Penelope Murphy's Bed and Breakfast — Hotel in Coal Township

I was heading up to Elysburg to go to the Knoebels festival and was happy to find a place near by that was reasonably priced. I saw good reviews on here on trip adviser so i gave Penelope a call to inquire about the room. I told her I had some issues with allergies (mold, dust, cats etc) and she told me that her house is incredibly clean so I wouldn't have any problems. I even pushed her a little and asked is she had old furniture or carpeting. She said all the furniture was new and yes carpet but it's very clean. So I booked! ||She insisted on giving me directions over the phone even though the gps directions got me there just fine. She kept called the gps the GSP and saying these "darn contraptions" would get me lost. ||I arrive to her house and you enter through a sun room. There is the worst smell of cat piss as you enter, and mold. Then you walk into a foyer and it smelled fine in there so I continued. I got my room and I asked for a key to lock the door while I'm out and her reply was "you don't need a key". ||After she checked me in I went to my room and it smelled horrible like mold too. It was coming from the closet and from a few of the desks and night stands. I had a hard time breathing and I started to get a rash. I opened the windows. It didn't help. ||She told me upon check in that I was the only one staying there that night, so I peaked into a room next to me and the smell was a lot better so I went to go speak to Penelope and let her know I was having an allergic reaction to something in the room. Her reply was "I don't know what you could possibly be allergic to!" To which I said "it could be a varnish or something coming off one of the pieces of furniture" and I didn't want to tell her "actually your house is moldy!" She said "I don't varnish my furniture!" To which I said "yes but it was varnished when you bought it". To which she said "oh the varnish from over a 100 years ago! Yeah right!" (And if you remember the beginning of my review she told me over the phone all the furniture was NEW in the room. And now she is saying it's 100 years old. So her story changed to whichever suits her). Fine. I'm not going to argue this with her. But I can't breathe in that room so I ask if I can switch rooms. She says no. Point blank. ||I go back to my room and start looking to see if I dan stay anywhere else. I book myself a hotel room 30 minutes away. Mind you its 10pm now. I'm in a place I've never been before. I'm a female and I am starting to feel VERY uncomfortable in this strangers home with only her and her husband. ||I start to gather my things and I call Penelope on the phone because I don't want to go knock on her bedroom. She answers and I apologize and say that I'm having an allergic reaction and I have to leave. She says "did you get into the bed at at all?" I say no. And she says "then get out of my house". ||I am shaking and gathering my things and she comes downstairs and berates me all the way out the door. "Do you have all your things! Get out of my house! Now I have to come down here and lock the doors! Well I never in my whole life 25 years running a BnB have ever had a problem with that room! You have real problems! You need to take pills for your allergies!" ||It took me two trips to get all my things and she stayed watching me the whole time. I couldn't get out of there quick enough. ||I called my husband crying from the road. ||I don't know who wrote these 5 star reviews on here. "Like staying with family". Sure if family insults you and doesn't have any sympathy towards you. Doesn't have compassion in letting you switch rooms. ||"Darling bed and breakfast" sure with Christmas primitives covering every inch of every room and mold and cat piss smells. Knock knacks upon knock knacks covering every surface until you suffocate from tacky decor. ||You have been warned. This isn't a bed and breakfast. This is a woman renting random rooms out of her old...

My girlfriend and I spent the night at Penelope Murphy's on a short road trip in July 2012. This was our first night on our trip, and we were both really pleased with the accommodations. It was my first time in a B&B so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Penelope doesn't take credit cards, and she takes reservations verbally. Very old school, which I can appreciate. ||||As you pull in, you may notice a bit of clutter in the yard/back area, but it kind of fits with the property. When you walk into the main area when you first come in, you'll kind of see what I mean about it being "quirky." There's a lot of Christmas stuff, and little trinkets around, as well as some brochures for some local attractions. It's a fun introduction to this cute, country place that you'll be staying at. ||||After checking us in, and taking our breakfast order, we headed to our room, the Victorian Suite. The room was very nice, spacious, and clean. The suite includes a nice sized bed, a big jacuzzi tub, small bathroom, and a little table so you can eat breakfast in private in the morning. They even put out a nice scented candle to make the room smell nice, and a few small candles by the tub. You also have a rear entrance, which leads right out onto a patio with a small table and chairs, and right around the corner are a few reclining chairs on the lawn. ||||The room has that nice B&B charm that you always see in the ads, but it also has a sense of privacy that I really enjoyed. It was nice to spend some time relaxing on the chairs at night under the stars, and then have our morning breakfast outside on the patio. ||||The only thing I could think of to warn people of (other than the no credit card policy) is that there is no stand up shower. There is a handheld shower in the tub, kind of European style. I had absolutely no issue with this, but it's something that some more particular travelers might like to know. ||||Overall, I'm really glad that we chose this B&B and that we decided to spend the extra few dollars for the Victorian suite. I felt that the charm, privacy, and cleanliness really helped make this a great start to our trip. Penelope is friendly, direct, and willing to help. I would definitely look to stay here again when...

Honest review of the bed and breakfast. First off- they don't make breakfast anymore but the lady was transparent about that over the phone so that's not a big deal. They do offer cookies and coffee or tea to get from the kitchen in the morning too.

The beds we had weren't bad. I found the side pillow a little uncomfortable as a side sleeper as it was too flat but using a towel helped resolve that for me.

The location is pretty good as it's a short drive from Knoebels where I was going to the next morning.

My biggest gripe with this bed and breakfast is that the owner is big into Trump and there's multiple signs of that scattered around.

She even went on some short rant at night about voting Trump and suggesting America would be speaking Chinese if they don't, weird stuff. I didn't bother to debate her cause I'm going there to sleep for the night, not get into political debates with someone.

Outside of the weird politics I did find her to be accommodating as a host and the price is...