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Reported phenomena, as catalogued
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Milton Hershey's 1933 Spanish Colonial Resort Still Attended by Its Builder
100 Hotel Rd, Hershey, PA 17033
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Rates vary by date and availability. The hotel is an AAA Four Diamond resort. For a general hotel question, call the property directly at (717) 533-2171; for reservations and current pricing, use the official reservation system or call (844) 330-1711.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Accessible guest rooms are available on request; ask the hotel about access to other areas of the property.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1933 · Historic Hotels of America · Great Depression-Era Construction · Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture · Milton S. Hershey Philanthropy
By 1932, Milton S. Hershey had already built a company town around his chocolate factory: streets named after cities in his raw-material supply chain, a school for orphaned boys, a department store, a stadium, a bank, an amusement park, and a community center. The hotel was conceived as the crown of this philanthropic infrastructure — a world-class resort that would draw visitors to Hershey and provide employment at a time when the Great Depression had gutted most American construction.
Hershey gave his architect, D. Paul Witmer, a single postcard depicting a hotel in the Mediterranean that he and his wife Catherine had stayed at and admired. Witmer's task: scale that 30-room property up to 170 rooms while preserving its character. The result is a Spanish Colonial revival building with terracotta roof tiles, mosaic floors, Moorish archways, and an exterior loggia that wraps the main facade. The hotel sits atop Pat's Hill, looking down on the chocolate factory and the town Hershey built below it.
The grand opening dinner on May 26, 1933 drew 400 guests. Milton Hershey was 75 years old. He would live until 1945 and remained closely involved with the hotel and his broader philanthropic enterprise throughout his final years. The Hotel Hershey is listed on the Historic Hotels of America program, operates as an AAA Four Diamond resort, and has 326 rooms, including 98 private Villa rooms.
The Hershey Community Archives maintains extensive documentation of the hotel's history at hersheyarchives.org, and the hotel's own history page documents the Mediterranean inspiration and construction details.
Sources
The Hotel Hershey's paranormal reputation is organized around its founder with an unusual specificity. The characteristic detail is the cigar smoke — fresh, fruity, appearing without a smoker, in locations including the wine cellar and general guest areas. Staff members hired decades after Milton Hershey's 1945 death have independently reported the smell without prior knowledge of his tobacco preference. The flavored cigars are documented in historical accounts of Hershey's habits. The correspondence between the reported smell and the recorded preference is what gives this particular account its staying power.
Philly Ghosts documented the hotel's legends in detail. According to those accounts, both Milton Hershey and his wife Kitty have been reported as presences moving through the hotel's public areas — checking that the property is properly maintained, greeting guests. The framing is domestic and proprietorial rather than threatening: a couple who built the place continuing to oversee it.
Room 301 carries the highest concentration of specific disturbances. Multiple guests, in accounts recorded independently, have described waking during the night with the distinct sense of a figure standing over them. No visual apparition is consistently reported — the phenomenon is sensory rather than visual.
Doors opening and closing without apparent cause, footsteps in the wine cellar and elsewhere in the building, and unexplained sounds throughout the property fill out the documented account set. The hotel has not, to date, marketed a ghost tour or investigation program — the paranormal reputation exists alongside the resort's luxury positioning rather than as a separate offering.
Notable Entities
Stay at the 326-room Hotel Hershey, including 98 private Villa rooms, atop the town of Hershey. Room 301 carries the strongest reputation for anomalous activity, with guests reporting the sensation of a presence standing over them while they sleep. The cigar smoke attributed to Milton Hershey — who favored flavored cigars — has been reported in the wine cellar and throughout the property.
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