Hampton Inn & Suites Hershey

The honest review

There are two Hampton Inn & Suites properties in the greater Hershey market, and this one is the true downtown pick: located at 749 East Chocolate Avenue, in the heart of Hershey's small but genuinely walkable downtown, seconds from Hershey's Chocolate World and within two miles of Hersheypark, ZooAmerica, and Hershey Theatre. For families who want to be able to stroll to dinner on Chocolate Avenue's shops and restaurants after a day at the park, this location does that in a way the Hummelstown-area Hampton Inn can't.

The 110-room hotel runs standard Hampton Inn amenities well: an indoor pool for evening swims, a free hot breakfast buffet to start park days without a restaurant stop, and a 24-hour Suite Shop for snacks and essentials at odd hours (useful with kids on theme-park schedules). Every room includes a refrigerator and microwave, handy for stashing leftover Hershey's chocolate and quick snacks between park visits. The fitness center gives parents an option to squeeze in a workout around the trip.

The honest tradeoff: the downtown Chocolate Avenue location comes with a modest rate premium over the Hummelstown sister property, and as a standard chain hotel, there's no on-site water park or Hershey-branded theming — those live at the Hershey-owned Lodge and Hotel Hershey specifically. Reviews consistently note the convenient walkable location as the property's biggest strength. For a family that wants genuine downtown Hershey walkability without paying for the full-branded Hershey Entertainment properties, this is the strongest chain-hotel pick in town.