Tag: PA

Kicking Back Hampton Style – Sweet Eats, Chill Vibes & More!

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We’re officially back after being on the road experiencing even more of what Pennsylvania has to offer! This time we are in the Harrisburg Hershey area. From chill vibes in the hotel to the sweet eats, to exploring caverns, this trip had it all. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s review!

Hampton Inn Harrisburg-East (Hershey Area)

Customer Service – 5/5

I’ve got to say Hampton Inn is starting to become one of my favorite Hilton brands and my go to hotel brand. Much like Holiday Inn Express, every time I visit a Hampton location the service is always on point and I never have issues with the service I get. Unlike Holiday Inn Express, Hampton always seems to go that one extra step and really blows you away. I’m not sure if it’s just because Hilton standards are different from IGH, but I’m seeming to like Hilton more and more every time I go.

Upon checking in, the front desk agent was very polite, respectful, talkative (in a good way) and overall on point! I’ve mentioned this in previous reviews and I’ll say it again. I absolutely love seeing fellow front desk agents out there just doing amazing at their jobs! It was honestly nice to be on the receiving end this time instead of the giving end.  

Later on in the evening, the room next to ours (we had the adjoining door so we could hear into the next room slightly) went out for a while. While they were out, the alarm clock in their room kept going off for about 30 mins. I waited a bit to call since I wanted to give the neighbors the benefit of the doubt and I also didn’t want to be that person that complains. When I did call, the front desk agent was once again on point and came upstairs and took care of it right away. 

Sadly for this front desk agent, he would later have to come back upstairs again around 10:30pm. The neighbors when they got back were blasting their tv all night long, talking overly loud (almost to the point where it was screaming) and making a lot of noise. Being I work at a hotel, I know what it is like having to deal with situations like these all the time. When I did call, the front desk apologized and shortly after, I heard them in the hallway knocking on their door. I heard them ask the room to politely turn the tv down and keep the noise down a bit. After that, I didn’t hear a peep out of them the rest of the night. The front desk handled that like a champ!

Rooms – 4.8/5

Out of all the rooms I have stayed in so far, this has been one of the best rooms I’ve stayed in. From top to bottom everything in the room was brand new being the hotel was recently renovated. One thing I love about this brand is their attention to every detail in their room designs. In addition to being very well kept and updated, the rooms were also spotless! As someone who works in the hotel industry, one of the first things I always look for and expect is cleanliness. Got to say, Hampton never disappoints when it comes to this. Only minor issues I noticed with the room were a few small areas that were just cosmetic and didn’t affect the room at all (just two tiny areas that had wallpaper peeling & the back of the bathroom door needed a bit of touch up paint). Other than those few very minor things, this room was perfect and well worth the price!

Amenities – 5/5

Of course what’s not a hotel stay without the free breakfast in the morning. I do have to say Hampton Inn’s breakfast is definitely far superior than Holiday Inn Express since it’s more consistent, the food selection is larger and their breakfast is always cooked and prepared perfectly.

I always make sure I hit the waffle maker section of the breakfast area. There’s nothing better than a fresh waffle topped with a vast amount of toppings. I always make chocolate chips, peanut butter or sprinkles. Usually I top half with chocolate chips then the other half with peanut butter. Of course I can’t resist the maple syrup either!

On a quick side note, I totally found it pretty cool and astonishing how the staff wrote positive messages on the bananas for the guests! This is the first hotel I have stayed at that did this. It just goes to show the level of care the staff have for guests and providing excellent guest service. Nice touch Hampton!

Final Thoughts & Rating

Overall, this entire stay was flawless and perfect just like I expected it to be. Customer service was beyond excellent, the rooms were nearly perfect and breakfast was on point as always. 

Rating the hotel on a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this location a 4.9/5! But hang on, that’s not the end of the review! Up next, we’ll be covering all the restaurants I stopped at during the trip as well as a brief review on Indian Echo Caverns.

