Our Candlewood Suites Harrisburg – Hershey Hotel Review

This may be a hotel review of interest for those that are visiting the Harrisburg area or even possibly Hershey Park. We stayed there on a recent business trip that included a wonderful trip to Hershey Park in July of 2019.

This particular hotel is located near Bass Pro Shops and is kind of located in a office park. There are several office building near the hotel, but it’s not a real busy area and everything is not right on top of each other, there is space.

We actually had an experience with a Deer out side the hotel which was hilarious. We were taking a few pictures of storm clouds in a distance and suddenly a deer appeared out of no where.

Check In Was A Breeze…

We arrived on a Sunday evening and checked into hotel. The front desk lady was amazing. She had a bright smile and made you feel right at home.

The check in process was pretty quick and painless. She quickly found the reservation and finished the check in process. She was very accommodating with our request especially having a pet, and making sure we had a first floor room.

This Hotel is Pet Friendly…

There is a small charge of $25 per stay, which again, I’m fine with. The hotels that charge the $150 + per stay are a little overboard. No issues here.

You will also find plenty of space outside for you to take your pet out to go to the bathroom.

Our first impression of the Room…

As you know one of the more stressful situations when entering a hotel is when you first open your rooms door and enter the room. It can instantly turn you a very stressed or agitated person or it can completely make you feel comfortable and instantly happy with your choice.

As I said before, the hotel can always make or break your trip. If you haven’t read any of our official hotel reviews yet, one thing to be aware of is that I really take the hotel finding process seriously and spend a lot of time doing it.

I don’t want to make the wrong decision here and I tend to play it safe. We have had too many bad experiences in the past. So Hotel Reviews are a big deal, and this one hotel that had a mix of bad and good reviews, but it was Pet friendly and the reviews for the most part were solid, so we went with it.

Upon first impressions, it was fine. There was a slight order when entering the room, but that comes with the territory when the area had been experiencing some extreme heat, the Oder was mostly from the air conditioner, which quickly dissipated as we got more comfortable in the room.

As you can see from above the rooms are an extended stay layout. They offer a kitchen, full size fridge, sink, dishwasher, counter stove top and microwave.

This was by choice and perfect as my family attended me on this trip. I had 2 full work days of meetings to attend to and a half day, so the hotel provided what they needed to keep comfy while I was away at work.

We got a few groceries the day we arrived, so they were stocked up to get through the day. They were able to utilize the kitchen to prepare food throughout the day.

Overall the room was clean. There were signs of wear on the carpet, and some grease and grim on the wall, which was not an issue as it wasn’t that bad just a few spots that were noticeable as they just really needed to do a new paint job.

We checked the beds immediately upon going in the room as we always do, no issues. All was good. Overall the room was fine.

Our room was located right next to an external door and the pool area which was fantastic.

Our One Main Issue that was a little annoying…

We did have one little issue that was kind of annoying, but we dealt with it. The TV was going in and out all the time. We had the front desk clerk come in and she tried to fix it, but it was a constant problem through out the entire stay.

They have Direct TV, which for starters, I wasn’t so happy about, the service was awful. We did have one giant storm come through but even before the storm there were issues.

What we loved about the hotel…

Location was a key for me. It was easy access to where I had to go for work meetings. There were several restaurants and gas stations around the location. There were also several ways that you could leave the hotel and get to my destination, which was great and made the daily drives enjoyable.

It is also not very far from Hershey Park which was a plus. It was only about a 23 minute drive.

The Front desk was exceptional. All the employees were nice and accommodating to what ever we needed, other than the TV. Not a great experience there.

The room was spacey and the beds were comfortable. Sleeping was not an issue as the rooms were also soundproofed.

Water pressure in the shower was fantastic and hot. Which in the morning is a blessing.

They had an internal store you could purchase snacks, drinks, and other things from.

They offered free laundry. This was great, no coined machine, you cannot beat that.

The pool never got busy. Obviously this can change from day to day, but overall we had full use of the pool, usually by ourselves.

Being a member they offered extended checkout times. This was a must. It was great for us as we did not check out until 1 PM.

What We Did not like about the Hotel…

Obvious choice number one was the TV. It got a little annoying.

No breakfast. While I wasn’t aware of this, although it would of been nice, the kitchen allowed us to pick up a few things and just make our own breakfast. But you know the added perk would of been nice.

The pool water was extremely warm. It was kind of odd, the hot tub was cooler than the pool. Overall though Not a big deal as it was still fine and we swam many times during our stay.

Plugs could use some updating. Not all plugs worked in the room and they need to be checked into and updated.

Walls could use some new paint or cleaning.

THINGS TO KNOW

They do not offer daily room service while you stay for your privacy. They instruct you to put your used towels in a hamper that is provided and take them down to exchange for new ones when needed.

They also do not offer morning breakfast.

Our Big Theme Parks Hotel Rating

Overall on a scale of 10 I give the hotel a 5.7

Again not a bad score, anything above 5 is worth a stay. There were just a few things that were a little annoying, like the TV, which during this stay was IMPORTANT. As the entertainment was a necessary for my family. It annoyed them a little bit.

The facility isn’t bad, it’s still seems a little modern, but I can see that an update is coming soon, or should be. We were comfortable and felt safe during our stay.

The pool was a little warmer than I’m use to, and it was only closed for one partial day during our stay. Would be nice if they offered a breakfast, but it’s more of an extended stay type of hotel than anything.

The nightly prices were okay, in my opinion just a hair to high. But considering the extra charges some of the other local hotels around this location had, it ended up being a bargain.

Overall though it’s not a bad place, and if we were satisfied with it you should be. Again my wife is very picky with hotels, and she was fine with it. So if you are in the area, book a stay.