Marriott Columbus University Area
Marriott Columbus University Area is a 3-star hotel in Ohio State University District, Upper Arlington, a sensible choice for sightseeing around central Ohio State University District without overspending.
Guests typically choose Ohio State University District for its balance of location and price; Marriott Columbus University Area is a good fit if you want to be near the action in Upper Arlington.
Rates shift with the season and with demand, so the live price on the booking page is always the one to trust — tap through for tonight's or your dates' real availability.
Key facts
Around Ohio State University District
Where to stay in Upper Arlington: the areas compared
Start with an honest fact: Upper Arlington is almost entirely residential, so most rooms sold as "Upper Arlington" sit a mile or two over the city line in Columbus — along Olentangy River Road, Lane Avenue, or off Henderson Road near SR-315. Inside the city, the useful anchors are Tremont, Kingsdale, Northam and the Mallway District. Tremont puts you at Tremont Center and the main library at 2800 Tremont Road, with Northam Park's tennis courts and pool a short walk north; the Mallway District, the 1920s shopfront row on Arlington Avenue, is the one genuinely strollable block in the city. Kingsdale, at Tremont Road and Northwest Boulevard, is the closest node to SR-315 and the Ohio State campus and the easiest base if you are driving in and out daily. Old Arlington, the National Register historic district of 1913-1930s houses on curving streets like Cambridge Boulevard, is where you walk rather than sleep — expect short-term rentals, not hotel desks.
Everything else is a trade between price and distance. Barrington, Canterbury and Ridgeview are quiet mid-city and north-city residential pockets around Fishinger and Reed Roads where a car is non-negotiable; Golf View Heights, Arlington Ridge and Riverside Bend sit out west near Riverside Drive, Griggs Reservoir Park and Scioto Country Club, which is the pick if parks and water are the point of the trip. For actual hotel choice, the Ohio State University District and Grandview Heights (with tiny Marble Cliff, population under 700, wedged between them) are 3 miles from Tremont Center and usually run $130-200; Dublin, Worthington and Hilliard sit on the I-270 ring at $95-160; Short North, Victorian Village, Downtown Columbus and German Village are the top of the ladder at $190-330 and the furthest from Upper Arlington's parks, about 6 miles. Clintonville, Bexley, Powell and Delaware are worth it only if a specific thing draws you — Whetstone Park of Roses, Capital University, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, or Alum Creek State Park.
Best time to visit Upper Arlington, month by month
Late April to mid-June and mid-September to late October are the best weeks for what people come here for — the parks, the Olentangy Trail and the Old Arlington streets — and only the second of those is expensive. January and February are the cheapest months of the year, with mid-range rooms around $85-115 and highs near 36°F; March jumps for one weekend when the Arnold Sports Festival fills downtown Columbus. April and early May are green, wet and reasonable at $110-150, apart from Ohio State commencement weekend in early May. The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin lands in late May or early June and pushes Dublin and Upper Arlington rates to $250-400 for four or five nights. Late June and July are humid, in the mid-80s°F, and busy with the Fourth of July parade, Red White and Boom on 3 July downtown, and the Ohio State Fair from late July.
August is the month to watch: Ohio State move-in in the third week strips cheap rooms out of the OSU District and Grandview for several days. The Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival takes over Northam Park on the first Monday of September, and from then until late November the Ohio State home football schedule — usually seven Saturdays at Ohio Stadium, 2.5 miles from Tremont Center — is the single biggest thing affecting what you pay. The Michigan game returns to Columbus in even-numbered years and is the most expensive night of any year here. The Columbus Marathon in mid-October adds one more busy Sunday. December is quiet and cheap again once commencement passes, with snow usually light and the trails still walkable.
Getting around Upper Arlington, and from the airport
You need a car. There is no rail of any kind in Columbus — no Amtrak station, no light rail, no commuter line — and Upper Arlington's grid of Tremont Road, Fishinger Road, Reed Road and Northwest Boulevard is built for driving, not connecting. From John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) it is about 13 miles and 20-25 minutes via I-670 and SR-315; rideshare typically runs $35-50, and the airport rental desks are the more sensible option for a multi-day stay. SR-315 forms the eastern edge of the city and gets you downtown in about 12 minutes off-peak; I-270 loops the whole metro and puts Dublin, Worthington and Hilliard within 15 minutes of Kingsdale. Parking in Upper Arlington is free everywhere, at Tremont Center, Kingsdale and every park lot, which is not true once you cross into the Short North or Downtown Columbus.
COTA buses do run — the Line 2 corridor on High Street links Clintonville, the Short North and Worthington, and routes cross Upper Arlington on West Fifth Avenue and Kenny Road — but frequencies of 30-60 minutes make them a supplement, not a plan. Distances between the areas you will actually use are short: Tremont Center to the Lane Avenue shops is about 2 miles, to Grandview Avenue 3 miles, to Old Worthington 8 miles, and to the Columbus Zoo in Powell about 11 miles. Cycling works better than the bus: the Olentangy Trail runs roughly 13.6 miles from Worthington down to downtown along the river, and Griggs Reservoir Park on Riverside Drive gives you flat riverside miles on the west side. If you are basing in the OSU District without a car, plan on walking to Lane Avenue and rideshare for everything else.