Restaurant Reviews

The Original Golden Eagle Diner – 2/5

This was definitely an interesting diner from slot machines, a full bar and weird decor stuck somewhere between the 1960s & 1970s. Yes you heard that correctly, this diner has a full service bar which operates around lunch time and diner. However, I believe they do use it at breakfast only for mimosas and other breakfast cocktails.

Overall, the experience was not very good and I honestly wouldn’t recommend this diner. Cleanliness was a major issue from the very start. The silverware I got was not clean so I sent it back and got another set, only another dirty set. I once again asked for another set and it too was dirty. I had to combine pieces from the sets. I had to have a completely clean set. The issues didn’t stop there with cleanliness, the table I was seated at was a bit dirty to the point I had to take the sanitizing wipes they had on the tables for Covid, to reclean my table. Lastly, being I was on the road, I used the restroom prior to leaving and it was totally disgusting! It was as if nobody ever cleaned it for a long time. It was so gross! 

As far as food goes, don’t expect much either. The food was really bland, and didn’t taste that good. I was expecting better because the reviews were so good for this place. Sadly, that was not the case as I ordered what I expected to be pancakes but instead got overly sugary, cake like “pancakes” which did not even taste like pancake batter.

Lancaster Brewing Company – 5/5

This honestly wasn’t my first time eating at Lancaster Brewing Company. It was back during (year) when I stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Lancaster, PA. One thing I enjoy about LBC is the wide selection of food available and their large drink selection (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

Check out their menu here: https://www.lancasterbrewing.com/dine/lbc-harrisburg/

I’m not much into drinking alcohol however, I did try their Peanut Butter Beer they had on tap as well as bottled. It actually tastes a lot like peanut butter and isn’t overpowering like I thought it was. 

During my last visit, I ordered the LBC burger which is 1/2 pound of our signature chuck/sirloin house blend, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and house-cut fries. LBC has very good cuts of meat and burgers. One thing I also enjoy about their burgers is when you ask for it to be cooked well done, they cook it perfectly. Sometimes when they cook them well done, they tend to overdo it and cause the burger to have a burnt taste. This visit however, I didn’t go for a burger and went with a thin crust pepperoni pizza which was absolutely amazing!

Indian Echo Caverns

Our last stop of our trip found us at Indian Echo Caverns just outside of Hershey with beautiful sights hidden within plain sight thousands of feet underground. The caverns have a long history dating all the way back to the 1700s. The temperature in the caverns is a consistent 52 degrees which feels absolutely amazing on a hot summer day or freezing winter day. Let’s take a look at some photos:

And with that, this officially concludes our PA road trip in the Harrisburg Hershey area. Thank you for your patience during the past few weeks with no new content. Stay tuned for loads of new content on its way. I recently started a new job in the casino industry working on the hotel side, so expect lots of casino related content, more crazy hotel stories and travel tips. Additionally, (Zach) Hyrax recently went on a Florida trip. From Universal Studios to SeaWorld, his trip had it all. Stay tuned for the blog posts all about it!

PA Weekend Getaway (Part 2) – Restaurant Reviews

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In our latest review, we took a weekend trip out to PA where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Lancaster – Mount Joy and toured The Turkey Hill Experience. In today’s second part we’ll be focusing on the restaurants we ate at during the trip. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s reviews!

Metro Diner – Bensalem, PA

Customer Service – 5/5

From the very moment I entered to the time I left, all the staff I encountered were very pleasant and on the ball. I think if you’re working at a diner or lunchent you need to have the personality and right people skills for it. 

The waitress I had definitely had superb service skills, was very friendly and attentive. If I were a local to this area, I would definitely return here. Another important part of a restaurant is its food and beverage. Speaking of that, let’s dive in!

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5

Overall the menu had a lot of variety and unique items on it such as chicken and waffles with ice cream on top! I’ve seen lots of variations with chicken and waffles but this one had a very interesting spin to it. Their variation was as follows: Half a fried chicken and a Belgian waffle, topped with powdered sugar and sweet, strawberry butter. Served with our signature sweet and spicy sauce.

