"Cold Wars hotels" Topic

Hello
I am planning a trip next year to visit ACW sites and I am hoping to take in Cold Wars as well.

I've just read some reviews for the Lancaster Host Resort Hotel, where Cold Wars is held, and it really doesn't sound like somewhere that I would want to stay. I would be grateful for any other recommendations for accommodation in that area. I am just looking for something that is of good quality at a fair price. It doesn't have to be six star luxury. I will have a car, but reasonable travel time to Cold Wars would help.

While I am at it, I would also be grateful for recommendations for accommodation in the Gettysburg and Fredericksburg areas (I am hoping to stay in one place and visit the Wilderness, Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania from there.

For Gettysburg, would I be better off staying in the Lancaster area and just driving over to Gettysburg? That would take time, but so does changing hotels.

Thank you

I find it adequate. If your tastes don't run too high, it's fine, and has the great advantage of you not having to leave the premasis for the entire time. The food is decent, and the prices aren't bad, so I would say that you can get by for 3-4 days alright on it. There aren't too many 3+ star rated hotels i the near vicinity, so almost anywhere you stay will involve compromise.

There are no hotels in Gettysburg that are any better than the Host.

There are many fine B&B's in the Lancaster area.
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If travelling with family, a farm stay can be a fun experience.
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There are a ton of hotels in the area. The red roof is on par with the Host, there are some much worse, some better. I always stay at the Host if I can.

I would move to Gettysburg for the time you want to spend there. The traffic can be heavy between Lancaster and Gettysburg. In my opinion, it will take at least an hour each way. That is simply wasted time.

Tom

Why not split the difference between Gettysburg and Lancaster and stay in the Harrisburg area? It is about 30 + miles to Gettysburg and around 40 + miles to Lancaster and Cold Wars. I live there and there are plenty of hotels to suit your taste.

To find hotels in Gettysburg, in Lancaster, and in Fredericksburg, I suggest going to Tripadvisor.

This Internet site will list basically all of the hotels in the city you choose. There will be many reviews. No matter how find a hotel, somebody will always be unhappy. However, I have been using this for years and have never had any significant disappointments.

Using Google, or some other search engine, just enter: tripadvisor Gettysburg Pennsylvania.

When done there, just substitute Lancaster for Gettysburg.

Then do the same thing for Fredericksburg Virginia.

Personally, I would not stay in Harrisburg. You're still going to spend a lot of time driving backwards and forwards. Then you can be guaranteed that you will not be where you want to be at any time.

Tom

The Host is adequate for most people, although we had a disasterous time with our one stay there and my wife has written it off as an option.

Our hotel for "guys weekend" (aka Cold Wars) has been the Continental, across the street from the Host. Sure, everything's a bit "vintage," but in 15 years the only issue we ever had was a spot of mold in the bathroom. Of course, I also love to play Frogger on US 30, by foot or by car.

There is a fairly new La Quinta just down the road. We used them for our vacation plans this past year and I have to say that they were impressive, and surprisingy, quite affordable.

The Host is an absolute pit. I would rather drive 5 minutes up the road then stay on site.

I recommend the La Quinta Inn about 5 miles from the convention. It was built within the last few years so its new and clean. It's a basic level hotel but being new its legions better than the outdated disgusting hole The Host is. There are others in the area. Yelp has The Host at something like two stars. That isn't a mistake.

I agree about staying in Gettsburg over commuting back and forth to Lancaster. There are many hotel options in Gettysburg, especially many of the newer ones built where Rt 15 and 30 intersect. But you may also want to stay closer to town so you can walk more.

Isn't there a Homewood Suites next to the Host now? There are several options instead of staying at the Host, but be warned the traffic on Rt 30 in front of the Host is often heavy.

There has been a Comfort Inn & Suites next to the Host (or rather next to what used to be Lapp's Diner)for some time now. The winter prices are very reasonable and breakfast is included.

That's the place, thanks. :-)

Driving back and forth between Lancaster and Gettysburg would be a real chore. Gettysburg has nice hotels and the rates are good in March.

In the Lancaster area, I don't think the Host is a "dump," but it certainly isn't the best value for your money. There are many other hotels along the Route 30 corridor near the Host that should fit your needs.

The hotel DeRuyter mentions is actually the Country Inn & Suites. It is just down the hill from the Host and is very good. A new Comfort Inn & Suites opened up a few years ago about 3-4 blocks east of the Host. Otherwise, within a 5 minute drive there is a Marriott Courtyard, Hampton Inn and several other chain hotels to name just a few.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Much appreciated.

The reason why I asked the question was that I read some reviews and 90% said that the Lancaster Host is a complete dump. One suggested that you would be better off sleeping in your car. I realise that any business is going to get some bad reviews, whether warranted or not (I read one where someone trashed an airline because the hostess didn't smile at him enough), but such a high proportion of the reviews of the Lancaster Host are negative (and most of those in absolutely scathing terms) that I really don't want to take my chances there.

Thanks again.

I stay in the Marriott's nearby. One has breakfast included for a price slightly higher then the host.

Across the street is Red Roof, an adequate place with free breakfast (not in the same class as the Marriott mind). I rate the RR about the same as the Host but it costs less.

AussieAndy: Hotel quality is subjective in any case. Otherwise there would not be so many brands and brand loyal folks out there. I travel a lot for my "real" job and thus get to see a lot of different hotels. I tend to be brand loyal to a couple of chains that I prefer. Occasionally I have experiences that are not the best at the better brands I stay at. I also provide consultative safety and fire protection/prevention services to a lot of hotels and see the parts of most hotels the "average" person does not ever see.

