Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center Travel Review

When you travel with the Pennsylvania Elks, you go to various hotels throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This week's journey took us to just outside the Penn State Campus to the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center for our State Hoop Shoot Contest.

We drove from Pittsburgh in sporatic rain to get here and overnight Thursday to Friday it snowed. The light layer of snow made the surrounding grounds beautiful to photograph.

We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 in the afternoon. The registration desk had about 5 people in front of me but they had 3 people registering guests. I was very surprised that my room was ready for occupancy since it has been my experience at other locations that you need to wait until closer to check time which is 4 pm.

The lobby is nicely decorated with a fireplace being the focus point of the lobby.

The room that was assigned to me was a bit of a jaunt from the elevator; but that was my own fault for not requesting a handicapped accessible room close to the elevator.

The amenities in the room were tastefully designed using the school colors of blue and white. I had two queen beds and near the window was a lounge chair that allowed full visibility of the larger sized television on the dresser.

The entrance had what appeared to be a cabinet with a Keurig coffee maker on it with coffee, decaf and tea pods to be used. There were two coffee mugs and pilsner glasses for use with the coffee maker. Inside the cabinet there was an apartment sized refrigerator with enough room to keep drinks and cold cuts. For the diabetic that is perfect for keeping insulin.

Across from the cabinet was the clothes closet that contained a suitcase rack to be used if you didn't unpack into the dresser. An iron and ironing board were also inside the closet.

The bathroom was stocked with all of the necessities which included a shower cap, face and body soaps, lotions, shampoo and a sewing kit.

There was a placard that asked you to reuse your towels and wash cloths.

At the desk there is the ability to hook up a lap top with electrical and internet hookups.

As a synopsis the rooms are comfortable and fully equipped for the short or long term traveler.

The Penn Stater has two options for daily meals. The pub has hours that accommodate breakfast lunch and dinner.

The second day, I ate breakfast in the Pub and the selections were comparable with any top shelf hotel. Besides a breakfast buffet you can choose from a variety of eggs, omelets, pancakes and waffles. The price for the buffet was a little expensive but I understad it is worth the expense. I ate the veggie omelet and it was a modest $10.99 which included coffee.

On the first day, we ate a mid-day meal in "Legends," which is their formal dining room. It is decorated with pictures of well known students who attended Penn State.

I chose a half of a ham and cheese sandwich on sliced Italian bread and soup with a mixture of raspberry lemonade and ice water. The chowder style soup was excellent and I was happy with my selections. It only cost $12.55 for my meal.

Our stay was over a weekend in Lent and on Friday, they had several selections that were in tune with that season. I chose the half sandwich which was a shrimp salad with lettuce and tomato on toasted bread with Mushroom Soup.

Since the reason for our stay was the State Hoop Shoot Tournament, there were other accommodations that the hotel supplied to the Director of the Tournament.

Friday night, there was a room where the contestants congregated to register for the tournament and where they signed basketballs to be raffled off at the tournament breakfast on Saturday morning.

After registration, the contestants were treated to a pizza party and several of them took advantage of the pool area.

Saturday morning's tournament breakfast as held in President's Hall where a banquet style Buffet was set up. The head table boasted dignitaries from the Elks and there were six reserved tables, one for each of the contestant's categories.

The food was excellent and we had selections of cold cereals, fresh fruit, donuts and pastries along with French Toast, quartered breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon.