Vacation in Scranton -- advice?

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by blip

The Radisson was the old train station-- while the building is a hundred years old, I think it's only recently been a hotel. (10-20 years?) Very neat building, though the room I once stayed in was nothing special.

Surprised with all these giant old Victorian houses that there are no B&B's or small hotels in town..

I was reading hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com and the reviews of the Radisson are terrible. It is a nice building but sounds like a bad choice for a hotel. The Hilton sounds like the place to stay in downtown Scranton.

[blip]

Also meant to say that I had a good time bar-hopping when I stayed downtown, esp at the Banshee and the Bog. (Just keep your expectations low, as it is a small city.) There are a good 10 bars/clubs <10 minutes walk from the Hilton and Radisson.

Hope you have a good visit!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by ff18wife

Anything good going on in/near Scranton next week? Hubby's on vaca and I'm hoping to find some local inexpensive stuff to do. Might want to hit the malls as well since were in the market for new cell phones...have to find a nice AT&T store to scope out the goods.

Thanks guys!!!

The first ever Scranhattan Festival will be going on this weekend along Spruce Street near the courthouse. According to this week's issue of The Weekender it will feature all sorts of arts/cultural sorts of events and entertainment. If you've never done the coal mine tour be sure to check it out too; it's awesome!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by blip

(Just keep your expectations low, as it is a small city.)

Yes. This is a very, very important point. I and a few others love to hype up the city, but it is still a very small one on a national scale. At 70,000 residents it is the "hub" of the entire region, but it is a pipsqueak when benchmarked to other nearby cities like Syracuse or Allentown. I think it may even be best to go into the city expecting to be disappointed so then you can be pleasantly surprised in the end. I wouldn't call Scranton a good "vacation destination", per se, but it is definitely a great weekend getaway with Steamtown, Electric City Trolley Museum, Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, Shoppes at Montage/Viewmont/Steamtown Malls, festivals, Nay Aug Park, Everhart Museum, Sno Mountain/Sno Cove, etc.