On March 26th & 27th, I was in State College on business for the filming of CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer. Having stayed at Ramada Inn's in the past with mixed results, I was not sure what to expect. I must say that this Ramada Inn may be one of the Best in the country. While the building is older and some rooms face outside (outside entry), the facility (lobby, Pool, and Room) was very well maintained. My room was adequate for my stay. It was very clean and had most of the features of a business-class hotel room. A nice firm bed and updated shower with curved curtain rod, etc. The Internet Access worked well. It was easy to connect. My email worked and I had no problem connecting back to my corporate office. Before leaving, we had lunch at PJ (or TJ) Harrigan's (on-site restaurant). The Restaurant has an impressive collection of local sports memorabilia. The food and service was great. After reading some comments on this site, I felt that I should write a review to share my experience. In my opinion, this hotel is very well managed and a good value for State College, PA.

Let me start by saying this was a last minute trip because we were given tickets to the Penn State game and since demand is high for rooms the price for a Friday and Saturday nights came to $330 including Priceline fees and local taxes, which was still less than Expedia, Travelocity, etc had for the same nights but still almost double than this hotel is during the week. We were surprised that rooms were still available, and now we think people know how overpriced this place is. I'm tempted to rate it a 1 star but the main room was clean. There was a little spider in it's web it the bathroom that also had a shower chair for some reason that kept getting in the way since the bathroom was small. The bedroom just had 1 double bed, I'm not sure if all the rooms there do, and had a cramped feel to it. The bathroom had a sink separate from the toilet/shower, but it was hard to open the door to the toilet area when someone was using the sink, or to go from the sink to the other room, just a lousy design. The worst part is how the hotel is arranged, at least our room and many rooms that do not face outside face the interior enclosed atrium which included the pool, a tv area (apparently used for football parties on Saturdays) and a large open area (used for kids to throw footballs around) so you usually hear any noise coming from the atrium. Thankfully this ended before we really wanted to go to sleep but was a bit distracting during the day. The best part may be the cigar bar and relatively cheap food and breakfast buffet there. Still, we won't willingly go back.

This is a great hotel! They know exactly what you want! Good food at PJ Harrigans, right inside the hotel!

The Ramada looks nice when you drive up, but do not be fooled. The renovation appears to be the conference center only, rooms were not renovated. It is a basic motel with room access from the outside, and smelly, dingy rooms on the inside. When we went to the front desk to report a musty smell, they sent someone to spray a product called 'Smokescreen' in our room. We sent them away and asked to change rooms, which they did for us, but the second one smelled like chemicals so we stayed with the must. Rooms are dimly lit with stained carpet and cheap bedding. On the bright side the staff was very friendly, but they needed to be to make up for the horrible accommodations. Would not stay at this hotel again.

I was concerned about the Ramada Conference Center after reading reviews here, but when an employer books you for a conference, you don't have much say in where it is. I have attended many conferences in the Penn State area, but never at the Ramada before. I will start by saying that this does not have the charm of the Nittany Lion Inn, or the new, modern amenities of the Penn Stater. It is an older motel -style building, trying to continue to provide facilites and lodging for conferences that cannot/do not want to pay for the other conference center hotels in the area. The exterior corridors were not a problem in May, but could be a problem attending conferences in the middle of winter. The "Atrium" rooms would have made me claustrophobic, but when they attempted to assign me a room there, I requested a switch at the desk and it was made. The Atrium rooms have doors and windows onto an enclosed Atruim, which contains a pool, conference/buffet facilites and such. I found the Atrium noisy (we had our luncheons there). Newer conference center hotels have smaller lap-pools in seperate areas, not exposed for all to see in an atrium. I can see where if there were rowdy people in the pool, it would echo throughout the Atrium. The conference ballrooms were new, modern, and the correct temperature. My individual room was perfectly adequate for my stay. It was clean, and the ususal soap, shampoo, coffee, hairdryer, and iron were provided. No refridgerator, though. It was warm when I arrived, but I found the individual A/C controls and set them. When I returned, the room was comfortable. I did not eat in the restaurant, I did eat the lunches that were included with the conference - and they were suprisingly good. So, overall, it was perfectly fine. Not lavish luxury. But not a flop -house at the shore, either.