FAQ on conference housing

OSBA has secured large blocks of rooms at nine downtown Columbus hotels. Four hotels have access directly to the convention center: the Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Drury and Sonesta Columbus Downtown, plus the AC Hotel Downtown Columbus and the Canopy are across the street without a connector. If one of these hotels is your top choice, we cannot guarantee that you will get a room there. All hotels in the housing block are within eight blocks of the convention center. OSBA provides free shuttles for attendees to use to travel to and from the hotels to the convention center during the conference.

You can’t use your points to reserve a room, but you will earn points for your stay. Please provide reward numbers at your check in.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible for us to guarantee all 9,000 attendees their first choice of hotel rooms .

OSBA looks for hotels with close proximity to the convention center that have room rates under $230 per night. Hotel selections are also based on attendee satisfaction surveys.

Tax exemption: Public school districts in the state of Ohio are eligible for exemption from the state sales tax and the hotel/motel excise tax in the City of Columbus. To be eligible you must pay with school district funds or a school district credit card. You must also produce a copy of both your district’s Blanket Certificate of Exemption to cover the sales tax and your Hotel/Motel Excise Tax Exemption Certificate for the excise tax upon check-in. Click here for the Hotel/Motel Excise Tax Exemption Certificate.

Your district’s Blanket Certificate of Exemption is not sufficient to exclude payment of the hotel/motel excise tax.

 OSBA is offering a free webinar on Aug. 18, at 10 a.m., to guide members through the housing process. Go step-by-step through the process with an OSBA staff member who can answer your questions on the process.

Can’t attend? The webinar will be recorded and available the following week.

Contact OSBA at housing@ohioschoolboards.org for assistance.

To encourage attendees to only reserve the rooms they know they will use and ensure rooms are available for other attendees.

View a list of tips to simplify the housing process.