‘Gateway to Bellefonte.’ Newest hotel in Centre County celebrates grand opening
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- Tru by Hilton at 143 Leahey Drive opened to the public on March 12.
- The four-story hotel offers 98 guest rooms, a vibrant lobby and 24-hour amenities.
- Local leaders expect the hotel to boost Bellefonte tourism and bridge to State College.
Centre County officials gathered Wednesday morning to celebrate the grand opening of a new hotel that many believe will bring more visitors to Bellefonte, and will help bridge the gap between the borough and State College.
The Tru by Hilton hotel, located at 143 Leahey Drive between Sheetz and the G.M. McCrossin building in Benner Township, officially opened its doors last month but held its ceremonial grand opening and ribbon cutting Wednesday.
The hotel was developed and is now operated by the Hospitality Asset Management Company (HAMCO), and broke ground in June 2024.
“I want to take a moment and just congratulate the entire team that had a part in this project and putting it together,” Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County President Greg Scott said. “I know there’s a lot of parts and pieces to doing a project like this, and you brought it together — what we’re seeing today is the culmination of that.”
The four-story hotel features 98 “smartly-designed” guest rooms, according to a press release, and the hotel’s large, vibrant lobby provides guests with breakfast bar that’s included with every stay, a locally-themed mural that showcases Bellefonte and State College landmarks, a full-size billiards table, board games, flexible co-working areas and a variety of seating options with outlets and USB charging stations.
The hotel also has a 24-hour fitness center equipped with cardio machines, free weights and resistance bands, complimentary Wi-Fi, mobile check-in and digital key access and a 24-hour market at the hotel’s main desk that offers snacks, beverages and other travel essentials.
“The lobby is lovely and the fitness center, the digital key access ... we really like the fresh energy coming to Bellefonte,” Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins said.
Now that the hotel is open, many local stakeholders and tourism industry leaders hope that it will become a tourism boon in Bellefonte, which Happy Valley Adventure Bureau President Fritz Smith called “the fastest growing tourism community in this county.”
Some of Bellefonte’s key tourism aspects include its many events — like the Bellefonte Cruise, First in the ‘Fonte Saturdays and more — Talleyrand Park and its upcoming stage project and the highly-anticipated Bellefonte Waterfront Project.
Smith added that he hopes the hotel — which he labeled the “gateway to Bellefonte” — will push Centre County into the top ten of hotel revenue out of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Currently, Centre County is ranked 11th, but only by a small margin.
“Ten years ago, Centre County was ranked number 20,” Smith said. “We’re going to have a hotel product here in Centre County that I think is the best in the state, and I think we’re going to get to number 10 soon. I think the guests that the Tru and Hilton brand will help generate will get us over the top and into the top 10.”
Others, including hotel General Manager Derek Noll, think that the building will bridge the gap between Bellefonte and State College.
“We opened on the 12th (of March) and we sold out the 13th, so the uptick in clientele has definitely been great,” Noll told the CDT. “I think [the hotel] is sat perfectly in the middle of the excitement in State College, and the lowkey, historical aspects of Bellefonte.”
Noll said the hotel is busy for Penn State’s Blue-White weekend, but that it’s drawn visitors from State College events every weekend it’s been open.
The Tru by Hilton hotel isn’t the only new hotel along the Benner Pike. Just half a mile up the road toward Bellefonte, the International Hotel Group’s dual-brand Avid and Candlewood Suites at 132 Amberleigh Lane held its grand opening in January.
Aside from hotels, the Benner Pike corridor has been a hotspot for other developments in recent years, including the construction of Giant, McDonald’s and Chipotle in Paradise Plaza, the Rutter’s just off of Interstate 99, the Amazon delivery station in the Benner Commerce Park and more.
Additionally, a few more developments are slated for the Benner Pike, including the relocation of the Stuckey Ford dealership to a plot of land next to the Centre County Correctional Facility, the development of some retail and fast food restaurants on the same parcel and the construction of a car wash in front of Avid and Candlewood Suites.
