PA Harrisbug Radisson Penn Harris Hotel West

[dahammer]

booked two rooms for a trip to Hershey Park at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel using Hotwire and paid $64 per night, with taxes and fees, the "walk out" rate was $150 for both rooms. This hotel is shown on Hotwire as a "Best Value" 3* in the Harrisburg West zone with the following amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Children's Activity Program, Business Center, Laundry. We didn't check in until about 10:30 PM since our Hershey Park tix for Saturday allowed us to enter the park after 7:30 PM on Friday night; the Radisson is about 25 minutes west of the park. There are many hotels closer to Hershey, but the rates go up according to proximity; the Holiday Inn Express is over $200 per night, the Hilton Garden Inn is $230. At least you get a free continental breakfast at the HI Express.:) Even one local Hershey motel gets $119 per night. The Radisson Penn Harris Hotel & Convention Center is in Camp Hill, west of Harrisburg, and is an older, sprawling, three story property with an outdoor pool, fitness center, wired Hi Speed Internet (didn't use it because we were too busy getting Hershey Park Happy), restaurant, and lounge. A breakfast buffet was available for $8.95, but we wanted to get to the park when it opened, so Mc D's across the street let us have breakfast on the go. The room was pretty small but clean and ours had two doubles. The bathroom was so small that the toilet had to be placed on an angle in the corner. Just after making the Hotwire reservation, I called asking for two doubles, I was told that they would only guarantee a non-smoking King with a pull out sofa bed. We brought the inflatable bed just in case. On the evening of check in, I called again, asking for rooms with two doubles and the clerk complied. To call this a 3* is a "half star" stretch given the small size and condition of the rooms with the worn furniture and drab, beige wallpaper. The normal rate for this hotel is around $160 per night, which I would never pay for this type of accomodation. At the Hotwire rate, this is a good deal for anyone wanting to explore the Capitol district of Pennsylvania including Hershey, Gettysburg, Lancaster, or even Carlisle when they have the car shows and auctions. Discount Hershey Park tickets are available at any Giant supermarket, and there are many in the area. This allows you to enter the park in the prepaid ticket line, bypassing the lines of folks buying tickets at the gate. Don't forget your bathing suit on a hot day, several water-themed rides will cool you off. :)