AC Hotel Columbus Downtown

AC Hotel Columbus Downtown opened in June 2021 as the first hotel to ever occupy a preserved row of historic North Market buildings, at the crossroads of the Short North, the Arena District and downtown. The 160-room property pairs Marriott's upscale AC Hotels format with an award-winning adaptive-reuse renovation, anchored by a rooftop restaurant and bar with skyline views.

The place

The hotel stands at 517 Park Street on the edge of the North Market Historic District, at the point where the Short North Arts District, the Arena District and downtown Columbus meet, a few blocks from Nationwide Arena and the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

The concept

AC Hotel Columbus Downtown opened in June 2021 as the first hotel operation ever run out of this cluster of historic North Market buildings, developed in a joint venture involving Continental Hospitality Group/CREC and managed by Concord Hospitality. Rather than clear the site, architecture and interior design firm Meyers+Associates restored and stitched together a row of existing brick, cast-iron and stone structures at street level, then set the guest-room floors and rooftop bar back above them — an adaptive-reuse approach recognized with an IIDA Columbus Play Honor Award in 2021 and an IIDA Ohio-Kentucky Chapter award in 2022. Inside, the hotel follows AC Hotels by Marriott's signature formula: a pared-back, 'timeless European design' aesthetic built around clean lines, minimal clutter and a strong F&B-led ground floor, applied here to a 160-room property that trades a fully custom boutique brief for the consistency of an established upscale flag — a reasonable trade for a first-time hotel conversion in a historic streetscape.

Dining & wellness

The eighth-floor Astra Rooftop Restaurant and Bar (an evolution of the hotel's original rooftop concept, Lumin Sky Bar & Kitchen) serves elevated dining and cocktails with panoramic skyline views. Spruce Street Sporting operates as a modern tavern with games and comfort food, AC Kitchen covers breakfast with a Eurocentric-meets-Midwest menu, and AC Lounge offers shareable plates and cocktails; a further concept, Sorella Kitchen, is slated to open in fall 2026. No spa is advertised on the property.