I honestly have never seen a plate of chicken & waffles with strawberry butter. This picture doesn’t do justice! The portions are huge but well worth every bite!

As much as I wanted to order this amazing dish, It was a little too much for me since it was early in the morning when I stopped in for breakfast. I ended up ordering a short stack of pancakes and bacon. Remember how I mentioned before how portions are very large? Well… these pancakes were so big they barely fit on the plate! When I went to put butter and syrup on one of the pancakes it was partially flooding off the plate. Definitely worth it though! I even had some leftovers I was able to enjoy later on in the day.

Today’s Pizza & Mamma Rita Italian Restaurant – Mount Joy, PA 

There honestly isn’t too much to say about this restaurant being it is just like any other normal pizzeria you would go to. This review is going to be a little brief and not as in depth but nonetheless, we’ll still rate it like we normally do.

Customer Service – 5/5

The staff working the counter/restaurant were very friendly, professional and helpful.  I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the restaurant. I just googled it and saw it was just a short distance from the hotel. I’ve been to many pizza places while on vacation, most were good and some were not. I honestly have to say the pizza here was pretty good and I would definitely recommend it. 

As someone who has worked in the restaurant business before making pizzas, I know the science to a good pizza. When making a pizza the two most important factors that affect your dough are time and temperature. You need to make sure the dough proofs up, but don’t over proof and you also need to make sure it is the perfect temperature. The pizza I had was excellent! The dough was not too thick and also wasn’t too thin to the point where the pizza fell apart. There was just the right amount of sauce and cheese and the pizza was cooked perfectly!

Taylor Chip Cookie Co. – Lancaster, PA

This by far was one of the best parts of the weekend gateway and well worth the stop. For those that know me personally, they know I love my cookies! I’m literally always eating cookies all the time. This stop was like a no-brainer for me. 

Taylor Chip Cookie Company is a local cookie store that bakes a variety of gourmet cookies from scratch using the freshest and highest quality ingredients. (That’s their secret to a great cookie!) They currently own and operate two locations in PA and offer nationwide delivery through their website.

Customer Service – 5/5

Overall, the store had very friendly and helpful associates. Once again, I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.

Food & Beverage (F&B) – 6/5

These cookies are just too good so they break our rating scale! There are so many options for cookies to choose from including: Chocolate Chip, P.B. Fudge, M&M, Brookie and so many more! For a full list of their cookies, check out their website: https://www.taylorchip.com/. 

I purchased half a dozen cookies in order to take home as many cookies as I could in order to try most of them. I purchased M&M, Chocolate chip, Brookie, Double Choco Brownie, Snickerdoodle, and Loaded P.B. 

Out of all the cookies I tried, I personally liked the M&M cookie the best. But all the cookies I got were amazing. I definitely recommend trying them all.

Pro Tip: If you heat the cookies in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. They actually will taste better if you do this, especially if you eat them the next day.

PA Weekend Getaway (Part 1) – Hotel Review & Ice Cream Experience

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After a long tiring (yet rewarding) semester of college and a hectic work schedule, I decided to take a brief vacation from work and do a quick overnight trip to Pennsylvania to kick back and relax. In today’s Touristician Review I will be recapping my trip from my hotel and all the stops I made along the way. In part one, we will be focusing on the hotel review and our visit to The Turkey Hill Experience. In part two, we’ll focus on the restaurants we are at during our trip. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s review!

Holiday Inn Express Lancaster – Mount Joy, PA

Customer Service – 5/5

One of the main reasons I always choose this particular brand is because of the high service standards and never having a problem with service. This time was no different. Upon entering the hotel, the gentlemen working the front desk gave a very friendly and welcoming greeting. I honestly didn’t catch his name but I wish I did so I could have left a positive comment about him online. It honestly felt good to be on the receiving end of a check in versus on the giving end. Throughout the check-in process, the gentlemen were very friendly, helpful by providing information on the amenities and also thanked me for being an IHG Rewards member. Being a rewards member, I was able to get the membership rate of $127.00 for the stay plus taxes versus $149.00 for the standard rack rate. Honestly not a bad deal at all! Well worth it!

