Some friends and I (2 couples) are thinking of driving over to Lancaster in a few weeks and stopping at either the Hotel Hershey or Hershey Lodge overnight on the way home. The Hotel Hershey is pretty pricey, given the time of year and, well, its location. The lodge is more in line with what I'm willing to spend for a quick weekend trip. Is there any reason we should select one over the other?

How about the spa? That seems a bit more reasonably priced compared to most resort spas.

The chocolate tours & experiences sound interesting. Anyone do them? If so, which?

I did a search and see there are other properties/chains in the area, but no Hyatt, which I would prefer to get a stay credit. Is there any reason to stay elsewhere?

Harrisburg-York-Lancaster area is relatively small. Hyatt tends to be just in larger metro areas.


its always expensive on the weekend even during "non-summer" times because its an easy weekend drive for a ton of people(Pittsburgh, Philly, NYC, DC, Baltimore) so they can get away with higher rates. In that area you have Hershey and the Amish.

You will probably find cheaper rates if you shift your stay to a Sunday/Monday rather than Friday/Saturday.

Thanks. We decided to go with the lodge. It's not likely we'll be in the hotel very much anyway.

I used to take a drive to the area fairly frequently and never stayed overnight. I've never done anything in Hershey itself.

I've never visited the spa. I'd signed up for a pedicure during spa week, had to cancel, then they rescheduled me for the wrong date, and it got really rather stupid and not even remotely relaxing, so I just opted to skip it.

That said, let me know when you'll be in the area if you think you'd have time for a drink.

Thanks, I will! I doubt I'll have much time this trip, but perhaps next, which may be a few weeks later.

Do you mean Hershey Chocolate World?

I have taken my 9-year-old daughter and some of her friends to the design-your-own chocolate bar thing, and they had a ball. It wasn't cheap, though ($15 per person). There is also a chocolate-tasting tour, which we didn't do, and we didn't do the trolley tour either, though it comes highly recommended by a friend of ours.

The free "chocolate factory tour" that they offer is akin to the Carousel of Progress at Disneyworld -- it's an animatronic ride that has models and videos of different stages in the chocolate-making process. The kids had fun, but it's not really a proper factory tour.

You know how to find me.