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Hotel Class: 
3.5 Stars - 157 Opinions
23 South Second Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17101, United States
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of people enjoy staying here
157 Opinions
My family's 2005 January stay at the Harrisburg Crowne Plaza was fantastic!
We were pleased with the outstanding service provided by the front desk manager & staff, & delighted with the delicious food. Thank you Crowne Plaze for your dedication and expertise in making our stay a memorable one.
I have stayed at the Harrisburg Crowne Plaza on two occasions, however following the 2nd stay, I will never return. Upon entering my room after check-in, I noticed the bathroom had not been cleaned after the last guest. The bathtub, sink and toilet certainly carried reminders of the previous occupant. Although the towels had been changed and new amenities provided, nothing had been washed. I checked the bed next, and although it was made, the sheets were not changed after the last guest. There were numerous hairs all over the sheets and pillow cases in addition to another substance I don't care to speculate about. When I called the front desk to complain, they did send a wonderful person from housekeeping to completely clean the room. She stated that she had already had approximately 10 similar calls since her shift began. During the remainder of my stay, the room was never vacuumed, coffee pot not washed, waste baskets were not emptied, and soap and shampoo were never restocked. (This was a 4 night stay.)
A colleague of mine stayed at the same hotel two weeks later, and following my advice, checked the cleanliness of her room immediately upon check-in. She experienced exactly the same thing! The room had not been cleaned after the previous guest! I had written a lengthy letter to the manager, and responded to their questionnaire asking my opinion, and I was shocked to find the same practice being repeated well after my stay.
This lack of cleanliness is clearly a health hazard that no guest should have to experience.
I wish I'd heeded the poor reviews this place received before booking a room there. I wanted to give the CP chain the benefit of the doubt, and the downtown location lurred me. Surely by Apr. '05, things would be better, I thought.
It began the moment we drove up Sun. afternoon to find a prominant Valet Parking sign outside but no attendant in sight. After idling on the curb for 2 minutes, we parked ourselves. Then the elevator took 10 mins. to arrive in the garage, and we soon learned only one elevator was in service in this 12-story building due to repairs that were posted to be "completed by April" (it was mid-April at the time). The churlish clerk behind the desk handed me someone else's papers to sign, someone with the same last name, then acted like it was my fault for telling her my name wrong. I'm a man with a common man's name; she had given me papers for a lady named Lorianne.
So after another 10 mins. waiting for the elevator with half a dozen grumbling guests, we walk up to our room to find dirty room-service dishes on the floor outside. Not a good sign. The beds weren't made up in the room. I called the front desk, after locating the one of two phones in the room that was plugged into the wall. A bellman came up soon after and dropped another set of card-keys into my hand, no apologies offered. Aside from MORE dirty dishes in the hallway outside the new room and the fact that it was 80 degrees inside, we thought everything would work out fine. The beds were made. They were missing the signature red CP pillows, but at least they had sheets. Both beds, however, had noticeable "hammock" dents in the middle. A moment later my spouse went to take a shower -- no bath towels.
I decided to go down to the lobby and get some myself. The elevator button wouldn't stay lit. A janitor who happened to pass by said, "Oh yeah, it doesn't stop on this floor. Use the service elevator around the corner." I fetched a pair of towels. When I got back to the room, I was surprised by the stifling air inside. Leaving and coming back made me notice it more. It was clear the A/C wasn't working. It had been blowing full blast for 20 mins. with no improvement. We felt the vents: one side blew cool air, the other hot. It was getting us nowhere. I thought ahead to the NINE days I'd booked at that place and realized I couldn't last even one night in a sauna with a bowed bed. In the meantime my spouse had discovered that the bathroom sink's stopper was broken shut. I thought, If this was how two rooms were upon check-in, imagine what they'd be like day to day! Oh, and we noticed on the way out that the security latch had been broken off the door some time ago.
We gathered our luggage and went back to the lobby. I registered my complaints at the front desk and checked out, no charge. I told the man I was surprised this was a Crowne Plaza. The place was literally falling apart. We went 5 miles north to the Sheraton Four Points. The Hilton down the block from the CP was our first choice but was booked solid for several days.
