Overview
Located just north of Interstate 20 and about a 15-minute drive from Columbia's city centre, the Best Western Plus Columbia North East is popular with business and vacation travellers who require a stopover hotel with easy highway access, a free breakfast and an outdoor pool.
This smoke-free hotel has 108 air-conditioned guest rooms and suites, each offering free Wi-Fi, cable TV, a coffeemaker, a microwave, a mini-fridge, a desk, an iron and ironing board and a hair dryer. Rooms with a seating area and sofabed and a jetted tub are also available, as are six wheelchair-accessible rooms.
Hotel amenities include a heated outdoor pool, a fitness room, meeting/conference space, a business centre, guest laundry facilities, vending machines, a 24-hour front desk, a free breakfast and free parking. Pets are not permitted.
Lizard's Thicket Restaurant is across the street from the hotel, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, while Technology Circle and South University - Colombia Campus are both about an 8-minute drive northwestward. Columbia Place offers shopping roughly a 3-minute drive southwest, and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is about a 25-minute drive southwest. (All distances and travel time estimates: Google Maps)
Verified with a front desk agent: Free Wi-Fi, free parking, pets not permitted, wheelchair accessible. (Call Date: July 17, 2013)
The GoodThe majority of the reviews sourced for this analysis were positive, with much praise going to the hotel's breakfast, rooms, staff and location.
Numerous guests enjoyed the hotel's free breakfast. They described it as tasty, filling, plentiful and well presented, with a clean and large breakfast area and a good variety of hot and cold items.
The hotel's accommodations were praised by many lodgers of the hotel. They found their rooms to be clean, modern, quiet, spacious, well equipped and tastefully decorated, with good air conditioning and comfortable beds. A few guests did voice complaints about their rooms, however (see below for more details).
Several reviewers complimented the hotel's staff, characterizing them as friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the area. One guest remarked, "The staff was awesome, especially the ladies at the reception area. They were also very helpful in recommending local restaurants to try".
The hotel's location was also complimented by several lodgers, who described it as close to the highway, restaurants, shopping and Fort Jackson.
The Bad
While the majority of reviews consulted for this analysis were positive, there were a few complaints about the rooms, the pool and noise transfer.
While the majority of reviewers praised their clean and well-equipped rooms, a few guests had complaints. They reported small bathrooms, rough sheets and towels and spotty Wi-Fi.
A few guests were disappointed at the size of the hotel's outdoor pool, finding it too small.
Noise transfer was mentioned by a couple of lodgers who reported a train passing by early in the morning.
Hotels.com guest reviews rated the hotel 3.4 out of 5 from 29 reviews.
TripAdvisor.com guest reviews ranked the hotel #11 out of 91 Columbia hotels with an average rating of 5 out of 5 from 23 reviews.
Expedia.ca guest reviews rated the hotel 4 out of 5 with a 100% recommendation rate from 7 reviews.
The author called the hotel on July 17, 2013 to verify some information.
