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The Hershey Lodge – Convenience and Comfort for Families

This post was sponsored by Hershey Entertainment Resorts who provided us with one night of accommodations for our Hershey Pennsylvania vacation. We appreciate their support of Jersey Family Fun that allows us to share with families information about family friendly hotels we think your family may enjoy for family vacations.

 

Hershey Park Vacation

 

The town of Hershey is unique in that it’s a tourist destination but still firmly residential and even rural (for those of us that live in the congested parts of New Jersey). As you approach through dairy farms and wineries, the coasters are visible popping up out of fields. Get closer, and you see that HersheyPark is in fact in the middle of a town. People live in homes that are across the street from the massive roller coasters, and the Hershey factory (still in use!) is in the center of it all.  There are hotels and lodging throughout, but not as many as you might expect. The Hershey Company offers two official resort locations in town, with the elegant Hershey Hotel and the family friendly Hershey Lodge.  There’s also a Hershey campground.  All are conveniently located near HersheyPark and other Hershey attractions.

 

Our weekend visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania brought us to the Hershey Lodge, for a two night stay as we explored the town and attractions. The Lodge is a 665 room hotel, with an attached conference center. It’s a large hotel spread out across some beautiful, well landscaped grounds, but signage everywhere makes navigation easy. After a 2 1/2 hour drive from our Union County home we were happy to park and be greeted immediately by hotel staff positioned outside the front entrance. Your first sight is a small statue of Milton Hershey – the man responsible for it all – and beyond, the lobby is warm and inviting.

 

hersheylobby

 

Our Friday afternoon check in was speedy. We were surprised with tickets to the Hershey Story museum as well as the Hershey Gardens, and even more exciting for our younger family members was the Hershey bar given to all guests. Let the weekend of chocolate eating begin! Upon entering our room, my children immediately found the Hershey Kisses left for us, that were left each time housekeeping came in. At check in we were given the “Lodge Ledger” which lists all the activities and amenities in one spot.  This came in very handy for planning our weekend.

 

Off to the room! What kid doesn’t love opening the door to a hotel room? So much to see, explore and so different from home. There were fun elements of Hershey in the bedding and wallpaper and artwork, and as soon as the television comes on, you’re tuned to the Hershey channel.

 

Our Hershey Lodge Two Queen Guest Room included:

  • Closet
  • Desk with USB ports
  • Television Cabinet
  • Nightstand with iPod dock/alarm clock
  • Chair
  • Two queen beds
  • Bench
  • Small Refrigerator
  • Coffeemaker

 

The space was good for our two night stay with a 9 year old and 5 year old. Wifi was available throughout the Lodge and the grounds. Our housekeeping service gave us turn down both nights, and a cleaning on Saturday. We had plenty of pillows and an extra blanket for sweet dreams.

 

 

What you should know if you stay at the Hershey Lodge.

The Hershey Lodge may look elegant and adult, but it’s definitely a place where kids will feel welcome. In the lobby there’s a separate desk that offers a “kids check in.” Kids can sign the guest book, get a lanyard with their name and an ID tag, and guess the number of candies in one of two jars. There’s also Hershey Miniatures for the taking, and coloring pages and crayons. This is also a great resource for finding out more family activities at the Lodge – and there are a lot!

hersheykitkatFamily Activities at The Hershey Lodge

  • Character appearances. At the Lodge – without trying – we saw Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and KitKat.  Many other Hershey characters will wander through from 10-11 AM or 4-5 PM (confirm schedule upon checkin)
  • You’ll find plenty of family activities like bingo, crafts, parachute games, and pool relay races. Also available to check out through Recreation are basketballs, tennis equipment and our favorite, mini golf! There’s a full 18 hole course on the grounds of the Hershey Lodge. Even better, all these activities were available until 10 PM (again, check schedule upon checkin).
  • And as mentioned, there’s of course POOLS! Hershey Lodge has one indoor pool and two outdoor pools. Spent the whole day in the park? No problem! The indoor pool was open until 10 PM during our stay so we had plenty of time to splash. Not a great swimmer? Plenty of life vests are available for your little ones. There’s also a kiddie pool and a hot tub in the indoor pool area.
  • Rainy day? Explore the indoor game room adjacent to the pool. There’s a Wii room, exercise room and arcade games all open late.
  • Learn about animals all while walking through the grounds! We were headed to HersheyPark Saturday morning when we saw an eagle in the lobby, brought to the Lodge by The Falconry Experience. Saturday night we returned from dinner and saw something happening by Swan Lake – it was a representative from ZooAmerica with a snake, owl, skunk and reptile (we came late for that!) to show off and educate us about.
  • What might have been our favorite was the S’mores Roast! From 8-9 PM, the recreation staff builds a fire in the fire pit by Swan Lake, and guests can purchase S’mores supplies to make some yummy treats. It was a beautiful night and sunset Friday while our kids ran around with their soccer ball souvenirs and indulged in s’mores.

 

Hersheysmores

 

The other amenities of the Hershey Lodge offer convenience – the shuttle that takes hotel guests to and from HersheyPark and other Hershey attractions was our favorite benefit. The Lodge has a gift shop (happy to have that when I realized we hadn’t brought sunscreen!), 6 eateries, and a business center.  And of course there’s room service which will even bring you the hotel’s signature chocolate martini … or maybe some chocolate chip french toast. You can buy your HersheyPark tickets at the Hershey Lodge, to save time and money at the park. There’s even a height measurement structure by the shuttle stop, fun for kids who have yet to see what rides they’re eligible for! Hershey Lodge guests get early entrance to HersheyPark, or a night before preview, when you buy next day tickets at the Lodge.

 

Our family was beyond satisfied with our Hershey Lodge stay. We didn’t want for anything, and could have spent more time just being at the Lodge, with the pools and other on site activities.  The Hershey Lodge gave us a comfortable and convenient place to call “home” while we visited Hershey.

 

 

We’re sharing a preview of pictures from our Facebook album below. To view more The Hershey Lodge photos visit our Facebook Gallery.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152966789240745.1073742191.71658875744&type=3

To watch our Hershey Park videos visit our YouTube Channel for our Hershey Park Playlist.

 

Click over to see the rest of our Family Travel to Hersheypark series.

Hersheypark experiences

To arrange a feature on your location contact Jennifer Auer, Jersey Family Fun publisher.

 

 

In full disclosure, this is a sponsored post from Hershey Entertainment Resorts. We were provided with 1 night accommodations in a double queen room. These things were arranged so that we could review the Hershey Lodge for its family friendliness. However, our opinions are honest and based on our experiences at the Hershey Lodge.

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