Help....Hotels on Gameday

[LionsandBear]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lionville]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

Probably Danville.

 

[MtNittany]

I can see wanting a room for Friday night, but Saturday night? Between S.C. and Reading??

 

[LionsandBear]

I can see wanting a room for Friday night, but Saturday night? Between S.C. and Reading??

Consider that I've been drinking throughout the day and I'm often quite tired after the late games end. I'd rather crash someplace and drive home when I'm rested. The best option would be for me to continue partying after the game and find a local hotel with availability due to last second openings.

 

[77 PSU]

You could try the few places in the Milroy/Lewiston area. We from Berks and will do Altoona for night games. You can get out the back and be there in about an hour or so. Might want to try the Lewisburg/ Sunbury area. It’s not a bad ride out 45.

 

[AJ65]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

You might want to call the Ramada Inn, State College. Visiting teams book there on Friday nights only, thus Saturday nights open up to the public at football Saturday night rates. The Ramada has been the hotel of choice for just about all visiting teams for many years. Not sure if they still are, but that's good place to start.

 

[PS4814]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

Don't worry - you won't be paying $500 to stay in town on a gameday. Downtown hotels are averaging $1,100 for fri/sat night on those weekends.

As others have said you're looking fairly far out of town before getting to a hotel with no 2 night minimum as well.

Sorry friend - with the team firing on all cylinders and the hotel situation in state college lacking the rooms for 100k plus fans, you'll either have to pony up the greenbacks or sober up to drive an hour, then another 2 in the morning.

Ramada Inn currently at $450 for the crap games and $650 for the good ones - sold out for OSU.

 

[bison13]

How comfy is your car? Bring some extra blankets, sleep about 3-4 hours then head out.

 

[Nitwit]

Lamar, on Rt 80 East of state college has two hotels with one night minimums. Comfort Suites and Hampton Inn. The latter is nicer. It’s about 30 minutes drive from the stadium.

 

[taxprof]

There is a bus from Cressona that goes to all home games. I have been using it for the evening games.

 

[Bylion]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bylion]

You might want to consider renting a cabin in one of the local campgrounds. i use Seven Mtns, Campgrounds, on top of the Mtn between Milroy and Potters Mills. If you use 322 you pass it. They may have15 to 20 cabins. Some are small okay for two people. Some are quite large big enough to 8 people. They also have a two nite minimum, but more reasonable.. I’m told other campgrounds also have cabins

 

[Sproul]

Obvious answer is Airbnb. If it’s just you you can easily find a room. If you have friends, get a whole house on rentlikeachampion.com.

 

[interrobang]

There is a holiday inn express being built in milroy

 

[TheBigUglies]

Try some of the no name motels around town like the Nittany Budget Motel on West College or the Econo Lodge in Bellefonte. There are lots of B&Bs in the area as well.

 

[mhep32]

Party hard so you can't feel anything to sleep in your car. beats your budget price and cant beat the location!!

 

[psu1969a]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

Ramada Inn has rooms for Saturday night only. It is the rooms where the visiting team stayed.

Danville or Harrisburg.

 

[kgilbert78]

Altoona--kinda toward Reading. But this issue is one reason I gave up my season tickets a few years back. State College is too pricy and going back and forth from Clearfield was getting to be too much. No big deal when you are 40--different at 62 (we live in Central Ohio--so it made for a looong weekend).

 

[novaclassof90]

I had a buddy who used to go with the "game officials" trick. He found out the hotel that the game officials stayed in for each home game. By rule, PSU had to book 2 hotel nights (fri/sat) in a local hotel for each game for each game official. However, if it was a day/afternoon game, almost every official would get out of town on the Sat. of the game and cancel the sat. night room as they checked out of their room on Sat. morning. My buddy would call that hotel at about 10am Sat. and get a room that was just cancelled by the game officials. He was from Philly and drove up sat. morning, booked the room sat. and then stayed there sat. night. It worked for him almost every time.

 

[PSUSignore]

Don't worry - you won't be paying $500 to stay in town on a gameday. Downtown hotels are averaging $1,100 for fri/sat night on those weekends.

As others have said you're looking fairly far out of town before getting to a hotel with no 2 night minimum as well.

Sorry friend - with the team firing on all cylinders and the hotel situation in state college lacking the rooms for 100k plus fans, you'll either have to pony up the greenbacks or sober up to drive an hour, then another 2 in the morning.

Ramada Inn currently at $450 for the crap games and $650 for the good ones - sold out for OSU.

Those prices are ridiculous, particularly for what are very average hotels. I don't understand how this isn't considered price gouging.

