Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center

Do NOT stay at this hotel unless you can survive in a room that is not at all soundproof! I booked a queen suite with separate sitting room for my daughter and I. We wanted a quiet, relaxing place to stay for a 3 day weekend and the reviews for this place were excellent. First let me list the nice things about the property: 1. It is a full blown conference center with a huge, well maintained and manicured landscape. 2. The outdoor spaces are lovely, including the outdoor pool area. 3. The location is very close to Columbus and to the uber wealthy city of Powell. 4. A gorgeous county park with loads of picnic areas and walking trails is located directly across the street from the conference center. Now for the negatives: 1. No soundproofing!!! We could hear every word of conversations that took place in the room next door. But the most disturbing thing is that we couldn’t sleep because of noise from the room overhead. My daughter contacted the front desk in the early evening of our first night’s stay asking them to call the guests above us with a “gentle reminder” to avoid heavy walking. She was told that the request could not be made until after the 10 pm quiet time. We had a brown noise machine running at top volume for the entire night, but even that didn’t block the heavy footfalls from above. The constant sound of people walking (it sounded like elephants) continued the next morning which forced us out of our room. (We payed extra for a suite with a separate sitting area so that we could relax outside of the bedroom, but couldn’t take advantage of it because of the noise). My daughter ended up sleeping on a couch at a friend’s house the second night because she was so sleep deprived. However, I returned to the hotel which was a huge mistake! When I turned out the lights at 11 pm, things were quiet, but at 11:30 pm the stomping family returned. The noise of the footfalls and then squeaking floors woke me up at 11:30 pm, 3:30 am and 5:45 am. I finally got out of bed at 6 am, walked to the lobby in my pajamas, and told the staff that I couldn’t stay in this place another night. I must have looked a fright, because the agent immediately canceled the final night of our reservation with no questions asked. Just to be clear, I don’t think that the family above us was intentionally loud. I think that they had absolutely no idea that their movements were creating such a disturbance. 2. Despite the fact that the lovely county park is directly across the street, it’s incredibly difficult to access the park entrance as a pedestrian. There is a single pedestrian crosswalk at the southwest corner of the conference center, but there are no sidewalks that connect to the crosswalk. Walkers are forced to either walk along a very busy road with no shoulder, or walk on the grass for about 1/2 mile to get from the hotel parking lot to the crosswalk. I find it incredibly surprising that Nationwide didn’t consider putting in sidewalks to make access to the park more accessible and safe for pedestrians. 3. Be forewarned that the conference center includes facilities that cater to weddings, so if you stay here on a weekend, be prepared for lots of outdoor evening activities. No one should have to pay $200/night to stay in a room that isn’t conducive to sleep!!!