Columbus Gets an Independent Hotel Focused on Meetings

Come mid-May, The Peninsula, an up-and-coming neighborhood on the Scioto River just west of downtown Columbus, will welcome The Junto, a 198-room independent hotel.

The property offers 11,000 square feet of indoor meeting space along with 6,000 square feet of outdoor function space. On the second floor, a 2,500-square-foot main-session room is divisible by two, while a nearby 2,000-square-foot hall (image at right) is flanked by a divisible 1,730-square-foot room plus three other breakouts. And on the eighth floor, two more breakout rooms occupy the layout with The Brass Eye, an indoor-outdoor bar with wide views of the river and the city. (image below)

The ground floor features Maudine’s all-day coffee and bake shop as well as Little West Tavern, a brick-walled wood-hearth restaurant with large windows facing the neighborhood. And come 9 p.m. each evening, the restaurant opens a walk-up window serving poutine, a hearty French-Canadian combination of fried potato slices, ground beef, cheese, and gravy.

For off-site receptions, the Center of Science and Industry and the American Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaur Gallery are two blocks from the hotel, and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum is less than a mile away. One other interesting option for meeting attendees with a bit of downtime: The hotel’s Gear Garage rents paddle boards and kayaks to enjoy on the nearby Scioto River.

The Junto is 1.1 miles from the Greater Columbus Convention Center and eight miles from John Glenn Columbus International Airport, a 12-minute drive.

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