As a fellow front desk agent who also works in the industry, to see someone else doing your job and killing it (in a good way), is absolutely amazing to see.

Rooms – 3.8/5

Now for one of the most important areas of the review, the hotel room! This particular location was brand new and only about a year old. When you entered the halls, lobby, etc you can definitely tell it was new since it had that new building smell.

Overall, I was very impressed with the design of the room and the attention to detail that was done in the room. For example, the pillows being embroidered with the type of pillow it was (soft, firm, etc.). This not only is amazing attention to detail, but it helps you be more comfortable while relaxing and sleeping. Many of the hotels don’t do this and it makes figuring out what kind of pillow you are using difficult and more time consuming. On top of very detail oriented rooms, the technology utilized at this location is very impressive and should be used at all their locations. Upon walking in and turning on the television, you are greeted with a screen that welcomes you, says your name on top and acts as a personal concierge. From the tv you can view your bill, check out, request a late check out, explore attractions in the area as well as get information about the hotel.

You may be asking, why such a low score for such an impressive room? One of the main reasons for such a low score was due to some minor cleanliness issues in the bathroom of the room. It was mostly some soap scum stains under the shelving units in the shower, shampoo and soap remiance (these came from the shampoo, body wash and dispensers in the shower. IGH eliminated single use toiletry items [with the exception of soap] and replaced them with dispensers in the bathrooms). Other than those few issues there were a few stains on the wallpaper but they were not earth shattering nor did they affect the functionality of the bathroom.

The only other cleanliness issue I had was the microwave in the room was covered in food. It appeared like it was some kind of soup broth. (I’m honestly not sure what it was). Regardless, it was pretty gross.

Amenities – 3/5

I’m going to be honest, this was the most disappointing part of the stay right here. Upon going down for breakfast at 8am, the cinnamon rolls that were under the lamp were dry, crusty and hard. I can tell they haven’t been changed out for a while. When I went to get a fresh one that wasn’t warmed, I found a piece of plastic in the roll as I bit into it. Also too, I can tell food wasn’t being rotated out like it should have been either. A lot of the food looked like it was out for a while when I went down. I would say the absolute worst thing about today was seeing the breakfast server take the garbage can full of trash, put it on the coffee counter where I just made coffee moments earlier, take the garbage out, put a new bag in, then put the can back and never wiped down the counter.

As someone who works in the industry, I definitely have a level of understanding for employees who work in hotels. However, when I see simple things like this being done incorrectly and food not being handled safely where it affects you, I do get fired up so to speak about it. I think if you work in the industry, you tend to be a lot more nit picky and notice everything that a normal guest wouldn’t see since you’re exposed to the line of work daily.

Final Thoughts & Rating

Overall, minus the few issues I had with the stay, I did have a very nice relaxing stay. Getting back to customer service for a second, when I did mention the issues I had the brand and management was very polite and professional and handled all the issues I addressed with them. As mentioned above, one of the main reasons I always choose this particular brand is because of the high service standards and never having a problem with service.


Rating the hotel on a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this location a 3.8/5! But hang on, that’s not the end of the review! We still have an ice cream factory to talk about!

The Turkey Hill Experience – Columbia, Pennsylvania

The Turkey Hill Experience features interactive exhibits allowing you to learn about dairy culture, the story of Turkey Hill Dairy, and how the company’s ice cream and iced tea flavors are selected and created. The best part is the unlimited free samples of iced tea and ice cream!

I have to say this was a very fun and interesting experience. When was the last time you were to eat unlimited amounts of free ice cream and sample as many ice tea and lemonade products? That was honestly the best part of the whole place! Despite having a lot of exhibits geared towards younger children, the displays and history where very interesting to both learn about and see. My favorite exhibit was the one where you had to pick a ice cream flavor and be quizzed on what went in it. Overall, a very fun stop on the trip.

