Where to stay in Cincinnati
The downtown area surrounding Great American Ball Park isn’t a huge place, and it’s easy enough to look at a map and see the various hotel choices. But are those your only options? Is downtown safe? And how far away is too far away?
In this chapter we’ll cover the different areas of the city that are most relevant for your visit so you can decide what will work best for you.
Where Great American Ball Park is located
The ballpark is located in downtown Cincinnati, right along the Ohio River, next door to the Heritage Bank Center (arena), and just down the road from Paycor Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
From CVG airport in Kentucky it’s only a 20-25 minute drive, and it’s also accessible by the 2X Airporter Bus, which we covered in the Travel chapter.
What are the appropriate “hotel zones” for a visit to Great American Ball Park?
Cincinnati is not a huge place, which is good, because it means that the options for where to stay are more straightforward than they would be in a place like LA or New York. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have some options available to you.
In our opinion, the choices are:
- Right at the ballpark
- In downtown Cincinnati
- Across the bridge in Newport, Kentucky
- Across the bridge in Covington, Kentucky
- Near the airport
Let’s dive into each one so you can understand the pluses and minuses of each.
Staying right at the ballpark
For those who want the maximum convenience (and minimum transit time), the AC Hotel Cincinnati at The Banks is directly across the street from the west entrance to the ballpark. The AC is a Marriott property, and it is also attached to The Banks, the entertainment district bordering the stadium. In terms of convenience, it literally can’t get any easier than this.
The hotel itself is very nice, as AC Hotels typically are. It opened in 2018, so it’s still relatively new, and aside from all of the amenities you’d expect, it also has a great rooftop bar that faces (but can’t see into) the ballpark, as well as an amazing view of the Ohio River and the Roebling Suspension Bridge.
The positive about the hotel is that it’s right there in the middle of all of the action. But that’s also the negative: it’s right there in the middle of all the action. There are a billion people wandering around downstairs, and there’s significant noise from the bars and restaurants, which are open until midnight during the week and 2am on the weekends. If that works for you or is what you’re looking for, this is a great choice. But if you would prefer something quieter, then you may want to consider other options.
On the other hand, if you need to get to the airport right after the game ends, staying at the AC will save you 15-30 minutes in transit time back to your hotel. That could make a significant difference in trying to catch an early evening flight.
Pros
- Right next to the ballpark
- Zero commute time
- Convenient to all of the bars and restaurants on Freedom Street
- A nice view from the roof deck
Cons
- Potentially more expensive than other options
- The noise from Freedom Street can be a problem
- Farther away from the Airporter bus (if you’re trying to use that)
Staying in downtown Cincinnati
The most obvious and popular lodging option for visiting Great American Ballpark will be to stay in downtown Cincinnati. There are well over a dozen hotels within a 15-minute walk of the ballpark, and they are all acceptable options.
In terms of convenience, downtown Cincinnati is great. It’s compact, easy to navigate, and it’s pretty hard to get lost. Prices for hotels usually aren’t outrageous (although will obviously be more expensive when the Reds are in town), and there’s usually availability, especially if you book early.
Is there a ton to do downtown? Not really. There are a handful of restaurants worth checking out, including one of our favorite ice cream shops anywhere – Graeter’s, which is right in the middle of downtown. The riverfront area is also nice for taking a stroll, and there are a few museums downtown that you could check out as well.
We will mention this about downtown: it can feel a little weird. There really isn’t much in the way of residences in the downtown area, so at night, if there isn’t a game starting up or letting out, downtown can feel oddly quiet (and even during the day, the streets of downtown can feel quiet because, post-pandemic, there’s just a lot fewer people down there). On top of that, there are definitely random blocks where it might feel a little gritty, especially around the intersection of 5th and Main Streets where many of the buses stop.
Are we saying this is a reason not to stay downtown? No. We’re just saying that, after dark, be aware of your surroundings, and we’d suggest walking a route that excludes walking along 5th Avenue between Walnut and Main. This is easy to do – the city is on a grid, so you can just go east/west on a lower street before cutting up to your hotel.
And one more thing: staying downtown puts you right on the Airporter bus line from CVG. So if that’s the transit option you prefer, staying downtown within walking distance of a bus stop makes good sense.
Here’s how far the following hotels are from the closest Airporter bus stop:
| Hotel | Bus Stop | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hyatt Regency | 5th / Elm | At stop |
| Hilton Cincinnati Netherland | 5th / Vine | At stop |
| Westin | 5th / Vine | 1 block |
| The Cincinnatian Hotel | 5th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Towneplace Suites | 5th / Vine | 3 blocks |
| Historic Lyric | 5th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Kinley Cincinnati | 5th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Homewood Suites | 5th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Hampton Inn & Suites | 5th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Residence Inn | 4th / Sycamore | 3 blocks |
| Lytle Park Hotel | 4th / Sycamore | 4 blocks |
| Renaissance* | 4th / Vine | 2 blocks |
| Courtyard Marriott* | 4th / Vine | 1 block |
*You can also get off of the bus earlier at 5th/Vine for these hotels and walk two blocks
Pros
- Walking distance to the ballpark
- Prices are reasonable
- Easy to take the bus to/from the airport
Cons
- A bit quiet
- Not a ton to do
- Downtown can be a little sketchy in places
Staying in Newport at the Levee (in Kentucky)
Total truth: when people ask me where to stay for a baseball weekend, I tell them to stay at The Levee. It’s directly across the bridge from downtown, on the Kentucky side of the river. It’s an area that has been completely made over in the last 10 years, and now features an indoor retail and entertainment complex that includes restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a massive sports/arcade bar, and even the Newport Aquarium.
