Wyndham Garden State College — Hotel in Harris Township

One of the best.

I have a habit of only staying mostly at hotels that are Wyndham or by Windham. This one does not disappoint! This seemed all very new. As most my reviews I'll cover things mainly not covered by hotel info or others.

First off, I'm staying during off season. 2/17, and only for one night. I wish I could if stayed more days is how wonderful this place is. Check in is at 4pm, however I called ahead and was able to check in hours early. Your experience and demand of rooms may vary with this but always worth a shot.

I like the fact this hotel has more than one elevator to go to upper rooms. By far a plus and these are some of the smoothest elevators i have ever been on.

*We did not use any added services. No pools, breakfast, etc.

The room was fantastic. I personally loved the views, and our bed. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on in any hotel ever. Same goes with the pillows. Like a temperpedic type. Sink in and love it. Bathroom was amazing. Me n my wife both loved the shower. Yes, not ashamed, some couples actually like showering together, and this is the first hotel room that has a large shower and it was amazing. Controlling the room temp was fantastic, usually temp changed even dramatically in about 10 mins. Warmer for out of the shower, then cool it off. Perfect.

Amenities given here are more than anywhere I have ever stayed. Coffee, tea, all shower and clean items including makeup wipes and mouthwash. There is even a full heavy blanket in the closet in case needed.

Charging. There's a total of 13 accessible plugs and 6 USB charging ports. That's not including the ones behind or under desks, as well as movable reading lights on each side of the bed.

The first hotel I've ever visited that has full, thick towels. A basic king room had 3. Plus 3 hand towels, 3 wash rags, and a floor mat. Some complain about water getting onto the floor, we had a minimal problem of this even with 2 of us rotating thru it more than once.

Sleep was undisturbed, as someone who is a light sleeper, it was nice to sleep all the way thru the night without being waken up.

For anyone looking, hotel needs to add the information that the indoor pool hours are 9am to 10pm year round. Outdoor pool is seasonal, usually opened in May, and has the same hours from what I was told.

Photos of our room attached. We were in room 217, which is a basic king room. Will be back anytime I am...

The VALUE of this hotel is very high. We've stayed here twice in the last year (6 days total), and we paid between 52 and 78 dollars per night including taxes. That is a great deal for this hotel. The hotel presents nicely, and it feels friendly, safe, and clean. It does have quirks (see below), but it is a very high value for this price. Dislikes: This is definitely not a premium hotel, and it probably shouldn't be the top-rated hotel in State College (as they advertise it to be). It is certainly a very good hotel, but it's not the best and certainly not a premium experience. Here are a few things to know/experiences we had: the rooms a SUPER quiet when the AC/heat is off. Like it's so quiet that it's creepy. The ceilings in the rooms are concrete (and feel like a warehouse), the windows are solid, etc. So it's is just creepy quiet. There is no option to constantly run the fan on the heat/AC, so there is no way to make the room less creepy. Speaking of the room being so locked in: there seemed to be no outside ventilation. The windows don't open, and the bathroom fan doesn't seem to vent anywhere. We got water on the floor whenever we showered (because the modern no-shower-door style) and it literally never evaporated over the 3 days (even when we left the bathroom fan on all day) because of the lack of ventilation. Finally, they don't totally seem to have their staffing/management/logistics sorted. For example, during our second stay, the trashcan by the elevator wasn't emptied for over 24 hours and smelled bad enough that we were basically choking on the air. And when we arrived for our second stay, they first sent us to a room that hadn't been cleaned from the previous guest (the bed wasn't made, towels on the floor, etc). It was gross (especially during COVID), and when we returned to the front desk, the staff said the word "sorry", but that was the extent of their apology. I guess I would have expected a little more of an embarrassed look or repeated sorrys, etc. Not a huge problem obviously (they gave us another room immediately), but it's not the kind of premium service you'd expect at a hotel like this one that advertises that it's the highest-rated hotel in the area. Overall, it's a GOOD hotel, but don't expect a hotel that's...

Usually a good stay but not this time. Horrible recent stay.

I booked a business-related stay for 4 nights but needed to leave after 3. The hotel would not remove the charge for the last night's stay. Never had this happen before with any hotel during my 30+ years of corporate travel. I understand corporate policies but it's not as if I cancelled minutes before my arrival...I had already been there 3 nights and spend money on food, drinks and lodging. During my career as an exec marketing and customer experience leader, I have always made wise decisions regarding policies in order to preserve customer relationships.

To make matters worse, I awoke one morning with a rash that has lasted two days. What I thought was just an allergic reaction to laundry used on the bed sheets clearly matches up after some online research with bed bug bites; raised red welts in a linear shape on my neck and upper torso...and this could last for 2 weeks according to my research. I'll refrain from adding photos of the rash.

Have never had this happen before ever in all of my executive travel. I've been in contact with customer support; I'll see what happens.

EDITED ON 8/28:

Manager called me and was very cordial. I appreciate that. In my career as an executive leader in marketing and customer experience, I have always had to make decisions to disregard policy at times for a greater good. So, while the hotel may have made the "right" decision according to policy, I don't believe they made the "wise" decision to ensure customer loyalty. To their credit, they did make an offer of giving me Wyndham points, but those points would not cover a night's stay at their hotel; I was hoping for a refund. As for the rash, it's now day 6 and persisting. I am not ruling out allergic reactions to stimulus in the room, nor am I ruling out...