Blackwell Inn

I had the opportunity to attend a conference at Ohio State University in Columbus. Accommodations were at the Blackwell Inn, a hotel located on campus and owned by the OSU Business school.

I was VERY impressed with how well thought out all the details were in the hotel. I had a chance to speak with some of the people at the business school, and they said that when the hotel first opened, they allowed faculty members to stay a free night in exchange for a review and constructive criticism. The hotel then took those comments and used them to improve the facilities and services before opening to the wider public. I think the effort really shows.

There are so many little details that were addressed. For example, there was a night light in the bathroom:

So many times when I am in a hotel, I will leave the bathroom light on, and then close the bathroom door almost all the way, leaving it just a crack open, so I can get a dim light. I know some people travel with a nightlight in their suitcase. But here one is, already plugged into the wall.

Also, instead of a normal coffee maker, with a dubiously clean carafe and filter basket, here we have a Keurig. I suspect that more hotels will be replacing their old fashioned coffee makers with single serve Keurig (or Keurig-like) devices in the future.

The coffee maker is set into a little alcove in the entrance hall, along with the other drinking accessories.

There is a selection of K-cups (of course), as well as fancy teas. I admit to taking the two tea pyramids with me when I checked out.

The desks are spacious, have executive rolling chairs, and are decorated with LIVE PLANTS!  (The laptop and apple in the picture are mine.)

In most hotels the table is a large, immovable thing that takes up an awkward amount of floor space. Not here. Here, the table is on wheels, and can fold up and be moved out of the way, leaving plenty of room for the desk chair to slide back so you can get to your desk! (The corner of the folding table is just visible in the previous photo, on the left side. In the photo below, the corner of the work chair can be seen on the right side of the picture.) 

Of course, since business travelers sometimes share a room, there is not just one desk, but two, one on each side of the TV:

The only problem I had was with the desk lamps. They have their switch on the cord, not on the lamp itself, and I had some trouble at first, trying to figure out how to turn the desk lamps on.

My room had a single King bed. The pillows were so comfortable. I actually e-mailed the Blackwell after I had returned home to ask what types of pillows they used. (They are Phoenix Down® 50% goose feather, 50% goose down pillows. This surprised me, since I normally get chest/head congestion when I sleep on feather pillows.)

Another nice touch was the evening turn down service. I returned after dinner to find this on my bed:

It's two Lindor truffles, a business sized card with the next two day's weather, and a hang card to request breakfast room service.

I absolutely loved my stay at the Blackwell, and I hope I get the chance to stay here again.