We only stayed in/near three cities in Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. For that final city we booked a 10 night stay at the Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area, PA.
We booked a 10 night stay because we were using Hilton Honors points. Hilton offers every 5th night free on award stays for anyone who has status (including Silver status that you can get from their fee-free credit card), so staying 10 nights meant we got both the 5th and 10th nights free.
Another benefit of staying there is that we were able to book into a one bedroom suite using a reasonable number of points. Staying in one bedroom suites rather than studio suites/regular hotel rooms has become more important to us as our 50 state road trip goes on (we’re about to enter our 6th year living in hotels and Airbnbs), so having that extra space along with a full kitchen was great.
It ended up being a very nice stay. Our suite was very comfortable, the hotel had some extra amenities that you don’t always see at hotels and they had very nice staff. Having not stayed at Homewood Suites properties for the first three years of our road trip, we’ve stayed at a number of them in the last couple of years and this was probably the best of all those.
Here’s a full review of our stay at the Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area in Pennsylvania.
Check-In
The Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area is a deceptively large property, although it’s easy to find the entrance. Before checking in, we wanted to unload the car (we travel with pretty much everything we own) and so needed a luggage cart. Unfortunately there wasn’t one in the lobby, so I went hunting around for one.
Even though there are only two floors, that was trickier than I’d anticipated due to it being such a large hotel. It’s laid out like a large square with a courtyard in the center. After exploring quickly on both the first and second floors, I hadn’t found a cart and so returned to the front desk to check in. While doing that, the front desk agent mentioned that a luggage cart or two are often left by one of the exits at the rear of the property which is the side of the hotel where our room would be located. Sure enough, we went down there and found a cart.
One Bedroom Suite
We were allocated room 218, so after unloading the car we headed up to our room. There are a couple of elevators at the hotel – one on the opposite side of the front desk and one at the other side of the hotel.
When entering the suite, the kitchen was on the left and the living room straight ahead. The bedroom and bathroom were through double doors off the living room.
Kitchen
As mentioned at the start of the review, our suite at the Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area had a full kitchen. In fact, I think every room at every Homewood Suites nationwide has a full kitchen.
This included a stovetop, dishwasher, microwave, fridge-freezer, coffee maker, etc. The countertop doubled up as a breakfast bar on one side with a couple of tall seats.
It also came equipped with plates, dishes, silverware, cookware, cooking utensils, etc. in the cupboards and drawers. I appreciated how much cupboard space we had in the kitchen so that we could store our groceries in there as not all kitchens in all-suite properties like this have as much cupboard space as that.
Living Room
The living room had a sleeper sofa with a couple of ottomans and a coffee table. The ottomans came in handy because we put them at the end of the bed to make it easier for our dog Truffles to get up and down off the bed.
Opposite the couch was a dresser with a TV on top.
To the left of that – on the other side of the bedroom doors – was an armchair.
Back towards the kitchen was a dining table with a couple of chairs which doubled up as a work desk for Shae (I prefer working on the couch).
To the right of that was a closet which was useful for storing some of our things.
Bedroom
Off the living room were double doors leading through to the bedroom. One of those doors could be latched in place to ensure they didn’t creak open at night when the air conditioning kicked in.
The bedroom had a king bed which we found comfortable and so slept well at night. The blackout curtains worked well and there were bedside tables and drawers on each side. There were also lamps on each side which had a power outlet in them which made it easier to charge our phones at night.
Opposite the bed was a long dresser/almost-credenza with another TV on top.
Towards the bathroom there was a larger closet than the one in the living room. This contained bedding for the sleeper sofa and a luggage rack. I think it also contained an iron and ironing board, but I can’t guarantee that as I didn’t get a photo of them and I can’t remember for sure if they were in there. Even if they weren’t, I imagine the hotel would have them you could borrow.
Bathroom
Opposite the closet – so not actually in the bathroom itself – was a sink and vanity. This had a good amount of countertop space for our toiletries.
The bathroom itself had a bathtub with shower; the shower’s water pressure was fine.
Rather than having small toiletry bottles, there were larger bottles of shampoo and conditioner mounted to the wall, with a bar of soap rather than shower gel.
Breakfast
The Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area offers complimentary breakfast for all guests. It’s served from 6am-9am Monday-Friday and 7am-10am Saturday-Sunday.
There were several rotating hot options available each day, along with many other breakfast items like cereal, breads, waffles, fruit, yogurt, etc.
Amenities
Homewood Suites is an extended stay brand, so they tend to have amenities that make those longer stays more comfortable. That includes a laundry room or, in the case of their property in Harrisburg, two guest laundry rooms.
Both guest laundry areas are on the second floor and it costs $2 per load which is reasonable.