If you enjoyed today’s review, be sure to check out part 2 of this post coming out shortly. In part 2, we’ll be covering all the delicious eats and restaurants that where experienced during this weekend trip.

Revisiting My WORST Hotel Experience Ever

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Welcome back to Touristician and the first ever Touristician Review! Back in 2018 while on a summer vacation, I stopped in one of my favorite areas of Pennsylvania, Lancaster. Coming from Ohio to PA, I needed a place to stay the night since driving home was not feasible plus I had things I wanted to do the next day in PA before leaving the state. I stayed at hotels before and never have I ever had a bad experience like this one. Finally after all these years, I will be revisiting this experience to give it a proper rating. Before we get started let’s go over the rating system: 

I will be rating the hotel on a total scale of one to five on the following categories; 

customer service, rooms, amenities and finally, cleanliness/upkeep. After rating the hotel in each category, I will then rate my overall experience then give my final thoughts.  

So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s review!

Days Inn by Wyndham Lancaster PA Dutch Country

Customer Service – 0/5

For the purposes of privacy, no specific names of staff are mentioned down below.

Initially when first entering the very dated and dingy lobby, there was no front desk agent present or staff at all for that matter. I stood in the lobby for five minutes with my belongings after a long day on the road. Finally the front desk agent came around behind the desk, and they seemed a bit annoyed that I was “interrupting them”. They couldn’t even be bothered to apologize for the wait or be friendly.  I’m sorry, but if you’re a front desk agent that is your job and you have no right to get annoyed at a guest for wanting to check in or for needing assistance. If they truly felt this way, they are in the wrong business.

When I came back to the desk, after having problems with my room, literally nothing was done about it. The front desk agent had the nerve to say to me “Well, sir, any room I give you is going to be exactly like that so there is nothing I can really do for you.” Again, they seemed annoyed that they were being bothered again. They did not take ownership of the problems or even once apologize. They didn’t even offer me anything! It was at this point that I immediately checked out, called and had to fight for a refund and went to a Holiday Inn Express near by. In a future post, I will be reviewing that amazing Holiday Inn Express location.

Looking back and now as a Front Desk Agent myself who works for this brand, that is not acceptable by any means. I think this is one of the biggest problems with this brand is sometimes the hotels are just utter dumps that are poorly run and poorly managed. With these things unfortunately comes employees who also don’t care. I honestly don’t think this particular location was poorly run or managed based on other locations out there. I think overall they were heading the right direction but need to correct their problems to run smoother. You can tell the rooms were cleaned but there was no system to check or inspect the rooms therefore causing rooms to have cleanliness issues that should have been spotted. Speaking of rooms, let’s take a look at the rooms.

Rooms – 0/5

At this particular hotel they offered rooms with two queen beds, rooms with one king and suite rooms. From the pictures it looks like a decent, nice and affordable place to stop for the night. Unfortunately, the rooms had many issues from cleanliness to maintenance issues.  

Starting off with the bathroom, which honestly for the disgusting room I had, was the cleanest spot of the room. Upon entering the bathroom, it looked like a 1990s McDonalds dining room, which honestly I could care less about except for the fact in some spots wallpaper was peeling off the walls, there was rust, dirt and hairs in the grout of the tiles. Obviously since I left, I didn’t utilize the shower despite it looking ‘clean’, I honestly didn’t trust it. Everything I touched in the bathroom was sticky and if I recall correctly, I believe the floors also felt this way. Despite all these issues, they at least got some of the basics right, clean towels, fresh toiletry items and a clean sink. Other than that, everything else like I mentioned was either subpar, dirty or was not upkept well. 

Now onto the living space and sleeping area of the room, which is where the wheels truly fall off. The beds from the outside appear clean; however, once you peel the comforter off, you’re greeted with hairs, crumbs and lint all under the blankets. I honestly didn’t look at any of the pillows since I don’t usually use hotel pillows since I don’t sleep with hotel pillows. Much like the bathroom, all the furniture was sticky as was the floor too. The furniture was so bad that I had to place towels on the table I had my bags on. I think one of the most disgusting things in the room was the phone by far crushed up, and caked up layers of hairs, crumbs all over the phone and in every corner.

