Holiday Inn Express Columbus Downtown, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Columbus

4/5 Stars - Recommend here for low-key travelers & family pool vacations. ||My review comes from both the guest perspective & someone who works in Hospitality. An important question to ask yourself before booking a hotel is why do you need it? Is it so you can spend as much time there to pamper yourself, or is it a place to just sleep while you're exploring outside of the hotel? I booked this hotel out of convenience as to why I was in Columbus. I didn't read any reviews. It was on my way there when I searched the address on Google that I saw it rated as a 2-star hotel. I laughed to myself, thinking what have I gotten myself into. ||This hotel met my needs of convenient location as a place to crash at the end of the night. I stayed in a king bedroom. I liked the space it provided, and I thought the bathroom was designed well. The bed was comfortable. I really enjoy the brand of pillows they use. If I were to critique it, the lighting could have been brighter in the bathroom. Specifically, a ceiling light. The only light came from the mirror, and yeah, it gave off decent lighting, but it felt a bit dark in the shower. I don't have the greatest eyesight, so this is just me being picky. Also, I found some dust on the top of the towel fixture. Nothing crazy. Was annoyed to be right next to the elevator. The door is not well insulated, so you hear people getting off it all night, but the elevator itself is quiet.||Moving on to the rest of the hotel experience. I encountered 5 employees. If you're someone like me who appreciates a hi in passing with a smile, you most likely won't get that here. I understand jobs in hospitality can be stressful, and we tend to be in our heads sometimes, but I was disappointed with how robotic it felt there. I wish I knew her name, but the housekeeping lady did greet me with a smile the one time I saw her. She was the redeeming grace.|I liked the breakfast they served, standard food you'd experience for a Holiday Inn Express. I thought the setup for the 4 hot foods was odd. It was awkward to open the containers to get the food because of the glass cover and wall. |Breakfast was late by 40 minutes one of the days, but I can forgive that. You never know what behind the scenes looks like or if something unfortunate happened, so when encountering inconveniences, I like to show grace. |There was an outdoor pool that I didn't use. Screaming kids on vacation? No thanks. It did look nice and well kept, though. So if you're looking for a hotel with complimentary breakfast and a pool to enjoy, this would be a great place to go.|The hotel overall was clean. Didn't see anything that required immediate attention. I liked the colors used on each floor. Elevator is a bit small, but most usually are. Stairs are right next to it, so I used them majority of the time. You won't get lost...

I had checked in on Wednesday April 30th. They had let me check in early, so it started off great. I was checked into a room that did not have a working A/C. I had to work my day job during this ordeal as well.

The general manager had stated verbatim "I will give you a free night's worth of points for this inconvenience." Great! No issue there. I had to move rooms, and the other room was sufficient.

I had to stay an extra two nights due to the project taking a bit longer than expected. I call the front desk on Thursday morning asking if I can redeem that free night. I was told "you'll receive points to use for that". After explaining what the general manager had promised, the front desk agent told me he'd give me a call about my reservation

I proceed to start work on that Thursday and all of the sudden, a maid comes in at noon EST unannounced. She backs out and then I get a call from the front desk agent INSISTING I make a reservation. I say "okay, so if I pay for this tonight, I am able to use my points for the free night tomorrow, correct?" He confirmed over the phone, and I paid for another night. They charged me a $12 parking fee initially when I paid for it, even though I did not have a vehicle with me.

The next day, I go up and ask about my free night and the front desk agent seems to have forgotten our previous conversations. He refuses a free night, refuses to apply points to my account, and says I need to pay for the night. Which mind you, is over $200.

In conclusion, I have yet to receive a call from the general manager and I've asked 3-4 times. I have yet to receive any sort of extra points in my IHG account. And I have yet to get a refund for the $211 they made me pay when I was PROMISED a free night. Multiple times

The hotel's Wi-Fi is very poor and your phone service is very limited inside the building. The lack of communication I have received about this is appalling. If you promise something, you follow through.

I still have yet to receive my deposit back from the hotel either and it's been days. I'm basically $400+ in the hole. I only stayed here because I was promised a free night, and it'd be more cost effective to pay for one night vs two nights elsewhere.

I'm still wanting my money back and the promise fulfilled, but based on their carelessness, I don't think it will happen. Never...

Had a one night stay mid-week, 2 adults. The location is great, close to German Village, COSI, etc. Parking is VERY tight, and expensive, $12 per night. It was advertised at $10, and the first email said $10. For the cost of the room, charging daily for parking is an insult.

The room was nice, we had 2 queen beds. The beds are VERY high, some people may not like it. I'm short and had to crawl into the bed as it was too high to just sit on. They were comfortable enough with plenty of pillows.

The small fridge was totally frozen, working, but needs attention. We didn't use the microwave. There is a Kurig, and various coffee pods. Our room only had one of the Breakfast blends, the other was decaf and a strong roast. When we asked for a few more of the milder blend, not decaf, the employee at the front desk was unable to get any. She did eventually bring us one, and more decaf, but we didn't want decaf. She mentioned there is coffee during their breakfast service, but like many people, we like our first coffee of the day in the room. The housekeeper carts were long gone by the time we checked in, but we noticed a ton of the pods the next day when checking out. Not sure why the desk clerk didn't have access to them at 7 p.m.

The area where the Kurig sits is dark, too dark to see what you're doing, so we had to use the flashlight in our phones. It sits under a shelf that holds the small microwave, but really needs a light.

The bathroom was adequate, but we thought it odd that the toilet paper wasn't on a holder, and there wasn't one, just the roll sitting on the counter. Hubby said the shower head was good. The bathroom could have been cleaner along the floor edges etc. The rod for the towel rack on the over-the-toilet rack was missing.

The safety latch at the door was pulling out of the wall, and would have barely even touched the door. A child could have muscled their way in. Too expensive of a hotel for this major issue.

The breakfast was good, nice western omelettes, hot from the oven cinnamon rolls, turkey sausage, bacon, a griddle for pancakes, yogurt, dry cereal, hard-boiled eggs, juices, etc. Everything was hot, the food is set up in a separate little room, the eating area...