Clarion Hotel

This could have been a really nice hotel, and it seems like it may have been when it was first opened… now, walking down the hallways, it reeks of smoke, the carpets are stained, the outdoor pool was filthy… with murky water, tree leaves, and wads of human hair. The room smelled like mold/​wet beach towels, and the bathtub was stained. The sink was clean, and there was a decent tv and easy wifi connect, but my comforter had a cigarette hole in it. There is a Holiday Inn, an eighth of a mile down the street, and woulda been worth $ 50 more a night. I stayed here simply because I had some Choice Hotel points to burn…

We found this hotel while on a road trip to another destination when we had car trouble in Dubois. Since the work wouldn’t be completed until the next day, AAA found this Clarion hotel for us at a good rate. We liked it enough that we decided to stay a second night and check out nearby Punxsutawney and other places, since the original plans were now scuttled.
The room was clean (the most important requirement for me) and the beds were comfortable. Bathroom appeared to be recently refurbished – another plus. Coffee/​tea station in the hallway was kept stocked. The front desk clerk was also taking care of the coffee at the time, and was very pleasant. All staff we encountered were friendly. The hotel interior could use some refreshing in places, but for what we needed, we were happy.
The independently owned restaurant on the property was a pleasant surprise. We had breakfast there twice, and dinner on our one evening at the hotel – all meals were very good. I was a bit concerned about ordering the fish, but the waitress assured me other guests liked it. The place was nearly empty at the times we were there as it was probably shoulder season; one morning we were the only ones, but service was attentive and friendly.
I have to mention the outdoor pool. It was closed when we were there, but it is set within a lovely courtyard. It reminded me of a park, with its birch tree lining and the pool’s surrounding brick and stone pavers. Very natural looking and not like a typical hotel concrete patio.

This hotel is in the middle of no where. When you walk in, you catch the smell of a 5 year old smoke smell. Pretty sure, PA just went non smoking not to long ago, or hell, maybe they still have smoking, but this hotel smells like they are trying to cover something up.
Any hotel in the middle of no where like this has interesting employees. Not knocking them, but interesting to say the least.
The lounge/​Restaurant is something to be desired. It is called «Cougars Lounge» I think. When I think of Cougar, I think of a older lady trying to pick up on a young lad. Well, I walked in, and there were two dudes at the bar, with the bartender on her cell phone sitting ACROSS the bar.
She hollars at me, «You need something!?!» I asked her if they had any IPA’s, she said, yea, 1. Sierra Nevada. I told her I would take one. I was on my phone at the time, checking Unilocal,and looked down at my beer and seen it was the Pale Ale.
I called her over, off her phone, mind you. And she said, «isn’t Pale Ale a IPA?»
Anyways, I drank my beer and asked for my check. Maybe employees are hard to come by in DuBois, PA?
I looked at the menu and she looked annoyed I even did that. Drank my beer, went to my room and order Chinese. Not bad, not bad at all

This budget hotel suited our needs. The room is clean and very spacious. The beds are comfy. The less than great news is that we were there on Saturday night and the Cougar lounge bass was pounding in our room, # 105, past midnight. Morning brought no breakfast and bitter lukewarm coffee for our trip.

More of a «room by the week» place. Needs upgrading badly. Mold in the bathroom. Good place if you’ve had too much to drink and need to crash.

Staff was fantastic, bed very comfortable, and surprisingly quiet. Only complaint is that our non-​smoking room smelled like air freshner to cover someone’s smoke, and became smoke filled either from people outside or people vilolating the non-​smoking policy in their hotel rooms. The bathroom was the worst-​closed the door overnight and in the morning when we opened it smelled like the smoking lounges at the airport. Couldn’t change rooms as our cats had gotten used to the place and didn’t want to give them another shock. Was okay for the night, but likely would try to keep driving for the next hotel.

For literally like the second time ever in the history of my world, my fellow Unilocalers kind of let me down here. I won’t hold them personally accountable, but this Clarion Hotel? Nuh uh. Not AOK in my book. And I grew up riding around camping in a conversion van with shag carpet… my standards are fairly simple.
(sidenote: why the hell am I in Dubois, PA?! Well, because it’s roughly 70 percent of the way from Traverse City, MI to NYC… and driving 16 hours straight drives me insane, and… well. I don’t know, we’re in Dubois.)
1. The entire hotel REEKS of smoke. Our room was «non-​smoking» but the hallways and every area smells heavily of stale cigarettes. Yeck. Even in the room you can still smell it, and it just makes my skin and lungs crawl.
2. Cleanliness: Not so good. Water marks left on the tables, on the notepads, some random liquid «spray» evident on the walls (dear God, please let the people before us be playing with cleaning products or something), and just an overall dingey feel to the place.
3. Low ceilings, outdated décor, room was small.
4. Heat was all screwed up. It was either 90 degrees or 40.
5. Oh, the blankets are thin. Great when it was at 90, not so hot at 40.
For $ 100 in Dubois, PA… I expect a HELL of a lot more than this place. I’d have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express down the way (much newer) in a heartbeat, but unfortunately they were not pet-​friendly.
Oh, yes. The one bonus of this hotel. It’s pet-​friendly for $ 20. And there are many entrances, so you don’t have a bunch of cooped-​up-​in-​car dogs meeting in the lobby or anything. There’s also a big open run in the back to go for a quick walk in the morning.
But frankly, I think my dog would probably give this place 2-​stars. She froze on the floor all night because we couldn’t figure out the heating situation.
One other upside? They share a parking lot with perhaps the kitschiest and most wonderful breakfast place: The Dutch Pantry. Maybe I’ll sleep there next time.

We thought this hotel was very nice. Room was clean, water in the shower was super-​hot, and the bed was about the most comfortable I have ever slept in, seriously. TV and WiFi worked perfectly, no problems.
Front desk staff was very friendly and helpful… we won’t hesitate to stay here again.

This was a really nice hotel. They don’t have a continental breakfast, but they do have a restaurant and bar in the hotel that’s was open until 2am. The bed was really comfortable, probably more comfortable than mine at home. Also, the have a pet fee per stay of $ 20 (which at all the other hotels I contacted were $ 20/​night) which was a nice savings. Also, they’re installing an outdoor pool right now which will just be an additional perk.

Just ok. The room was pretty clean, but there was no continental breakfast or a yard or grass for that matter for a pet area. The restaurant has much to be desired. The food is overpriced and was something I could whip up in my kitchen for 10 $ less. Our waitress was nice though.