Amenities – 1/5

During my stay, I did not utilize many of the on property amenities since I immediately checked out. However, I did want to give my initial thoughts and feedback on what I saw at the hotel. The breakfast area was subpar and poorly executed. The entire area looked very neglected and thrown together. Seems like all this location offered was stale bagels, and old cereal in questionable looking containers. As I was putting together this post, I noticed the photo of the breakfast area looked nothing like what it did when I stayed. Makes me wonder if they finally got their acts together and improved it? 

As far as the fitness center, I really did not take a look at it during my short time at the hotel. However, I do want to give my thoughts on this as well. As with the breakfast area, this fitness area shouldn’t even be called a fitness center at all. Shame on them for even attempting to call that a fitness center. If we look at the top picture this is what they are trying to pass off as their fitness center while the bottom photo is the fitness center that is actually there. You can not throw two exercise machines and weight rack in a tiny room that’s smaller than a guest room bathroom. UNACCEPTABLE!

The Reviews Don’t Lie:

For the purposes of privacy, no specific names of guests are mentioned down below.

Ouch… Looking at the ratings summary the hotel is rated a 2.9 (Fair) with a 3/5 star rating. About 60% percent of guests found safety was an major issue, 59% said cleanliness was a issue and finally the biggest percentage of them all, 83% of guests said the bathroom in their rooms was an issue. If we dive into some reviews, we see all these issues and them some:

Just as bad as the reviews are the responses from the owner. Does this owner even have a clue what the heck they are doing? For example, in the review where it mentions bed bugs, the owner has the nerve to respond by saying “The room was thoroughly inspected and no bugs were found and also the room was rented out, with no further complaints. I want to assure you that we are thoroughly investigating this claim…” TIMEOUT! This owner has the audacity to say this guest’s complaint is only a claim?!? If more than one guest is complaining review after review, clearly this isn’t a claim. The fact the owner also says the room was rented out with no further complaints is pretty much saying to this guest that they don’t know what they are talking about. If this owner responds to reviews like this then doesn’t take the proper time to take care of issues like this one then just flip the room over and resell it is unacceptable.

Here’s yet another example of this owner calling a guest out saying that their complaints are only claims. “I want to assure you that we are thoroughly investigating this claim and that although we have not found any evidence of a bug infestation, we are taking the necessary precautions to ensure that nothing is missed. We respond promptly to pest alerts with expert extermination services and also treat to deter pests on a regular scheduled basis. We take this business very seriously and assure you that management has taken all the steps to make sure that all the rooms are clean and our ultimate goal is to make sure each guest had a comfortable stay.” Okay buddy… we don’t need a whole essay here. Stop saying what guests are saying are just claims. We don’t need a essay explaining how or what you do to “address” the problem. I love how this owner thinks by writing this, they will win over future guests by showing the procedure they do. Guess what… guests do not care about your long winded response. You should be ashamed of yourself and your embarrassment of a hotel. This owner needs to be sent back to hospitality school to relearn the basics.

Final Thoughts:

Overall this hotel is in rough shape from cleanliness issues, lack of maintenance, staff problems, poor management and finally poor ownership. This definitely was one of the worst hotel experiences I had so much so it almost ruined the vacation I was on. As I was writing this, to see the hotel has not improved at all and only has gotten worse is very sad. It’s Days Inn locations that give the brand a poor image and reflect poorly on Wyndham. This hotel is in such a perfect location if they only got their acts together there is no reason they could be making bank and achieve higher ratings.

In a future post, I will be reviewing the Holiday Inn Express location that saved my vacation and helped give me my love for hotels. I hope you enjoyed today’s post. What do you think of this hotel? Have you ever had a bad hotel experience? Share your story down in the comments below!