The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel

I chose a private room for one night, and everyone I met was friendly and respectful. As a solo female traveler, I felt safe at night. The shared bathrooms I used were both clean, with disinfectant wipes available if you wanted extra reassurance. The location is really close to restaurants and shops, basically right on OSU campus. I drove to the Schottenstein Center in under 10 minutes. Parking at the house was easy to figure out, either in the driveway or on the street. I’d highly recommend staying here for a visit to the area.

I booked directly on their website for better pricing, paid, and got an email in the afternoon with the details and codes for the front and back doors, my room, and bed assignment. Everything is managed virtually. My bed was in a five-bed dorm, with three single beds upstairs in the attic and my spot on the lower bunk downstairs. The dorms share three bathrooms, which were decently clean. The bed had no curtain, and the place was very bare-bones. The common areas were comfortable and spacious, and the Wi-Fi worked just fine. The old ovens need to have a flame on all the time. There wasn’t much fridge space because the breakfast items took up a lot of it. There’s parking at the back, but on the second day I drove out, I found a flat tire. My friend thought it looked slashed. It was a hassle to fix, and the hostel didn’t seem very secure. It’s by far the cheapest option in Columbus, too bad it wasn’t very good.

This was exactly what I needed and fit my itinerary perfectly. The admins replied quickly and were helpful over text. Other guests were friendly enough without being intrusive. I wish there were hostels like this wherever I travel. ;)

I had no trouble finding the place, and there was plenty of street parking. The hostel was extremely tidy and in a safe neighborhood. The bathroom and shower were really nice and very modern.