Holiday Inn Express Columbus South - Obetz by IHG — Hotel in Hamilton Township

They were a bunch of things about this stay here at the Holiday inn Express that were good, but there were a bunch of things that could be better. The staff was nice and friendly, check in and check out were easy, the beds were comfortable and the water pressure was good. There were not a lot of guests so the place was pretty quiet and the pool was warm... around 80 to 85° and we had it all to ourselves. Here are some of the things that could have been better. When we went to use the swimming pool, there were no towels available we had to go ask the front desk, but she brought some right away. Unfortunately the tile floors in the room we're not very clean when they got a little wet from the shower they were grimy. The fan did not work in the bathroom, and the bathroom sink drained poorly. I looked under the counter and whoever plumbed the sink put in a horizontal drain pipe that would not drain well anywhere. I did love the tiny soap that they had there to use for your hands, and the shower carried three locked in soap dispensers to use in the shower. It was nice to know that if I needed anything else, they had a little sign that said I could request it from the front desk.There was only one set of towels per person with one washcloth, one hand towel, and one bath towel. I don't know about you, but I tend to use more towels than that for an overnight stay. I could have requested more I'm sure. The thermostat in the room did not seem to be connected to the air conditioner under the window, as we had to go over and turn it on manually. It worked well but when it started up there was a musty smell and there was some kind of ticking all night long in the unit. Unfortunately we were also close to the expressway in the building, and we could hear the big trucks going by outside. When we arrived they put us on the first floor, which was nice because we could just walk down to the pool, but we noticed that the whole hallway had a faint meat smell, so if you are a vegetarian, you might not like this. The next morning when they were making breakfast the kitchen door was open in they were cooking the morning sausage and bacon there, and the smell ended up hanging in the hallway. It does not seem to be vented well from the kitchen. If you love the smell of meat in the hallway, then this is the place for you! Breakfast was good and they were a few good options like turkey sausage as well as pork sausage, and a veggie omelette as well as a regular omelet. I saw different people putting things together into styrofoam boxes to take with them, and there seem to be some construction workers on jobs locally that were doing this. It is so great to have a breakfast included with the overnight stay. All of the Holiday inn Express hotels also have a good setup for people needing to connect their laptops, and there are computers available with a printer...

I am a UK traveller. I was travelling around the north US booking hotels for the evening stay, in the afternoon using BOOKING dot COM app.||I booked the hotel on the Sunday afternoon, as it was in an area reasonably close to where I was. I got a great rate, presumably because it was Sunday, in fact it was the cheapest stay of my entire 2 week vacation.||The hotel is located just off a freeway (as is common) and has various eateries and a gas station immediately nearby (as is common).||From the outside it wasn't anything special, but when I entered, I thought "wow, this must be a brand new hotel". I was impressed by the reception area.|I was greeted by a young lady who was very friendly, and intrigued by my British accent. We had a pleasant chat while I was check in. So a great first impression.||As I went to my room , the carpets were modern and iimmacualte and I continued to think "new hotel". When I entered the room I was very pleased. I t was a lovely modern immaculately clean room with nice bathroom. TV and furnishings were all modern. In particular the air conditioning unit was in tip top shape, unlike what I found in other hotels where flaps were falling off or there was dust.||I walked to the nearby Taco-Bell to buy food. Very convenient.||The breakfast was also very good, as good as if not slightly better than any other brand/chain I stayed at. Once again the breakfast area looked immaculately clean and well maintained.||As I left breakfast I asked the lady at reception "how old is the hotel?". I was shocked to hear that it used to be a Comfort Inn and had been renovated. Nevertheless I got a positive impression from her with respect to their attitude towards maintainance of the hotel.||The only minor issue was that I did have problems with WiFi, in that YouTube videos would freeze. I did mention this to the lady at reception, and she did acknowledge that they were aware of this and had been chasing up providers to get iit sorted out.||I would very happily stay at this hotel again, without hesitation, if I was in this area.||Value for money it was off the charts during my stay (but it was Sunday when I think rates are lower). It was as nice internally as any other hotel at which I stayed during my vacation and ironically was the...

Housekeeping comes through starting at 8:00 a.m. and if you want to sleep in, you will be hearing the knocking and "Housekeeping!" in your hallway. If you have the "I'm not ready yet" card on your door to extend your morning privacy, be aware that they will not come back to check after about 9:30 a.m. and if you remove it after that, your room will not be cleaned that day. Don't leave any food in the trashcan or you will have flies. Gross!

"Firm" pillows are still very flat and not supportive.

The breakfast has a variety of hot and cold foods, but some of the hot foods are not always hot.

Thieves came through and broke into all of the cars on one side of the parking lot during my stay, in spite of security cameras and police patrols. This was not something the hotel could have prevented, but staff were very helpful in cleaning up the broken glass, assisting guests with the damage to their cars, and working with police. I was told this was the second time this has occurred this year, so I'll be watching the police report to see if the thieves are caught. The job was very well-organized, and these thieves are probably hitting other hotels too, so although this experience severely downgraded my overall guest experience and makes me want to hesitate to recommend this hotel, if you stay in a different hotel you may have the same problem, so instead I'll say just take any valuables with you and make sure your auto insurance includes glass coverage.

Wifi was actually pretty good, for one user at a time. When I tried playing a game on my phone while streaming video on my laptop, I had some lagging. But for most day-to-day needs the wifi is fine.

My room was clean when I arrived and when housekeeping didn't skip me, the room stayed clean. I didn't use the pool or gym, but for those that want them, they are available. I appreciated the free breakfast and free parking (minus the broken car window, which wasn't the hotel's fault). The location is on the outskirts of Columbus and was no more than about 15 minutes' drive from any of the places I needed to go. It's on a very busy road with lots of trucks, so there was a little traffic noise, but not too bad.

Front desk staff were very helpful and efficient. Check-in was quick and friendly and...