Extended Stay Columbus Guide

Besides interesting places, there are also many interesting events that you can attend while you’re on extended stay in Columbus. Here are some of the fairs and festivals:

• Columbus Arts Festival
  If you an art lover, this is a sure place to go. Here you enjoy many forms of art so I’m sure you will find something that meets your taste.
• Hot Times Festival
  Help in a historic part of Columbus, this festival celebrates the diversity of Columbus with music, food, and performances.
• Ohio State Fair
  It is a big state fair which is attended by hundreds of thousands. The scale of the fair can be seen from the fact that it contributes more than USD 200 million to Columbus’ economy.
• Origins Game Fair
  If you love games, this is the place to go. Here you will see all kinds of games, from computer games, board games, to card games.
• Red, White, and Boom
  Do you ever want to watch fireworks? Don’t forget to attend this festival which is help around the Independence Day. This is one of the largest fireworks display in the United States.
• Festival Latino
  This is a festival with Latino theme where you can enjoy Latino music and performances.
• Jazz and Ribs Festival
  As the name says, this is where people who love jazz and ribs should go. It features jazz performances along with many rib vendors.
• ComFest
  This is a major festival that features music, body painting and other forms of arts. This is the largest non-commercial festival in the United States.
• Asian Festival
  This is a festival with Asian theme where you can enjoy Asian music, food, and performances.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a lot of festival for just one city! Along with the interesting places I’ve discussed before, you won’t lack interesting activity to spend your extended stay time in Columbus.

While you’re in Columbus for extended stay, there are many interesting places you can visit. These are the places where you can enjoy your time and refresh yourself after working or doing business for days.

Of course, there are malls where you can always go for shopping or hang out. But there are also many other interesting places to spend your time while you’re on extended stay in Columbus. Here are some of them:

• The Chadwick Arboretum
  This place has large collection of plants and is located inside the campus of Ohio State University.
• The Big Darby Creek
  It’s a beautiful park which also has diverse ecological environment. It’s located in the southern part of the city.
• Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
  It’s a famous, world-class zoo and aquarium. It has exotic collections which include kangaroos and manatees, among others.
• Franklin Park Conservatory
  If you love to know more about plants or just want to have fresh air, this is a good place for you. It opened in 1895 and recently added glass sculpture to its collection.
• Center of Science and Industry (COSI)
  As its name implies, this is a science museum where you can learn more about how the nature works.
• Ohio Historical Center
  It’s a large (250,000 square foot) historical museum which is located in northern part of the city. As part of it there is Ohio Village where you can get a sense of how the Civil War era was.
• The Kelton House
  This is your place if you want to know more about Victorian life. The museum was built in 1852.
• Columbus Museum of Art
  If you love arts, this is the place to go. It has both American and European art collection.
• Wexner Center for the Arts
  It’s a gallery which is located inside Ohio State University. It also has a research facility.

These places should enough to keep you busy for a while! Just don’t forget to enrich your experience while you’re on extended stay in Columbus.

In the previous post we’ve looked at some reasons when you may need extended stay in Columbus. Now let’s look closer at the city of Columbus itself.

Located near the center of the state of Ohio, Columbus is the 15th largest city in the United States with a population of 747,755 (based 2006 data).  This is the population of the city itself without including the larger Columbus Metropolitan Areas which consists of some municipalities. If we take Columbus Metropolitan Areas into account, the number of population is 1,754,337. The population growth of Columbus is evident through its increasing ranking among the most populated cities in the United States. In 1850, Columbus was the 37th largest city. In 1950, it became the 28th largest city. And now it becomes the 15th largest city.

The total area of the city is 212.6 square miles, of which 99% is land and 1% is water. The city continues to expand geographically.

Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Its growth makes it different from many other cities in Midwest like Cleveland and Cincinnati which no longer grow as fast. This growth is partly fueled by the diverse economic base of Columbus. Columbus is strong in multiple industries like healthcare, technology, and education, just to mention a few. There are many companies which are headquartered in Columbus, including Fortune 500 companies like Cardinal Health. Several insurance companies are also headquartered in Columbus. All in all, Columbus’ economic is in the top 10 in the United States which is very good.

This strong economy is perhaps the main reason why Columbus’ hospitality industry, including extended stay, grows well. The fact that the economy base is diverse also helps the city sustain its economic strength.

Besides economy, the city is also strong in education. Columbus is the home of The Ohio State University which has the largest campus among colleges in the United States. It’s also the home of Columbus State Community College.

There are many kinds of accomodation available for different purposes. For instance, you can stay in hotel when you are going out of town. Or - on the other extreme - you can also rent a house to stay when you go to other city for long period of time. So when should you choose extended stay over the other types of accomodation?

Unlike most other accomodation options, extended stay gives you the opportunity to stay for long time at a certain place in a relatively affordable budget. Hotel suites will be too expensive if you choose to stay more than a few days. On the other side, you don’t plan to stay long enough that warrant permanent housing. In such situations, extended stay is the best solution that gives you the long-time accomodation you need.

There are a few scenarios in which you may want to use extended stay while you’re in Columbus:

• You go to visit your friends or relatives for more than just a few days. It could happen in vacation, for example.
• You go for a business trip which requires you to stay for relatively long time (but not long enough for getting permanent housing).
• Your home is temporarily not available to stay at. It could happen, for instance, if you are renovating your homes.
• You want to have access to kitchen so that you can cook your own meals. In normal hotel, you won’t have such facility.

If your situation matches one of them, extended stay is the likely choice for you. Extended stay will help you get whatever business you have done while giving you access to the common daily needs you have. I’ve mentioned kitchen above. Besides, you also have access to laundry and - at many extended stay places in Columbus - the Internet. This way you can be sure that you can get your business done in an affordable and relatively hassle-free way.

What is extended stay? Extended stay is hotel stay that is longer than one week. It may have been common these days, but it’s actually a relatively recent phenomenon in the history. This phenomenon first occured in the 19st century when people had a new trend in traveling, that  is to stay longer in a place. From this beginning, extended stay then became a new business that further extend the existing businesses of hospitality industry. Extended stay business opens the way to reach previously untapped niche of the customers.

The trend of extended stay in United States is different from Europe. In the United States, extended stay lodgings usually takes place in the suburban area while in Europe they take place in the downtown. It helps extended stay in United States grows faster than Europe since the land price is cheaper in the suburban. This cheaper land price makes it easier for the businessmen in the United States to make profit which leads to the growth of the business. Extended stay in Columbus also experiences this growth. The opposite thing happens in Europe. Since the land price is higher, it’s more difficult for businessmen there to make profit from extended stay business. Consequently, the business is less attractive there.

Marriott initiated extended stay business in the United States by opening its Residence Inn in 1974. The extended stay business grew to many cities since then. There were around 300,000 rooms available for extended stay in United States in 2000s which was almost twice as much as the 180,000 rooms available in 1999. Though exact data is not available, there is no question that extended stay in Columbus also experiences similar phenomenon.

The goal of this site is to provide information regarding extended stay in Columbus. In addition to giving you information about extended stay in Columbus, this site will also cover topics such as general extended stay tips and information about Columbus itself. Thanks for stopping by.