Are there cheap and decent places to stay near OSU (Ohio State Univ) in Columbus?

May 14, 2010 2:36 PM

Are there cheap and decent places to stay near OSU (Ohio State Univ) in Columbus?

I may be visiting there in a few months and ideally want to spend a few days in a low-cost hotel near the campus area. I know couchsurfing.org is an option, but I may just want my own place for those days.

I'm already somewhat familiar with the OSU campus area. Since I'll be on foot I don't want any places west of Olentangy River Road. That cheap place across from BW3 seems long gone. There are those group of hotels between the short north and the downtown core and possibly via priceline they have good deals(?). There's the Blackwell on campus itself, which sometimes has lower cost rooms available.

Are there some decent and cheap places I don't know about?

posted by 1001 questions to travel & transportation around Ohio (7 answers total)

There's a cluster of hotels right on Olentangy River Road (the new Holiday Inn Express, a Fairfield Inn, a Hilton Garden Inn) that's no farther than the hotels in or near the Short North. As long as you're not in conflict with the home football games, Priceline is an excellent option, although restricting yourself to within walking or easy bus distance of campus might be tricky.

A cheap rental car + a hotel via Priceline may be cheaper than confirmed reservations right on campus.
posted by QuantumMeruit at 2:47 PM on May 14, 2010

A rental car will not be part of this scenario.

The Olentangy cluster isn't too convenient, unless they now have good bus lines between there and N. High St. Ping-ponging between Olentangy and High on foot isn't something I want to do a lot of. At least the Short North places are near interesting spots and can be gotten to via the beloved #2.

Technically I guess I'm more interested in the campus area (i.e. multiple spots along High St.) than the on-campus area.
posted by 1001 questions at 3:08 PM on May 14, 2010

Close to campus, the Blackwell's pretty much it. There used to be the Holiday Inn, but since it was converted to dorms nothing else has filled that gap.

A bus route runs past some of the places near Olentangy road, going to campus. That should be an option (ask the hotel about it.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:15 PM on May 14, 2010

Actually, yeah, I just double checked. The 7 runs past the Olentangy hotels. It's not as good as the 2, but it's dependable in my experience.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:20 PM on May 14, 2010

There is an awesome B&B in Victorian Village (Harrison House) that is just off Neil Ave. Walkable to main campus and bussable up Neil as well.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 3:49 PM on May 14, 2010

There's the Varsity Inn South on Olentangy and King. It's very walkable to the medical center area. I don't know how decent it is but here's the URL: http://www.varsityinnosusouth.com/
posted by crosten at 10:28 AM on May 15, 2010

Whoops. Here's the link: http://www.varsityinnosusouth.com/
posted by crosten at 10:29 AM on May 15, 2010