We were supposed to stay at this hotel for 2 nights. Upon arrival, we did find that the check-in was slow...but the gentleman that checked us in was very nice. We requested a high floor, and he was more than happy to accomadate us! The bad news? Apparently the cleaning person who cleaned the 8th floor was not having a good day. We had hairs on our bathroom floor, bathroom sink, in the shower, on the toothpaste splattered picture frame in the bathroom, in our sheets, and on our pillows. The carpets were not even vaccumed. There was green gum stuck on the carpet by the bed I slept on and a nice chunk of it on a blanket under the comforter. When we called the front desk about the hairs in our sheets to get new ones...the excuse they gave was that "they must have been brushing their hair while folding sheets, it's no big deal". Huh, interesting.
So they brought us 2 king flat sheets for 2 double beds. Hardly enough to cover what we needed. As late as it was (midnight), we just let it go and made due with them.
The resturant was so fancy looking that we thought we were in for a treat for dinner. Wrong! What was left was kinda good, but there was hardly anything in the buffet. Apparently it's ok to sell a customer the buffet even though it's closed (OH, you are not told it's closed). So they run out of food and everything is cold. All for $14.95 per person. Interesting.
The pool was fantastic! The breakfast was fantastic! These were the highlights of the trip.
I am a travel agent and have stayed all over the world and I have never stayed at a "nice hotel" that was so dirty. It seemed that when you complained, all you got was excuses. I dont need excuses, I need results. Dont sell a buffet that is empty. Dont brush your hair while folding sheets (I still dont get this one).
The one thing I will say about this hotel is the management is great! Through all of our difficulties, Steve, the manager, was extremly nice. I hated complaining, but he understood and he even said he wouldnt want to sleep in someone else's hairs either. He took very good care of us and I left thinking I would give it another try in the future. Though, for that particular stay, we cancelled the second night.
Thanks again to Steve (and his family we met at the pool!) for making our unbearable stay worth it. I wish you good luck for the future.
We reserved 2 rooms next to each other 6 months prior. When we arrived we pre-registered 3 hours early and were told our rooms would be ready when we came back. Upon returning our rooms were not ready and we were told they still needed to be cleaned. After waiting 2 more hours and speaking directly to housekeeping I found out that the rooms still had not been cleaned and one of the rooms they were giving us didn't have air conditioning and had a foul smell ( I was in the room personally). We had to take rooms on seperate floors. The rooms were small and dirty. One elevator was broken and the parking garage was very small and didn't have enough spaces to accomodate its guests!!! In addition when I got home I was charged $90 even though the room had been paid in full upon check out. When I spoke to accounting they said it was to cover incidental charges as a precaution and that it would be removed in a day or two!!!
This truly was the worst experience ever!!!!!!!
Well lets see check in went fine, until i got to the room on the 3rd floor a horrible smell of B.O. No problem got room 810. room was nice, nice bed. The walls are a bit thin, you can hear doors opening and closing all night. My alarm went off the 1st morning at 447am, next time ill check it myself. My 7am wakeup call never happened, thats ok, on to day 2, my 7am wakeup call happened at 630, 645, and 700. THen upon leaving the elevators supposibly have a circuit go down from the rain the night before so walking down 8flights of stairs at 730am wasnt fun, all in all i got a great price for the rooms off hotwire, 117 for 2nights, but id never stay there again, just isnt up to par.
After a long ride from Niagara Falls, Canada we found the hotel quite easily in the dowtown area of Harrisburg. Check in was very quick, no line, but we were checking in at 6:30 pm. The room was very small for a family of 4. Small old bathromm with old fictures. The room was clean and was cleaned everyday. The only major complaint was the lack of on-sight parking. The first night was a Sunday and we parked before 7 p.m. and got a spot in the hotel garage. The other 3 nights were a real pain we arrived back after 8 pm and had to track down the bellhop to let us into the private parking garage across the street. Getting out in the morning we had to wait in line to get the ticket validated. Some one was trying to get out one night and they had to wait for the parking garage security staff to come which was over a half hour. The indoor pool and pool area were small. 1 day of complimentory breakfast was okay, nothing great. Onsight Starbucks was closed 2 days due to lack of staff, no coffee to go. Easy check out no wait. One great plus, you have very easy access to all major highways.
