The Hotel Hershey — Hotel in Hershey

First of all, let me say I find it obnoxious that hotels like this one are advertised as five star establishments when they clearly are not by any reasonable standard. In my view, even the price at $548.45 per night for a room with two queens is more in line with the four-star level in most major cities. It is therefore regrettable that, apart from far superior interior decoration, my experience was worse than what I normally get from higher-end three star chains like Hilton Garden Inn. In fact, I was tempted to do two stars here, but I decided that that was too harsh given that they did get a lot of things right and the staff were very friendly and tried their best. The main issue that I had with my stay was the fact that the best rooms with two queens at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn are simply better for about half the price. I found it outrageous that our room had neither a microwave nor working curtains capable of preventing the summer sunrise from entering our room. Good thing our family is naturally disposed to waking up with the sun at 6:30 AM! The whole thing reeked of gross social engineering designed to get people out of bed and spending money at their resort complex and Hersheypark. The onsite Italian restaurant Trevi 5 was absolutely terrible for the price we paid. I did not enjoy my main course at all and the service was poor; my $42 fish was bland, tasteless, and tiny, though the sides were good, and the cheese pizza my children ordered tasted like it was not prepared with quality ingredients and appropriate seasoning, something a supposedly high-end Italian restaurant should be absolutely embarrassed about. We waited about 40 minutes for our food to be brought out, something for which the manager offered us a complimentary tiramisu to share as an apology, which was a nice gesture. Unfortunately, the dessert was tasty, but not tiramisu (I have had the real thing). I am not sure if our server was inept or if the restaurant was poorly managed, though they did seem to have plenty of staff working while we were there. Breakfast at The Circular was a much better value, as we were able to eat enough of their good-quality offerings to skip the awful lunch offerings at Hersheypark and have extra time to do more there. Unfortunately, they had plenty of staff, but they all seemed to be stressed out and constantly rushing everywhere, which I found odd as they were mainly there for our checks and drinks. Maybe poor management? I waited far too long between sightings of my server on both days I ate there, causing me to have to eat half my meal on the first day without a drink refill; when my second pot of hot water finally arrived, she brought me another one and my son's apple juice refill in to-go cups even though we had given no indication that we were in a hurry or wished to leave our seats in the near future. I detest generating unnecessary waste and so found this behavior very unpleasant. They also brought me the wrong check both days we ate breakfast at The Circular. The onsite steakhouse 1933 Restaurant & Tavern was enjoyed by my children, though I personally was not hungry enough the evening we ate there to order a steak for myself. All I can say is that we did receive good service that evening. The exclusive shuttle to Hersheypark was an excellent perk that we very much appreciated. The hotel has both a reasonable mini-arcade and miniature golf course. The pool had a hot tub but only two of the jets really worked my lower back, and my children (ages 7 and 9) were not allowed in because they were not 60 inches tall, something we were all unhappy about. They had a reasonable fitness center for me, but you might struggle to work out if you are stronger than me and need heavier weights, as the dumbbells and kettlebells did not go up as high as I am used to in most gyms. TL;DR: It would have been smarter to stay at Hilton Garden Inn; while there were a lot of perks and amenities, my children and I struggled to make use of most of them and the overall cost was far too high for the three-star value...

Went with friends for a mid-week getaway and were excited for some things and disappointed in others. I wanted to share an honest opinion on the entire stay. We had two connecting rooms on the 2nd floor (spa level).

Pros: *Booking was very easy, every person we spoke with on the phone was pleasant and knowledgeable *Property itself is beautiful *Texting the front desk with questions/needing toiletries in very easy *Ordered room service, the experience was great, the person who delivered was very kind, etc. *Check in was easy and they allowed us in early. Check out is also easy, they allow you to text that you're on your way out and they email you a receipt. *The spa was just as beautiful as we had hoped *Geranium & Rose Hydrating Body Treatment - this was very nice. The woman and I talked the entire time, though if you want silence that was an option too. The table was more comfortable than any massage table I've ever laid on *The pool/hot tub area were clean and the water temps were great