Plus, for those of you who enjoy a good German beer, the Newport Hofbrauhaus is right there as well, and with its giant beer hall, German foods, large steins, and great Biergarten, it’s pretty much the best beer hall you can find this side of Munich (FYI: Cincinnati hosts the largest Oktoberfest in the U.S. each September).
The only hotel right in the middle of it all is the ALoft Newport on the Levee. The lobby is a good hang-out spot with a bar, and there’s a small indoor pool that could probably keep the kids happy for an hour. The rooms are pretty standard for an ALoft, but overall, we’d say that this ALoft is a bit nicer than the average ALoft.
In terms of transit, if you’re someone who is good with walking, the Levee is absolutely within walking distance of the ballpark (one mile/20 minutes). You can walk right across the Purple People Bridge, which is a pedestrian-only bridge that will put you right at Riverfront Park, a short walk from the stadium.
And if you don’t like walking, the Southbank Shuttle runs every 15 minutes and costs just $1 each way. Some of them are quaint old-style wooden trolleys, and some of them are standard city buses, but both are clean, easy, comfortable, and will get you across the bridge to the ballpark in 10-15 minutes. You can read more about this in our Transit Chapter.
Seriously… we love this because you can stay across the bridge without adding a ton of transit costs to your visit.
Finally, there are also a ton of scooters available for rent through Lyft and Bird. But we’ll be honest: there’s a lot of confusion about where you can drop them off, and even more confusion about whether you can take them over the bridge. What do we mean by that? Well, we’ve done it — multiple times – and sometimes there’s no problem. We can zip right across the bridge, park in front of the ballpark and get on with our day. And other times, the scooter locks up on the bridge because it’s a “no-transit zone”, leaving us stuck having to turn around and take the scooter back to where we got it. Seriously … it has perplexed us, and we can’t seem to get an answer for why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. So we suggest avoiding it as an option.
If you can’t get a room at the ALoft, the Hampton Inn is just down the street, a not-too-far walk from the restaurants and retail, and is an even closer walk to the stadium because the Taylor Southgate Bridge that it’s on is even closer to the ballpark than the Purple People Bridge.
The Fairfield Inn is a bit farther to the east of the ALoft, and we’d suggest that you jump on the Southbank Shuttle to get from that hotel to the Levee area.
Finally, we’ll tell you this: we think the Levee is a nicer place to be at night than downtown Cincinnati. Even on slower nights, there will be people milling around, and it’s just a clean and touristy place – and we mean that in a good way.
Pros
- Nice area with restaurants, bars, retail, and entertainment
- Walkable to the ballpark
- $1 shuttle that takes you to and from the ballpark
Cons
- Farther from the ballpark than most downtown hotels
- Not convenient for taking the bus to/from the airport
Staying across the bridge in Covington, Kentucky
Of the available options for staying near the ballpark, this is the most unusual. Covington is an older area of the city, but has been undergoing a revival in recent years. There’s new hotels, new bars and restaurants (including some cool breweries), and it’s also a quaint residential area as well, so you’ll see people walking around.
On the other hand, renewal hasn’t come to all parts of Covington. One minute you’ll be thinking you’re in this neighborhood on the upswing, and the next minute you might think you’re in a neighborhood on the downswing.
As you look at the map, we would suggest staying in the east part of Covington, at properties like the Marriott at River Center and the Embassy Suites. From there you can walk across the John Roebling Bridge, which will put you just to the west of the bars and restaurants at The Banks.
Staying at the hotels further west, like the Courtyard Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Extended Stay, is fine, but you’re more isolated, and we don’t suggest this area for walking, particularly after dark.
But regardless of which area you choose, the Southbank Shuttle services both of them. There’s a stop outside of the Embassy Suites (across the street from the Marriott), and another stop in front of the Courtyard Marriott. As mentioned above, the shuttle runs every 15 minutes and only costs $1. It’s an excellent option for getting to and from the ballpark (and downtown in general) from these hotels.
Your other option for getting to the ballpark is to take a rideshare, which is totally fine. It shouldn’t be more than $10-15 to get across the bridge.
Pros
- Interesting, quirky area that is still convenient to the ballpark
- Bars, restaurants, breweries
Cons
- Less desirable to walk around after dark
Staying at the airport
The only other spot we could suggest would be staying near the airport, but the only reason for this would be if you need to catch an early morning flight from CVG. Otherwise, we don’t think there’s any reason to stay here. Downtown hotels are usually affordable, so staying at the airport probably won’t save a ton of money, but the inconvenience will be significant.
Pros
- Convenient to the airport
Cons
- Totally inconvenient to the ballpark
- Nothing to do nearby
Bottom Line
It really just depends on your preference. If you want to be close to the ballpark, then stay downtown. If you want a nicer, more touristy area to stay in, check out Newport at the Levee. For a more unique experience, Covington is an interesting area.