We has to come to town for a pageant and the host hotel was booked so we stayed next door at the Crowne Plaza. The Crown Plaza was very accomidating and was everything we expected from a luxury hotel. This hotel prides itself on providing a good night sleep - each room has a CD player and a sleeping sounds audio CD - the beds were a little too plush for my taste but the room was clean and very stylish. Bathroom was small but functional and also stylish. Only 3 drawbacks - parking - location - reservations.
Parking
I was given a parking pass but I think they need to only give out passes for the amout of space they have available. We came back late from dinner one night and we had to make our own parking space. Luckily - the people we blocked in (we left a note) did not need to move their car before we left that next morning.
Location
Absolutely nothing to do. We had children with us. The only local restaurants were all bar type bistros. Luckily this hotel is not to far from Heshey, PA - were there are great diners and lots of things to do.
Reservations
Upon making a reservation on the 800 central reservation line I was offered a preferred membership package if I gave up my name and address for some type of database. I was told that amongst a few other benefits that I would be able to check-in as early as 7:00AM. Holding on to this promise we showed up to the hotel at around 12:00PM to check in and were told that yes we can check-in as soon as 7:00a AM but that is contingent on whether or not your room is ready. Tried to complain but got no where. Were not able to check-in until 2:30p Was not happy with this I felt like I has been lied to.
A few setbacks aside, we had a good time and I still love the Crown Plaza hotels.
After all of the reviews I had seen that were negative I was scared silly about Hotwire buy I had made. How silly I was to be scared. The check-in went well ( thanks to Miss Vivian). The lobby is very nice. There is a Starbucks on site. They have a restaurant where we ate breakfast at the buffet. Fresh fruit, cereals, hot meats, cooked to order omelets, juice, milk breads and waffles. If you are a member of the Priority Club you may get a free breakfast buffet (they give you a coupon for free breakfast - BUFFET ONLY is covered - ask BEFORE you order) and more; join before you go - it is free.
The room had two double beds with a desk between. The bath was small but servicable. Hairdryer, coffemaker, shampoo & conditioner, iron/board all in the room. I had to ask for more towels which arrived promptly.
The alarm clock had a relaxation cd which put my husband and daughter to sleep. The beds were new, soft, and comfy with lots of pillows.
USE your DO NOT DISTURB sign so the maid does not wake you at a little after 8am banging on your door(unless you want to get up then).
The pool is indoor with a 9ft deep end NO LIFEGUARD - WATCH YOUR KIDS. There are towels poolside- if there are none just go out of pool room and use phone to call front desk. We had to do this as we were in the pool late and all of the towels were used; a few minutes went by and they arrived with a cart full of towels. The pool although no huge was big enough to swim short laps in. The pool was very clean. There is a bathroom right there, a great thing if you have kids. There are lounge chairs and tables with chairs some people brought their coolers down with them (leave the glass items in your room though).
The parking was $18 valet or $8 self parking- word of warning THE PARKING LOT IS UNDERGROUND AND TINY -- BEWARE! The night we were there we were able to park our suv but someone else tried to save $10 and ended up scratching the entire side of his small car and took off the sideview mirror on a support column. PAY the valet; we ordered pizza up to the room so we would not have to park again. We were lucky that by the time we left the lot had cleared some and it was fairly easy to get out.
The hotel had preprinted directions to the highway - easy to follow.
All in all a nice hotel working each day to provide a good nights rest to business travlers, tourists (hershey, gettysburg, civil war museum are just minutes away), and weekenders. Yes, we would stay here again.
Just checked out this morning. Call me old fashioned but a hotel billed as a 3-star establishment should not have more stains in its carpets than a kennel floor, cracked and chipped comodes, sweltering hallways, broken security latches on its doors, and a parking lot fit only for Yugos. It is true that the lobby and mezzanine areas are nice. The trouble is, that's not where you will sleep.
Where you will sleep (or try to) is a no-frills room containing well worn and worn-out furniture, with bathroom fixtures somebody had to work very hard to fit. I kid you not, the toilet was at an odd and severe angle from the wall and the pipe from the toilet was about 18 from that wall! It looked like a drunken do-it-yourselfer installed the works. I cannot comment on the food. I was afraid to try it.
The House Chamber
Harrisburg - USA
The archery competition
Pennsylvania State Capitol
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Address: 23 South Second Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17101, United States
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