The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center — Hotel in College Township

I attended the Penn Stater for a conference recently so this will be a thorough review of the hotel facilities:

Conference Space - it's a little confusing at first to navigate the conference room section of the hotel but after day 1 it became easier and the signage is pretty good to help get you on your way. Sections are fairly spread apart so you will get your exercise walking back and forth but I personally didn't mind that. The rooms are very large and comfortable. However if you are sensitive to cold blasting A/C I recommend dressing in several layers. I did just that but was still cold.....brrrrrrr! But this is not an unusual attribute for hotel meeting rooms. I found WIFI to be a bit tricky to work with. In some sections of the hotel it would work fine while in others I had to toggle various settings on my phone to get it work. Certain website certificates would not work however regardless what I tried. It could have been just my phone but I noticed in one of the workshops I attended the presenter was unable to connect to the internet as well so perhaps it wasn't just me! The food was 4 star level. Massive lunch buffet with more options that I could sample along with a big dessert buffet with all kinds of cakes and cupcakes, pies, etc. Truly heaven for a chocoholic like me. The breakfast buffet was equally well appointed with options ranging from cereal, eggs, and various pastries. The break area w/snacks between workshop sessions was also a nice touch, and included a wide variety of soft drink options. If you attend a conference at the Penn Stater you won't leave hungry!

Legends Pub - this was the only restaurant I tried on site and it didn't disappoint. I had a tasty prime rib sandwich and it was very reasonably priced. The bartender who waited on me was friendly and pleasant.

Rooms - My room (standard double bed) was nothing extravagant or fancy but it was very clean, well appointed and got the job done. One thing I like about this hotel is that each room contains a mini fridge. This is a very nice feature as I like to store cold water with a few snacks and was able to do that without hassle. The bed was super comfortable. Best sleep I've had in a hotel in a long time. The room was a bit dated and renovations would certainly enhance the appeal of the place, but this did nothing to detract from my stay. I would also add it was very quiet - maybe the hotel gets more rowdy during weekend PSU football games but I found the quiet to be very relaxing.

Fitness Center/Pool Area - this is the part of the hotel that stood out for me the most. The fitness room is quite large for a hotel and had an ample amount of newer equipment so I got some very good workouts in. The swimming pool was very clean with plenty of towels. Always plenty of towels everywhere which was great! The water was definitely on the chilly side but this is pretty standard for a lap pool. Adjacent to the pool is a jacuzzi which was a nice touch. The water wasn't too hot either which was nice as well. There is a large locker room adjacent to the fitness room/pool. This is something not a lot of hotels offer so I was impressed. It had several towels and plenty of room to change along with showers. It's very convenient to have this since I had to check out at 11:00 A.M. but was still able to use the facilities later in the day prior to my departure.

Shuttle Van - Again this was a very nice touch. The free courtesy van will take you anywhere within 5 minutes and I made extensive use of it throughout my stay. Shuttle drivers were friendly and polite.

In summary, I fully recommend this hotel. There were a few minor issues but overall it's very reasonably priced in terms of the amenities...

I stayed at the Penn Stater this past weekend and this was my 2nd time staying here. The property is currently undergoing renovations so there is some dust, but it's well maintained.

The staff is very friendly and helpful. It is within a few minute drive to Penn State and Downtown. There is plenty of parking on site; however, beware that during the renovations, the entry to the hotel is now located at the ground level near the Legends restaurant.

I stayed in a renovated room and it was beautiful. The rooms are clean and spacious. The bathroom remodel is outstanding, although, it seems in my unit the bath tub was not redone because the drain was all rusty, but it wasn't a huge bother. The price was fair and competitive, especially given that it was peak move in weekend for the college. The new hand wash, shampoo and conditioner toiletries in the room smell absolutely wonderful. A great choice and a wonderful addition to the rooms. The towels were impeccably clean which is something I always welcome because I am very picky about any kind of dirt/hair in my hotel rooms.

My main complaint during my stay was the inconvenience of the areas that were closed off during the renovation. I was staying on the 2nd floor, but I had to take elevator to 3rd floor, walk what felt like a 1/4 mile to the next set of elevators, then take the elevator down to the 2nd floor. If I was not coming and going all day long, it may not have been as big of an issue, but after the 3rd time of having to do that in less than 6 hours, it got quite annoying. I was already exhausted from moving my kid into the college and it just felt like an extra inconvenience. Not enough for me to rate the property as a total negative experience because I know it's a temporary inconvenience during the renovations. We also got woken up by renovation taking place in the room near our room so that was a bit of a nuisance as well, but again, just a temporary one.

Another issue I ran into was the lack of water bottles in the room. As exhausted as I was, I completely forgot to buy water before going back to the room and there were none in the room (I would have paid a premium for the water because I did NOT want to do that trek again across the hotel and all the elevators I had to take).

There is a Keurig coffee maker in the room along with mugs and class cups. I wish they offered room service because I was exhausted after each day of moving and just wanted to relax in the room. However, there are 2 restaurants on site that you can order to go food from.

I will definitely stay here again and can't wait to visit once all the renovations are done. If nothing else, I got my daily steps in, thanks to all the trekking I...

First I’d like to have it known that I never write reviews no matter how disappointed I am with a place or experience. I stayed here for a work conference and the front desk staff was not very nice. Upon checking in, it seemed rushed and rude but I brushed it off knowing that the lady was probably overwhelmed with the amount of people checking in. When I went to my room before bringing my bags in, I noticed I was put in a handicapped room. This room had a bench in the shower that was in the way and could not be propped up/removed. As great as it is for a disabled person, it was not great for me and very much in the way. I went back to the front desk to request a room change where I was told I cannot change rooms due to the room block my agency booked. Since I’m not a confrontational person I simply said okay and walked away. I called a family member who is a retired travel agent, where I was told they most definitely can move me. The other thing that I realized was this is a LARGE hotel and that our agency did not take every single room, therefore there was definitely space to accommodate my request. It’s the middle of January and the only people I see around the hotel are part of my agency. Not at all the busy season. Every time I showered, I know the rooms around me must’ve hated me because I was banging around trying to simultaneously shower and hold the bench up. Why? Because the bench was right in the way of where the water came out of the shower head. It was a detachable shower head but either way, I had to shower one handed. I’d either have to hold the shower head or hold the bench up. It was incredibly inconvenient and I’m very disheartened that they failed to move my reservation. I honestly think it was pure laziness on the lady at the front desk because of the amount of people she had to check in. Very unprofessional. For a hotel that is seemingly “high end”, it very much isn’t. If your workplace plans to have a conference here, just know you’ll be met with an unforgiving staff. Again, I understand the room block but there was absolutely a solution for this problem that the staff at the front desk did not want to hear/deal with. Unfortunately, we do have work conferences here often but I do NOT...