Columbus · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near State Fairgrounds
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
These are my five favourites in Columbus, out of the 15 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.9309855 down to 4.
All five are within 2.2 km of State Fairgrounds.
Highest rated of the five
The Smith's Downtown
★★★★★4.9309855 from 142 reviews
The Smith's Downtown comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.9309855 from 142 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 found under poi and around $319 a night on the dates we checked.
15 hotels in Columbus qualified for this list and five made it. Hampton Inn Columbus Downtown is the one I would book if the first is full.
All five, ranked
-
The Smith's Downtown
★★★★★4.9309855 from 142 reviews
1.0 km from State Fairgrounds, about a 12 minute walk
-
Hampton Inn Columbus Downtown
★★★★★4.7 from 185 reviews
2.1 km from State Fairgrounds
- Pool
- Gym
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
-
Columbus Marriott
★★★★★4.3 from 1,555 reviews
1.5 km from State Fairgrounds, about a 19 minute walk
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
Rothschild-Pound House Inn and Weddings
★★★★★4 from 122 reviews
1.0 km from State Fairgrounds, about a 12 minute walk
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
AC Hotel Columbus Downtown, GA
★★★★★4.3 from 373 reviews
2.2 km from State Fairgrounds
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
How this list was put together
15 Columbus hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to State Fairgrounds 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.
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.
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.




