CASH! I told the Mgr that there was no mention of this on the Best Western website, particularly the hotels sub-site within Best Western main site. No reply, didn't even look my way, continuing to stare at the TV with the NFL game playing. I checked my wallet, but I knew I didn't have that amount of cash on me, I don't carry any substantial amount on me. $40. I told him I would return.

Telling my wife (who was waiting in the car) what happened was another experience in itself. Not only was she confused about a deposit like I was, she asked various questions also. "When is the $ returned?", "Was this on the site?", "Should we stay here?". I was so upset also that I didn't ask the Mgr questions either. I went to VHS atm, withdrew $200 and came back to check in. The Mgr completed the documentation, I gave the $200 and it was placed in an envelope. He explained where our room was and that was it.

If it wasn't for us getting a jacuzzi room for my sons birthday, I would have left. $200 CASH deposit for a jacuzzi or $100 for a regular room was an unnecessary and outrageous, especially unprofessional to hide from your guests. I forsee myself and family not considering Best Western in the future of any travels. In addition, my negative interaction with Best Western will become a widely talked about experience with family, friends, coworkers and anyone who asks about hotel recommendations, they will hear about why NOT TO SELECT...

We arrived to the hotel with our baby at 2:50 pm for our 3 pm check-in and were told the room wasn't ready, strange, but it wasn't check-in time so totally fine. We get to our room and the door won't open, we thought it was dead bolted from the inside but turns out you just have to push REALLY hard, couple in the room next had the same issue. Walked in and the smoke alarm was on low battery, so beeps every minute. After letting the front desk know, they did fix it but still frustrating for a room that was supposedly JUST cleaned. There were Reese's pieces wrappers around the bed, and trash stuffed behind the TV console. I went to put away clothes and all the dresser drawers were broken, tried to put my laptop in the safe, but that was also broken (laptop was put behind the TV console which is how we found all the trash stuffed back there). There was a soap dish, but no soap. The fridge popped open on its own every few minutes. The microwave time is stuck on a random time and the only clock in the room. Went to make coffee and the piece that holds the coffee pouch was missing. Old lollipop sticks in the trash can. The beds were made backwards (??) The loose sheet was on the outside of the bed instead of under the blanket and the blanket was scratchy. Kids were running up and down the halls yelling early in the morning. Check out was at noon but at 11 am someone yelled "house keeping" and opened the door before we had a chance to respond, woke the baby and caught me walking out of the shower. They then yelled through the door asking if we were staying the night. They have a menu that says to scan the QR code for room service menu, the code just takes you to Instacart for grocery delivery...not even Uber eats or doordash...really strange. It's a family owned place, the kids being there make sense. The staff are nice and really helpful if you ask them anything at all. Every thing we asked about they immediately responded to our needs. There's just only so much you can ask about, it should be standard that the furniture is unbroken, the beds are properly made, there is soap by the sink and the room is clean. We're not going ask for them to fix the dresser, fix the microwave, fix the safe, fix the coffee pot, reclean the room, remake the beds and restock the bathroom. $160/night is...