Westin Completes $9.6 Million Renovation of Great Southern Hotel in Columbus, Ohio

The historic Great Southern hotel in Columbus, Ohio, has completed a $9.6 million renovation encompassing its lobby, ballroom, guest rooms and restaurant, local newspaper The Columbus Dispatch reported last month. The hotel, which flies the Westin flag, was built in 1897 and features 187 guest rooms, not to mention over 11,000 square feet of meeting space.

"I think it's a very special place," Sue Brush, Westin's senior vice president, told the Dispatch. "We always valued it because of its historic nature. We have a different design aesthetic since that hotel joined us, and this hotel has been able to take advantage of that look and feel."

As part of its property-wide improvements, the Westin Great Southern renovated the marble floors in the hotel's lobby and ballroom, built a new 1,000-square-foot workout room and upgraded guest rooms with new bedding, updated decor and high-definition televisions—all while retaining the property's historic features.

"It needed the renovation but it still has that historic designation," hotel analyst Eric Belfrage, president of CB Richard Ellis Hotel Group, told the Dispatch. "It will probably be around for another hundred years."

For more information about the renovated Westin Great Southern, visit www.greatsouthernhotel.com.