An amenity I don’t remember seeing at past Homewood Suites hotels that we’ve stayed at is a pool table. This was on a mezzanine section of the second floor; we didn’t make use of it, but I think you have to ask the front desk for the cues and balls as I didn’t see them stored next to the pool table which was understandable as they’d likely go missing otherwise.
On the first floor is the fitness room which had a few pieces of equipment and some weights.
The fitness room felt a little basement-y due to the low ceiling. The treadmills were therefore positioned where there was an extra 6″-10″ of headroom, otherwise taller people working out would likely hit their head.
The courtyard in the center of the hotel had an outdoor swimming pool. It was closed while we were there as we stayed at the end of October/beginning on November.
Next to the pool area was an outdoor seating area with a couple of grills, while there were a couple of benches in a smaller part of the courtyard.
Next to the front desk was an extensive pantry area with snacks, frozen meals and desserts, toiletries and more.
Also in the lobby area was an Amazon Locker which is helpful if you want to get items from Amazon delivered and would prefer having them sent to the locker rather than the front desk.
Pet Policy
The Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area is a pet-friendly hotel. At the time of publishing this post, the pet fee listed on their website says it’s $50 per stay, but that’s not the true extent of it. It’s $50 per stay for stays of 1-4 nights and $125 for stays of 5+ nights.
The hotel has several grassy areas around the property with a particularly large section at the back of the hotel. We therefore attached a long rope to Truffles so that she could run around after her ball back there, with the rope giving us the ability to grab her if needed so that she wasn’t entirely off-leash.
Service
Although we stayed at the hotel for 10 days, I didn’t have much interaction with the staff there beyond checking in and out. Shae’s much more outgoing than me though, so she got chatting to the front desk staff and housekeeping team at times and said they were all lovely and friendly.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi at the hotel is complimentary for all guests. I don’t remember having any issues with its speed or connectivity.
Check-In & Check-Out Times
Check-in at the Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area is 3pm, while check-out is at 11am.
Location
Despite its name, this Homewood Suites is in Mechanicsburg, although that’s still part of the Harrisburg metro area. It’s ~15 minutes from Harrisburg (the capital of Pennsylvania), ~25 minutes from Hershey, and ~45 minutes from both Gettysburg National Military Park and the Turkey Hill Experience.
There are some restaurants within walking distance, with grocery stores and other retailers and restaurants a short drive away.
Parking
Parking at this hotel is complimentary. There are plenty of spaces and the parking lot wraps around the entire building. Due to its size, that’s actually very useful because it has 8 available entrances (I think) and so you can park next to the entrance that’s closest to your suite. Each entrance has a letter, so that makes it easier to remember which one you need to use.
Cost
We booked our stay using Hilton Honors points. Hilton has variable pricing, but the cost for every night of our stay was 34,000 points. Seeing as I have status with Hilton, every 5th night on our award stay was free which means both the 5th and 10th nights were free. As a result, rather than having to redeem 340,000 points, it only cost us 272,000 points, or an average of 27,200 points per night.
If we’d paid cash, the cost would’ve been $149.45 per night which includes tax. That means we got 0.55cpp (cents per point) of value by redeeming points. That’s slightly above average value for Hilton points, but not as amazing value as some of our other past Hilton stays. However, it does mean we didn’t have to pay close to $1,500 which is why redeeming points was the more attractive option, especially considering we still have a ton of those points.
Final Thoughts
We had a very nice stay at the Homewood Suites Harrisburg-West Hershey Area. I loved that we were able to book directly into a one bedroom suite which was very comfortable. Our room was quiet, there were some good amenities, the staff were friendly and it put us close to a number of places that we wanted to visit. If we were to visit the area in the future, we’d be more than happy to stay here again, although I imagine Shae would rather stay at the Hershey Hotel!
Truffles Approval Rating
Truffles gives our stay at this property four paws out of four – pawfect! Although the pet fee was a little higher than we’d been anticipating based on what was listed on their website, she liked that our room was quiet and that we were on the top floor which meant we didn’t have anyone on the floor above us.
Most of all, she loved having that large grassy area out back to run around in. Every time we picked up the rope to go outside, she got super excited knowing what was coming next.
Our Rating
Room = 4.7 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.3 / 5
Food = 4.1 / 5
Location = 4.1 / 5
Service = 4.2 / 5
Overall Value = 4.0 / 5
Total = 4.23 / 5
Address
Homewood Suites, 5001 Ritter Rd, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
I’m glad you enjoyed the hotel. We stayed there a bunch of times as my son graduated from Dickinson College nearby and my daughter’s first post college job was in Harrisburg. I remember that pool table! The staff there are great.
Awesome, glad you enjoyed it there too 🙂