 

[Knight57]

I'm only about 2-1/4 hours west of State College, so in recent years I have not been staying overnight for games. Altoona and Clearfield are alternatives - rates are mostly between $ 100 and $ 150, maybe a little higher for the bigger games. Both are about 45 minutes from State College. At times you can get a one night stay last second if there are late cancellations - prices vary - I found for as low as low $ 100's, but usually between $ 200 and $ 300 a night on Priceline or Hotwire. When I want to spend more time in State College, I'll pick a non-football weekend & can usually get a hotel on Hotwire or Priceline for between $ 50.00 and $ 80.00 a night,

 

[Agoodnap]

Stone Valley has 12 cabins. Website states they are not accepting reservations until they've completed their annual policy review. Worth a phone call though.
https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/faci...acilities/stone-valley-recreation-area/cabins

 

[kgilbert78]

Those prices are ridiculous, particularly for what are very average hotels. I don't understand how this isn't considered price gouging.

Well, it is--and it isn't. Law of supply and demand--and you cannot just move hotels around like cars. If you want enough rooms for football weekend, there has to be some way the hotels can make enough to stay in business the rest of the year. Most of the time, I'd expect you only need a tenth of the rooms needed for football weekends, graduation, and the Arts Festival. You have to make 365 days of revenue in about 25-30 days.

 

[sluggo72]

There is a bus from Cressona that goes to all home games. I have been using it for the evening games.

yes but dont you end up back in Cressona!!! I mean WTF?

 

[LafayetteBear]

Don't worry - you won't be paying $500 to stay in town on a game day. Downtown hotels are averaging $1,100 for fri/sat night on those weekends..

When I was back in SC for graduation a week ago, I stayed at the Days Inn on Pugh Street, and I heard a couple of people say that the Days Inn was charging $1,000 per night for this fall's tOSU game. That sounded ludicrous to me given that we were paying around $400 per night, but perhaps it is true. This takes the concept of "dynamic pricing" (read: gouging) to a whole new level.

With prices like that, it would not surprise me if alums started looking at buying or renting a home for the year in lieu of paying the mounting hotel bills. Seems like a student could perhaps get himself a good deal on a home or room rental if he was amenable to clearing out (and perhaps staying with friends) on home game weekends.

 

[PSUFBFAN]

I had a buddy who used to go with the "game officials" trick. He found out the hotel that the game officials stayed in for each home game. By rule, PSU had to book 2 hotel nights (fri/sat) in a local hotel for each game for each game official. However, if it was a day/afternoon game, almost every official would get out of town on the Sat. of the game and cancel the sat. night room as they checked out of their room on Sat. morning. My buddy would call that hotel at about 10am Sat. and get a room that was just cancelled by the game officials. He was from Philly and drove up sat. morning, booked the room sat. and then stayed there sat. night. It worked for him almost every time.

Who gives out the details on where game officials are staying (I don't really want to know)? That is borderline stalking and a serious issue if some alcohol-fueled fan didn't agree with some of the calls. Bizarre.

 

[PS4814]

When I was back in SC for graduation a week ago, I stayed at the Days Inn on Pugh Street, and I heard a couple of people say that the Days Inn was charging $1,000 per night for this fall's tOSU game. That sounded ludicrous to me given that we were paying around $400 per night, but perhaps it is true. This takes the concept of "dynamic pricing" (read: gouging) to a whole new level.

I get my most of my info from https://www.lioncountrylodging.com/ where you can look at the football reservation .pdf of several hotels including Super 8 and Nittany Budget Motel. For Days Inn OSU it is currently $1,082.84, MSU and Wisky are $1,039.44 and Kent State is $757.34 - all sold out.

The problem with the Ramada plan is that you're not able to check in until after the game - and still paying around $350 for just Saturday night - which is what I believe LionsAndBear is trying to avoid.

 

[lockhavenlion3]

Who gives out the details on where game officials are staying (I don't really want to know)? That is borderline stalking and a serious issue if some alcohol-fueled fan didn't agree with some of the calls. Bizarre.

they used to stay at the super 8 in the early 2000's. don't know if they still do, or not. always held a meeting friday night in one of the conference rooms.

 

[dwiz]

With prices like that, it would not surprise me if alums started looking at buying or renting a home for the year in lieu of paying the mounting hotel bills. Seems like a student could perhaps get himself a good deal on a home or room rental if he was amenable to clearing out (and perhaps staying with friends) on home game weekends.

Tons of people rent entire homes for the weekend. I'd say 1/4th of the people at my workplace do it. Why pay $1000/night at the day's inn and sleep 4 (maybe) when you can rent an entire house for less and sleep 12 comfortably? Old fashioned people stuck in their ways (or fools and their money).

