Tru by Hilton Columbus East Broad — Hotel in Columbus

Stayed at this hotel this past weekend. We experienced issues from check in to check out. Despite the travel booking sites advertising this hotel has a pool, the pool construction has not been completed. That was one of the requirements for hotels to be considered for our stay. I expressed my surprise and unhappiness when told the pool was still under construction and the hotel check in person said that the only thing he could do was cancel my reservations since we hadn't walked into our room yet. We had just driven 6 hours to get there and had about 15 minutes before we needed to leave for the event we were in town for. Leaving without a back up place to go wasn't much of an option for us (more on the pool issue later). We walk into our room and we have a view directly out our window of a McDonalds billboard. Nice. The furniture is about as dorm-roomy as you can get. The desk is not large enough to actually put a laptop and any writing materials on if you have to work while away. The toilet and shower leak. The thermostat wouldn't keep the room cool. Even with the fan turned to "High", it operated in "auto" mode. At one point, it was shooting out warm air instead of cold air. The room didn't stay at the desired temperature through the night and got quite warm. The queen beds are tiny; they are definitely not standard size queen beds. The walls and floors are thin and the doors are very heavy with poor shocks to keep them from slamming shut. We could hear slamming doors, furniture being rolled around, and toddlers screaming and running late into the night and early in the morning. The complimentary breakfast is very sparce. The first morning, they struggled to keep the single warming plate that is split in half filled. The only other hot food is a pancake maker that spits out two small pancakes each time. The second morning, we missed breakfast because it's apparently over at 9am (we got down there at 9:10). We've never experienced one over this early before. Everything else had been put away but there were about 10 pancakes on a plate on the warmer of the pancake maker that they must have made to clean out the pancake machine. We were just going to eat those and be happy and employee came over and told us we couldn't because the breakfast time was over. So throwing them away was preferable to letting us eat them???

Back to the pool issue...after the hotel check-in clerk refused any compensation other than a full cancellation for the pool not being operational despite the travel sites advertising that it was, I contacted Expedia (who I had completed the booking through). It was as much their problem as the hotel's. I chatted with the customer service person about an hour and a half after we had checked in. After much waiting, he said he contacted the hotel and spoke to the same person that had checked me in. That person claimed that he offered me compensation and that I rejected it. I told him that was a lie and asked that if that was the case, for the hotel to go ahead and apply the compensation to my room and we'd move past this. He said that was no longer an option but that the hotel person would contact management to see if anything could be done. Knowing that this hotel employee has already lied to Expedia, I knew he would not be passing this issue up the chain. When we got back to the hotel, I got the card of the hotel manager off the front desk and emailed him. That was Friday night. We are now on Monday night and no response. I have received a response back from Expedia that they have been unable to get the hotel respond for further action either.

The only good things I will say about this hotel is that the shower head was at a sufficient height, there was a pool table and game cabinet in the lobby, and that there was ample seating in the lobby/breakfast area (but with the breakfast ending at only 9am, I doubt this is as big of a plus as at other hotels who have longer...

I can't rave about this location enough! Absolutely will stay here once I visit again. The check in was very smooth even with booking with a 3rd party. This was graduation szn so it was a busy time for them and lots of family seemed to be there that weekend. Parking was very clear and ample. Had no issues whatsoever. I especially liked that there was an exit door that led straight to the parking lot. Now, onto the actual hotel. SO SO stunning! Everything was very modern and very updated. For the price we paid, myself and the rest of my group were extremely suprised by the cleanliness, amenities, and room size. The free breakfast was actually tasty with memorable offerings like almond milk! Also free coffee 24/7 was absolutely a plus for me. Our room was perfect with a lot of space (which could be because we were in an accessible room). I loverd the wall hooks which allowed us to hang up bags, umbrellas, and such. Elevators were in great condition and secure with each floor needing a key card to access. Now onto the other parts. I didnt use the gym personally but a friend of mine did and she was very impressed. On the main floor, there were also bathrooms that were extremely clean as well. A plus for me was that they were stocked to menstrual products as well! As far as customer service, this stood out a lot for me. From the moment we checked in to when I was doing work in the lobby, the staff was extremely friendly and kind. They gave complimentary water which came in handy for us. There was also a filtered water station as well as ice machine on the main floor. The housekeeping was extremely nice as well. I appreciated the checkins throughout the trip too through text messages. Waffle House next door was also a plus. We enjoyed breakfast one morning and it was a nice walk over. Only exception was the minor construction.

The only con in my entire stay was when I was working in the lobby, a lady walked in from the street. It seemed like she was on something and clearly was not a guest. The front desk staff handled it quickly and very well. He even went on to lock the doors. I still ended up going up to my room as a situation like that could have easily escalated. I don't think anything could have been done on the hotel's end though.

Overall, one of the best stays I've had for a quick trip. Definitely...

My wife arrived at about 11:20pm and checked into the hotel Friday 3/21. The gentleman at the front desk greeted her and she explained that she was checking in and that her wife spoke with Kyle earlier saying we could not check in digitally and that she had to show her I.D. He said we are fully booked. So she explained again of the situation. The front desk clerk kept verifying who my wife was with and kept correcting her every time she said “my wife” he would reply “your husband, your boyfriend”. This went on 3 times and by the 3rd time he said “oh she… I don’t get that.” After proceeding to check her in he asked how long we have been together and after she said 14 years he said “oh too long” and continued to question if she read the Bible. She politely replied “yes I’m catholic”. He asked if she read Romans and that’s when I walked in and the conversation went back to business. He did make a sly comment about running my card physically because he could not run it for our second room on the computer and decided to say “maybe theirs not enough money on it… I don’t know”. We would of left if we could cancel the booking and didn’t have our kids with us. This was supposed to be a nice weekend for them with the events that were happening. I tried reaching out to the manager to speak on this and received no call back, it’s been 5 days. My wife and I love Columbus we come here frequently and we enjoy Hilton too as members. We have stayed at Tru in other states as well as other parts of OH and never have we experienced something negative. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community I would avoid this location unless you want to play 20 questions with the front desk clerk and feel like you’re being watched as you enter and exit the lobby. Their was a gentleman named Kyle who was at the front desk early Friday who was very wonderful, kind and helped me over the phone. The rest of the staff who we ran into was also very polite and everything we normally experience with Hilton. It’s very disappointing that this one unresolved incident...