Hershey Spa...Sweeter than we expected!

We promised that we wouldn't lie so I have to tell you that we were SHOCKED in general when it comes to The Hotel Hershey & Spa.  Shocked.  We didn't have high hopes (shame on us) as we thought that once again it would be all hype with none of the glory...we couldn't have been more wrong.
Pulling up to the hotel we noticed how perfectly manicured the grounds are, to be honest, the entire town of Hershey is perfectly manicured... right down to the Hershey Kiss street lamps.

The front of the hotel appeared to be very grand and transported us back into a time where small towns had a sense of pride in their community.

Upon check-in we checked into our "cottage" located around the perimeter of the hotel, the rooms were gorgeous, well maintained, clean and updated...absolutely no complaints.  We loved being in a more quiet area and away from the hustle of the main hotel.

 We settled in, changed and went to dinner in their main dining room - The Circular and once again were pleasantly surprised.  The food was very good and the prices were very appropriate, the hotel did not take advantage of guests on the food prices which gave them extra points with us.  For the most part the dining room was filled with adults which was great for a fine dining experience and the few kids that were there were very well behaved and they went virtually unnoticed.  The evening ended with a cute little white box filled with a delicious salted carmel for us to take back to our room...I don't think it made it that far...I'm pretty sure it was gone before we left dinner!  Our only suggestion for this lovely restaurant (and we are stretching here...) is that they need to be pickier and/or more specific regarding the servers' hair.  We noticed that everyone had it pulled back (most likely due to management dictate) but a lot of them had it pulled back very sloppy or pulled it back wet or just piled it on the top of their head with a scrunchy and it just didn't suit the atmosphere the restaurant was trying to achieve.  Our opinion is that in a fine dining restaurant that requires hair to be pulled back (as it should) needs to be more specific with their employees, maybe buns for everyone with hair long enough?

Next up was our much anticipated day at the famed chocolate spa!  This spa has done everything right... various waiting rooms including a "relaxation-quiet" room and a "relaxation-talking" room.  The locker rooms are gorgeous, the treatment rooms are fab, the staff is so unbelievably knowledgeable on everything from your treatments to the history of the hotel and Milton Hershey himself, it was a great learning-relaxation experience.  One of our favorite features was a the hidden, spa guest only, lunch restaurant called the Oasis... this is a feature that few spas have but every spa SHOULD have so they really get an A+ for the beautiful and private spa dining.  This cafe is located inside the spa for spa guests only so that you can discretely go to lunch in your robe and then sneak back upstairs for the rest of your treatments and big bonus...lunch is only $20 (without alcohol) so once again they are very fair with the food pricing.  The cafe was beautiful and we were told that it is modeled after a famous hotel that Mr. & Mrs. Hershey use to like to visit.  Our only small complaint about the cafe was the lack of food choice and lack of healthy food.  We felt that they tried to make a nice mini buffet which contained what we call "bridal shower/baby shower food" but as all of us girls know...that it typically not healthy!  I would have loved a nice butter lettuce salad with goat cheese and grilled shrimp or something light and along those lines rather than the cream soup and lunch meat wraps they had available.

Let's talk services, try to control yourselves... 1. Chocolate Immersion which is a signature chocolate - themed body treatment featuring a Chocolate Bean Polish followed by the Chocolate Fondue Wrap...in other words...heaven.  We both agreed that the service was fantastic and relaxing and the fact that we smelled like yummy chocolate at the end was just an added bonus.  2.  Cocoa Massage ...Do I really need to say anything else about this?  The only thing I will add is that my therapist was very good and really did a nice job working some knots out of my body without a ton of pain. 3. Cocoa Facial Experience.  Experience is an understatement.  First of all, my therapist was absolutely amazing.  I connected with her right away and knew from the beginning that this was going to be a fantastic service.  The treatment itself is like no other, actually it is the only EDIBLE...yep, edible chocolate facial in North America.  The best is yet to come...when they apply the dark chocolate mask to your face they actually apply it to your lips and you get to lick it off AND they'll put it on your lips as many times as you want or until your personal chocolate runs out!

This spa has everything necessary to qualify as Girls Gone Spa Approved and we will absolutely be back to relax in this small town sanctuary.  

Our last and final request and suggestion to the Hershey Hotel is more adult high-end dining, nothing kills a spa day more than eating dinner in a restaurant full of screaming kids.  Had we known that only The Circular was fine dining and primarily kid free we would have eaten there all three nights but we were unable to change our reservations once we were there because the hotel was so busy.  

Visit The Hershey Hotel and spa with confidence that your money is going to be well spent and that you'll leave feeling pampered and wanting more...we sure did!