Our family recently did a short weekend trip to the Columbus, Ohio area for the AAA Great Vacations Travel Expo. For those that follow on Facebook/Twitter, you would have seen our tribulation trying to acquire a reasonably priced hotel room on points.

At the current time, our family has ample points in the Hilton HHonors, Club Carlson, and IHG Rewards. With the abundance of winter weather in the area, we wanted to be directly downtown and within close distance to the convention center.

In searching for Hilton properties, I really liked both the Hampton Inn and Hilton Columbus Downtown, as both hotels offered pools and were within close proximity to the expo. In searching point opportunities, I was disappointed to see that HHonors only offered straight point options for a two queen bed room at either property, and they ran from 40,000-50,000+ points per night for a $200+ room. Ouch! I consider that a TON of points for any room, let alone a $200 room.

HHonors did offer a point + cash option; however, they were only for king rooms. The fact that Hilton choose to offer point + cash options, but only for select rooms, when all were available, was extremely disappointing.

So I secured a night at the Hampton Inn, which came complete with a complimentary breakfast. However, it also came with a steep 40,000 points price tag.

Fortunately, I am diligent about keeping on top of reservations and after checking availability daily, the Hilton Columbus Downtown opened up with a points + cash option for a double queen room. For only 16,000 points + $65, I was able to secure a nicer hotel.

Both properties came highly rated on TripAdvisor, so I was comfortable with either property. The way I ultimately made our choice in the end was because I was in essence paying $65 to keep 24,000 of my points we have worked so hard to acquire. No where could I get that type of value.

Even with my Hilton HHonors AMEX, it would take $4,800-6,000 in spend to earn those points back.

Hotel Review: Hilton Columbus Downtown

Upon checking into the hotel, we were all instantly impressed, as the Hilton Columbus Downtown was not the typical lower end properties we were accustomed to staying in. The lobby was beautiful with attractive artwork, contemporary furniture, and environmental design that gives the property a LEED certification.

Immediately after entering the room, the oohs and ahhs of my family was all worth the price. My wife proclaimed “this is the nicest hotel we have stayed in since Hawaii,” while our oldest son proclaimed “someone has colored on the ceiling.”

We happen to be located in a great location on the sixth floor. We were in room 622, which happened to be at the corner of the building, and ideally located, at least for our boys, adjacent to active railroad tracks.

I am not sure if everyone receives welcome gifts, but once the front desk agent saw us with the boys, they gave us a bag full of bottled water and locally made popcorn. Jackpot for little snack monsters.

The furnishings in the room were excellent and higher end than we were accustomed. My only complaint is I wish the room came with a microwave.

Aside from the incredible furnishings of the Hilton Columbus Downtown and the well appointed room, my major complaint with Hilton is the lack of complimentary wifi! In today’s day in age, and especially for those of us that have status (we have Silver currently as card holders), that fact that we do not get complimentary wifi is atrocious. Wifi comes with such little cost, that with a $200+ room, it should be included. That is like if hotels started charging for cable. It should be included in the price, as part of doing business and to attract customers.

In Hilton’s defense, they do offer complimentary wifi, though only within the lobby. Fortunately, the large atrium meant I could go outside my room and connect my phone to the network to download email, etc.

All in all, we were absolutely impressed with the Hilton Columbus Downtown hotel. The boys loved swimming in the pool. The weekend we were at the property also happen to correspond with Ohayocon, which made for some very interesting people watching.

Do you have a preferred Columbus, Ohio hotel?

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Source: InACents