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Cincinnati · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Kings Island

Britt Sorensen

Britt Sorensen India and the Himalaya

Updated 1 September 2026 · 33 Cincinnati hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Cincinnati, out of the 33 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.2.

All five are within 7.0 km of Kings Island.

Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Northeast/Mason

Highest rated of the five

Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Northeast/Mason

★★★★★4.5 from 434 reviews

Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Northeast/Mason comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 434 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 3 star property, found under poi and around $149 a night on the dates we checked.

33 hotels in Cincinnati qualified for this list and five made it. Drury Inn & Suites Cincinnati Northeast Mason is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Northeast/Mason1

    Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Northeast/Mason

    ★★★★★4.5 from 434 reviews

    1.5 km from Kings Island, about a 19 minute walk

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    • Drury Inn & Suites Cincinnati Northeast Mason2

      Drury Inn & Suites Cincinnati Northeast Mason

      ★★★★★4.8 from 1,153 reviews

      7.0 km from Kings Island

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      • Kirkwood Inn3

        Kirkwood Inn

        ★★★★★4.7 from 411 reviews

        4.1 km from Kings Island

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        • Great Wolf Lodge | Mason4

          Great Wolf Lodge | Mason

          ★★★★★4.2 from 12,742 reviews

          900 m from Kings Island, about a 11 minute walk

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          • Quality Inn Mason Near Kings Island5

            Quality Inn Mason Near Kings Island

            ★★★★★4.2 from 316 reviews

            1.5 km from Kings Island, about a 19 minute walk

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            How this list was put together

            33 Cincinnati hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Kings Island second, then took the top five.

            Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

            The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

            What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

            Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

            Britt Sorensen

            Britt Sorensen India and the Himalaya

            Her work season is winter, leaving whole summers free for mountains in the other hemisphere or trekking at altitude in Nepal and Peru. Carries the lightest pack of anyone she travels with.

            Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.