Columbus
The Westin Great Southern Columbus
The 1897 Great Southern, built fireproof beside the Southern Theatre, where Sarah Bernhardt and Ethel Barrymore played; 188 rooms near the Statehouse.
- Built
- 1897Built 1894-96 with the Southern Theatre; the theatre opened September 1896 and the hotel in 1897 (NRHP nomination).
- Style
- Colonial Revival (exterior details)
- Architect
- Dauben, Krumm & Riebel (Menno G. Detweiler, designer; Yost & Packard, consulting)
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Rooms
- 188
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
The Great Southern was designed to be fireproof, built of tile, brick, steel and cement after fires had destroyed many earlier theatres and hotels. The Southern Theatre opened in September 1896 and the hotel followed in 1897; the 1982 nomination calls it Columbus’ only remaining original 19th-century hotel and theatre. Ethel Barrymore, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell and George M. Cohan played the Southern. Whitestone Capital bought the hotel in March 2025, Crescent Hotels & Resorts took over management in November 2025, and a $29.5 million renovation was announced in June 2026.
Good to know
- Address: 310 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43215
Sources (3)
- https://catalog.archives.gov/medialz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001458.pdf
- https://www.crescenthotels.com/newsroom/press/crescent-hotels-resorts-assumes-management-of-the-westin-great-southern-columbus
- https://hoodline.com/2026/06/downtown-grande-dame-columbus-oldest-hotel-getting-29-5-million-facelift/
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.