Two of Ohio’s leading zoos are moving forward with plans for on-site hotel development. Hotel & Leisure Advisors is working on behalf of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, seeking qualified developers for a minimum 130-room upper-upscale hotel adjacent to the entrances of the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay Waterpark in Powell, Ohio. The proposed hotel would feature animal-themed rooms, balconies overlooking the zoo, and an indoor pool with a waterslide, with development costs estimated between $32 million and $45 million.

Cleveland Metroparks is similarly exploring a themed hotel inside or next to its zoo, testing whether a roughly 135-room property could pay for itself while complementing the Brookside Reservation area.

Published by: Cleveland.com/Susan Glaser
Published date: May 2026

CLEVELAND, Ohio – An overnight stay in Ohio could soon include lions and tigers and bears.

Oh my!

Two zoos in Ohio, including Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, are exploring the possibility of adding hotels to their campuses.

Potential features could include themed guest rooms overlooking animal habitats, safari-style restaurants and immersive wildlife experiences.

“I think it could be really cool in both locations,” said Cleveland hospitality consultant David Sangree, who is helping the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium assess interest from private developers.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is also soliciting concepts from developers, with proposals due May 29.

A presentation to the Cleveland Metroparks Board of Commissioners in April showed four possible sites for a future hotel: the current bear exhibit area, the amphitheater site, the zoo maintenance facility and part of the adjacent Brookside Reservation.

“We will see whether one of these four sites is preferred,” said Sean McDermott, chief planning and design officer for Cleveland Metroparks, at the April board meeting. “We’re asking the market to tell us if they think a hotel might be possible at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.”

McDermott noted that the Metroparks commissioned a feasibility study in 2019 that found support for a zoo hotel with approximately 135 rooms.

He added that the Metroparks would not operate the hotel itself. “We would want to look to a partner, with a revenue split,” he said.

Metroparks spokesperson Jacqueline Gerling declined to say whether the request for proposals had received early interest. She also said that the Metroparks didn’t have a specific timeline for any potential hotel.

“At this stage, the process is exploratory in nature and intended to help us better understand what possibilities may exist for the site and the potential opportunities that could align with the zoo’s long-term vision,” she said.

The zoo campus already has what McDermott described as a built-in customer base: roughly 1.4 million annual visitors, along with weddings, corporate events and sports-related activities at Brookside.

The larger Columbus Zoo, which typically attracts more than 2 million visitors annually, also includes the Zoombezi Bay waterpark and Safari Golf Club on its property.

The challenge for hotels at either Ohio zoo, said Sangree, would be attracting enough overnight guests during weekdays and in the off-season.

“These hotels would be very appealing to families at certain times of the year,” said Sangree, president of Hotel and Leisure Advisors. “But they would both need to attract business travelers and groups other times of the year.”

He said the theming would need to appeal to adults as well as children.

A zoo hotel in Cleveland, he said, could benefit from its proximity to downtown Cleveland, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and MetroHealth, helping attract visitors beyond zoo guests.

The Columbus Zoo, meanwhile, is in fast-growing Delaware County, which also may be able to support another hotel.

Both projects, he said, could also include a zoo- or animal-themed restaurant, designed to attract both local diners and tourists.

Sangree said he was not aware of other major regional zoos in the United States that operate hotels on their campuses, although similar concepts exist in Europe.

The best-known example of an animal-themed hotel is likely Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World in Florida, where some guest rooms overlook habitats populated by giraffes, zebras and other animals.

“Each zoo would love a facility like that,” said Sangree. “Obviously, the costs are going to be a big factor.”