 

[heckmans]

When I was back in SC for graduation a week ago, I stayed at the Days Inn on Pugh Street, and I heard a couple of people say that the Days Inn was charging $1,000 per night for this fall's tOSU game. That sounded ludicrous to me given that we were paying around $400 per night, but perhaps it is true. This takes the concept of "dynamic pricing" (read: gouging) to a whole new level.

With prices like that, it would not surprise me if alums started looking at buying or renting a home for the year in lieu of paying the mounting hotel bills. Seems like a student could perhaps get himself a good deal on a home or room rental if he was amenable to clearing out (and perhaps staying with friends) on home game weekends.

Days Inn renovated rooms within the last 2 years and really upped their rates where they could. We have a Rugby Alumni weekend that generally coincides with move-in weekend. 2 years ago, rates almost doubled from about $125 to $225 or so and that is with a block.
I have no problem with them charging $1000 a night if people are willing to pay it. It's not like its a natural disaster and people in need are being taken advantage of. People willingly buy tickets and willingly book rooms knowing the rates for an entertainment experience. The hotels in SC need "dynamic" pricing to make a go of it. There just aren't enough heads in beds throughout the year. My buddy and I looked at buying a house to run as a vacation rental (we both do this in other areas). We weren't sure we could cover costs given the limited number of nights we figured we could count on. So "Gouge" away. Some people will pay $1000. Some won't. Those paying $1000 for a FB game means there are more hotel rooms for others the rest of the year and it means there are generally rooms 30-45 away on game days.

 

[psu1969a]

Altoona--kinda toward Reading. But this issue is one reason I gave up my season tickets a few years back. State College is too pricy and going back and forth from Clearfield was getting to be too much. No big deal when you are 40--different at 62 (we live in Central Ohio--so it made for a looong weekend).

"Altoona -- kinda near Reading" - I believe not. Reading is east of Harrisburg which is southeast of SC (150 miles). Altoona is southeast (west) of SC (40+ miles).

 

[kgilbert78]

"Altoona -- kinda near Reading" - I believe not. Reading is east of Harrisburg which is southeast of SC (150 miles). Altoona is southeast of SC (40+ miles).

I noted "kinda toward"--not near. The OP was trying to find reasonable places on the way home. Altoona is not perfect--as you go mostly south, but it is "kinda" in the right direction.

 

[WDLion]

"Altoona -- kinda near Reading" - I believe not. Reading is east of Harrisburg which is southeast of SC (150 miles). Altoona is southeast of SC (40+ miles).

Altoona is southwest of State College.

 

[WDLion]

I noted "kinda toward"--not near. The OP was trying to find reasonable places on the way home. Altoona is not perfect--as you go mostly south, but it is "kinda" in the right direction.

Toward? Altoona is further from Reading than State College.

 

[psu1969a]

Altoona is southwest of State College.

fixed. apologize for typo.

 

[psu1969a]

I noted "kinda toward"--not near. The OP was trying to find reasonable places on the way home. Altoona is not perfect--as you go mostly south, but it is "kinda" in the right direction.

huh! kinda toward. it is all but the opposite direction by about 40 miles.

 

[91Joe95]

I'm getting tired of driving back to Reading at 3 am on game nights. I don't want to do the 2 night stay and pay $500/game to stay at a State College Hotel either. So, I'm asking the all knowing board for help.

1. Is it common to be able to get a room for 1 night during the day of the game (cancellations, early departures)?

2. What are the closest hotels to State College where I can get a room for the night of the game only?

PS Remember I'm headed back East to Reading from SC on game nights.

Thanks in advance!

Hotel points cards, like for Hilton (actually includes a slew of hotel chains). They often offer stay one night, get a free night deals. Book a night near you at a cheap rate and then redeem free night in state college. You call the national booking number, usually the week of when you want to stay, and voila.

 

[Ian]

N

You might want to call the Ramada Inn, State College. Visiting teams book there on Friday nights only, thus Saturday nights open up to the public at football Saturday night rates. The Ramada has been the hotel of choice for just about all visiting teams for many years. Not sure if they still are, but that's good place to start.

A new hotel at mountainview golf course by Wyndham. I think opens in July....

 

[novaclassof90]

always can try airbnb too.

 

[kgilbert78]

Hotel points cards, like for Hilton (actually includes a slew of hotel chains). They often offer stay one night, get a free night deals. Book a night near you at a cheap rate and then redeem free night in state college. You call the national booking number, usually the week of when you want to stay, and voila.

Usually they jack the required points on those too or change the classification you can use the night for. We've done this with Marriott and will do it for the KSU game this year. But it took 70K points.