Visitors looking for a room for the night will soon have a lot more options in the center city.

The first of five new hotels close to the Greater Columbus Convention Center will open this July. The five will add more than 1,600 rooms Downtown and in the Short North over the next few years, bringing a range of overnight options from boutique college-themed rooms to the largest hotel in the state.

The five are: Graduate Columbus, AC Hotel by Marriott, Hilton Columbus Downtown, Moxy Columbus Short North and Canopy by Hilton.

“We are excited to have many different accommodations that can provide distinct experiences to any type of travelers,” said Brian Ross, Experience Columbus president and CEO. “We don’t have enough convention hotels at this point to truly maximize the convention center.”

The five hotels illustrate a lodging boom throughout central Ohio. The Columbus area has 1,545 hotel rooms under construction, according to the commercial real-estate firm CBRE. (That figure does not include the 1,000-room Hilton, which hasn't started yet.)

Construction will begin on 1,715 hotel rooms within the next year and 1,859 rooms are planned after that. The area now has 28,803 rooms.

Towering over all the new hotels will be the 27-story Hilton Columbus Downtown planned for 402 N. High St., next to the Greater Columbus Convention Center. With 1,000 rooms and 75,000 square feet of meeting space, the Hilton will be the largest hotel in Ohio. Work is expected to begin on the $220 million hotel this summer, with a targeted opening date in 2022.

"We’re excited to offer the Columbus community and our guests a new rooftop bar, a new restaurant on North High Street with a wood-burning open fire concept, and a new grab-and-go market connected to the convention center,” Christian Coffin, general manager of Hilton Columbus Downtown, said in an email.

The first of the new hotels to open will be Canopy by Hilton, a 12-story hotel with 167 rooms, scheduled to welcome its first guests in July at 77 E. Nationwide Blvd. The hotel will have two outdoor patios, a lobby-level restaurant and bar, and a rooftop bar and restaurant on the 12th floor. Rooms will range from $200 to $300 per night.

Also Downtown, the AC Hotel, 511 Park St., will include 160 rooms on eight floors and is targeting an early 2021 opening. The first AC Hotel in Columbus opened in 2017 in Dublin's Bridge Park. The hotel will open across the street from Downtown’s North Market. The AC brand merges a sleek, modern look with local touches, like the Dublin hotel's collection of photos by local artists.

Graduate Columbus, 750 N. High St., will offer a college theme when the 171-room hotel opens this fall in the former Bollinger Tower low-income complex. The scarlet and gray plaid curtains and wallpaper give a nod to Ohio State University. The lobby's chandeliers are even made of silver instruments, paying homage to OSU’s marching band using all silver instruments.

“Through our thoughtfully curated design, the hotel will tell the stories of Columbus and celebrate what makes this community unique,” Amy Wexler, a Graduate Hotel spokeswoman, said in an email.

Graduate Columbus will include 2,500 square feet of lobby space and 4,000 square feet of meeting space on the second floor. The lobby will also have Poindexter, the hotel’s lobby level cafe. The lobby will also connect to a new Shack Shake burger restaurant at 740 N. High St.

Graduate Hotels, known for campus-area hotels, operates 14 hotels throughout the country. Prices have not been set for the 11-story hotel.

Just up the street, Moxy Columbus Short North hotel is scheduled to open in September at 800 N. High St.

The 116 rooms will be on the sixth through ninth floor of the building. The 10th floor will feature a rooftop bar. The Moxy prides itself on offering "guests a stylish and boutique experience." Prices haven't been set yet.

mhenry@dispatch.com

@megankhenry