Cons: *The shower in our room was incredibly moldy and the shower rod was covered in rust (though our friend's connected room looked clean) *Half of the bed pillows were AMAZING, but the other half felt hard and cheap. Each person has different pillow opinions, so this may not be a valid point *Check out was easy, but there are too many numbers being charged to/refunded to my credit card. Edit: we were NOT overcharged *We scheduled our spa day for a Wednesday, based our appointments and day with lunch included (at the Oasis). Were told the week before that the Oasis is closed on Wednesdays and we could purchase our lunch at the Cafe by the lobby. Not a huge deal, but we didn't receive the refund from the Oasis on our receipt as of yet. *The High Point Garden Foot Ritual was only just okay - the ladies who did our feet were great to chat with, had hilarious stories, made us feel welcome, all around, great company. The treatment itself was just as if a friend sat down and did your nails. I had polish on my toes, there wasn't much of a massage, more of just spreading lotion. The 50 minute Couples massage was good for me, my husband not so much. Personal pet peeve, do not massage a client's feet then move immediately to their face. Not everyone is afraid of germs, but I hope most people can agree that this is gross. The massage was also supposed to last 50 minutes. We were found and walked to our room 5 minutes after our appointment was to start (1:05), and we were dressed/back in the aromatherapy lounge at the exact time our appointment was to end (1:50). Those 45 minutes included: Getting to the room, picking scents, undressing, getting tucked into the massage table, *massage taking a minute to get up, getting dressed, washing faces from the foot massage, walking back to the lounge. I can only assume at most, our massage was a full 35 minutes. *The robes between our two rooms were in a bit of rough shape. 3 of the 4 looked like they were attacked by cats, with strings and threads pulled all over the chest and arms. The 4th robe looked rather new, was still fluffy around the collar. We still wore them and they kept us warm. *On the day of check out, check out being noon, our friends received a wake up call in their room around 8 for the wrong person. The front desk person kept them on the phone a little longer than they should have since they were trying to figure out where the correct guest was. About 5 minutes later, house keeping knocked twice on their door and walked away as they got the door open. House keeping said they were "just checking" and walked away.

Overall, I was glad we spent the week day prices and not the weekend prices, because I'm not sure I could justify spending much more on the quality. If you're traveling on a budget and NOT doing the spa, I would suggest checking other local...

We recently completed a 3 night stay at The Hotel Hershey. As someone who has stayed in 5 star hotels across the country, I don't think it comes close to 5 stars, but it's still a very nice property.||Pros: First and foremost, a shout out to Lauren at The Circular! She is one of the best and most wonderful bartenders we've ever had! Very hard worker and made us feel like family while enjoying our evening drinks! We really enjoyed our conversations with her. Kyle was also very personable and fun to chat with. Olivia waited on us there for breakfast and she had a great personality and always took care of us and other tables! ||The toiletries from L'Occitane were luxurious and I love that they haven't joined other hotels in having large bottles screwed into the walls of the shower. We enjoy bringing the remains home to use. ||1933 was a great place to have dinner, and all of the food we had was very good. It gave off a fancy ambiance and was reasonably priced. They had the best wine list of any restaurant on the property. ||We loved sitting at the bar at The Circular and looking out at the view. It was the only room in the hotel where I got the historic luxury feeling. ||The property was very clean and the gardens were well taken care of. There was no shortage of places to walk around and there always seemed to be some kind of activity going on. ||Mixed Feelings: I used the spa one day, and the woman behind the counter was very uptight and serious. She almost seemed taken aback that a guy was getting a facial and I got some glares. I felt like I got the same reaction from the woman who did my facial at first, but she got better as the treatment went on. The spa being on 3 levels, with several winding corridors on each level wasn't fun, but I enjoyed the facial very much and used the quiet room after I was done to relax. ||The room we had was small, but comfortable and I thoroughly enjoyed how soft the bed and pillows were. Our cleaning lady was very nice as well. The arrangement of the toilet in the bathroom was a nightmare. Up against the wall in a corner, barely any room for your right arm, and only 12 inches from the front of the toilet to the wall. The placement of the toilet paper roll was also odd, and it made doing your business difficult - especially as a tall guy! The towel rod was also busted in our bathroom, and with the slightest incorrect bump, it would come crashing down. I also would've liked a turndown service.||Cons: The hotel itself is an absolute nightmare to try and get around. You know it's bad when they want you to download an app to get around. There is no single staircase that goes directly through all levels, and the elevators are beyond slow. ||While the hotel is nice and has "amenities" that rate it 5 star, it didn't give me any luxury feeling aside from The Circular and 1933. The reception area was just eeh, inside the elevators were fake wood and plastic skylights meant to mimic stained glass, and subjectively, the whole fountain lobby was just dated and tacky. It easily could've been the entrance to a ride at a theme park. The retail shops were tiny, bland, and didn't offer much in my opinion.||The Iberian Lounge was very dark and had seriously cheap and terrible wines on their list - they all retailed $10 to $15. Other luxury hotels, I can get a $100 or $200 bottle of champagne or wine by the glass. ||I also didn't like that the only breakfast was at The Circular, and it was buffet only. For so many restaurants on property, they all seemed to close for mid day and there was no place to just hang and grab a drink in the early afternoon.||All in all, it was still a very enjoyable experience, and it was neat to learn the hotel's story. It just didn't live up to my expectations for what 5 stars...