In the case of the host, it is a very old hotel that has had a lot of Band-Aid type repairs and fixes over the years. It is definitely in decline, and the infrastructure and behind the scenes areas are aged. No one would build a hotel like it today as it no longer fits the model of what travelers expect/want. Each their own. I do not stay there and have not for about 10 years now, preferring to stay right down the hill at the Country Inn & Suites.

Everyone's perception is different, thus some folks prefer chains that I will never stay in, so again it is all subjective. The major brands tend to have stricter requirements for their fanchisees, in order to keep the name on their hotel, thus you will generally have fewer "bad" experiences at them.

I second all of Doug's comments. Like I said, the Host isn't the best value for your money.

The poster pointing out that 90% of the reviews online rate the Host very poorly is spot on. Of course some people might consider the place adequate or acceptable, and chances are you won't die staying there but I try and aim a little higher for places to stay at than knowing the place is adequate and I won't die. When 90% of reviews claim something is bad chances are it likely is.

Nothing is more purity bullXXXX than that there are no good hotels in the Lancaster area, and especially Gettysburg. First of all I don't read hotel reviews on the net having found them to be completely inaccurate. I trust my own observations. I'm reccommending the hotels here because I've stayed in them often and repeatedly.

First of all, consider what you're going for. You're not going for the Lux de lux hotel experience, you're going to a hotel for a gaming convention. I go to a gaming convention to game, buy, and socialize, which means that so long as it's cheap, convenient, reasonably house-kept and I don't have something crawling on me when I wake up in the morning we got something to work with. I usually only see my room between o:dark thirty and o:dark dawn so the appointments interest me in the least.

the Lancaster host is OK, not the best, not the worst, and it has the advantage that it's convenient. The only problem with the host is that once you're in, you want to stay in because if you have a great parking spot you'll lose it.

If you don't want that but you want small and neat and cosy, I recommend the Countryside Motel. 717-687-8431. This is a small side of the road place of about 15 units in an expanded home, and it's everything one could want, but there is no phone service. I think it's run by Mennonites, but the rents are very cheap, and it's clean and friendly and a pleasure to stay at.

Just down the road from the above (sorry, don't have the phone number) is the Dutch Treat motel which is a little larger and has a pool. Both this and the Countryside you get to by going down to the intersection by the Showboat motel and turning right toward Strasburg.

Don't stay at the Showboat. Overpriced and not so nice as the host. Been there.

The comfort in is also good. I've stayed there , as are the two Econo-lodges, even though it looks a bit penitentiary like.

If you want to try something weird and are bringing the kids, try the Caboose Motel, down in Strasburg. Kids love it because they get to sleep in old railroad cabooses. You won't they're cramped, expensive, and not so nice, but remember, when you were a kid you would have loved it too.

My favorite is the Continental Motel, right across the street from the Lancaster Host. It's a bit smaller and about as old. People who get free rooms at conventions turn their nose up at it, because they don't pay for it and therefore the sky's the limit.

The continental has two pools, indoor and outdoor, a hot tub, very nice rooms, spacious, great service and a free FULL breakfast for lodgers every day. This is a buffet, but it has scrambled Eggs all the time, bacon sausage or ham, depending on the day, French tost or Pancakes on alternating days, cereal, oatmeal (Yuk!!!) and on Saturday and Sunday they have a chef for special orders and omlettes.

They also have a lunch-afternoon kiosk by the pool in the summer months, and they serve hot dogs, burgers and sides, along with beverages and you can eat at the tables al-fresco.

It's a great place. I always stay there, and we hold our "The WEEKEND" convention there in June. They have a large ballroom and the staff is very nice.

To say Gettysburg has no nice hotels is lunacy. There's the Gettysburg Hotel in Town, which I have stayed at. It's expensive, but it is convenient and you can put your car in the parking garage behind the hotel and take busses and trams for most of the day. The Eisenhower Inn way south of town which used to host Fall-In! was on a par with the Host as far as rooms go, but had the most gawd-awful restaurant I'v ever been at. Really terrible and SMALL! It's built on the idea that people will go there for their business meeting or convention buy, and then leave for elsewhere. Their attitude is pretty much the same. It was OK as far as price goes, but two years ago they almost tripled their prices, mostly to drive out the riff-raff like gamers and re-enactors.

There are several nice bed and Breakfasts. I go there for remembrance day in November with a Civil War Re-enactor group who I hang around with. All of them are good, and remember, you're not going there for the hotel bar scene, you're going there for Gettysburg. Like when I go to a game convention I get in at o:dark 30 and am out by o:dark dawn.

I NEVER listen to reviews on line. Most of the time those are written by nasty people who just like to say bad things under the cover of anonymity.

The host is just old.You won't die if you stay there. Just don't take a room above the upstairs big if you don't want to disco dance until 2am. On site is always good or be very close. Otherwise parking is a headache.

upstairs big room- theater?

The Eisenhower Inn is not called the Eisenhower Inn anymore. At least it wasn't when I passed it July 4.

I don't think anyone said there aren't any good hotels in the Lancaster area. We've all been staying there for years and there are plenty of good choices. The Continental is one of them.

>I NEVER listen to reviews on line.

Since we are online now, I suppose none of us should listen to what you wrote either?

Online reviews can be very helpful when taken in the proper context. If there are 5 reviews that is one thing, but a few dozen and you begin to get a good cross section. The trend of the reviews at that point starts to make far better sense.

As many people have said the Lancaster Host (might) not kill you but the place is very old and the rooms are very tired and worn out. Judging by the homes some gamers live in The Host might actually be considered nice, so clearly take all this worth a grain of salt. YMMV. But in general the place is a dump and if staying in dumps bothers you find someplace else to stay or you won't likely enjoy yourself.