
Penn Werner Hotel
Penn Werner Hotel is a Wernersville neighborhood bar with pool tables, skill games and indoor smoking, in a Penn Avenue landmark from the town's railroad-resort years whose upstairs rooms are rented by the month.
What people love about Penn Werner Hotel
The Prime Rib
Prime rib is mentioned repeatedly across multiple reviews with exceptional enthusiasm, with customers calling it among the best they've had and specifically recommending the establishment for this dish.
Exceptional Service from Lexi (Bartender)
This bartender went far beyond typical service expectations, personally driving a customer home to retrieve spare keys, demonstrating extraordinary care for patrons.
Special Buffets & Holiday Events
Multiple customers specifically mention holiday buffets (Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, New Year's, Sunday breakfast) as standout experiences with excellent variety and quality, making this a go-to destination for special occasions.
Owner/Chef's Personal Touch
The owner/chef is praised for personally accommodating special dietary needs and ensuring quality, demonstrating hands-on care that creates memorable experiences.
Key Themes from Reviews of Penn Werner Hotel
Food Quality
PositiveCustomers consistently praise the food quality, particularly highlighting dishes like prime rib, hot roast beef sandwiches, and buffet offerings as delicious and satisfying.
Staff Friendliness & Service
PositiveCustomers frequently mention friendly, attentive staff including servers, bartenders, and the owner/chef who go above and beyond to accommodate guests.
Atmosphere/Ambiance
MixedWhile some appreciate the laid-back, old-school dive bar charm and historic character, others note the decor is dated and the atmosphere leaves something to be desired.
Room/Hotel Accommodations
NegativeMultiple customers report serious issues with room rentals including cleanliness problems, bed bugs, pests, and disputes with management over rental agreements.
Pricing/Value
PositiveCustomers find the food and drinks to be fairly priced and consider the establishment good value for the quality received.
Noise/Neighborhood Impact
NegativeA neighboring resident reports significant ongoing issues with late-night noise from music and patrons, citing lack of respect for the local community.
Service Organization/Wait Times
MixedWhile most service experiences are positive, some customers experienced long wait times and organizational issues, particularly during special events like holiday dinners.
About Penn Werner Hotel
Overview
The Penn Werner Hotel sits at 5 East Penn Avenue in the center of Wernersville, a borough about ten miles west of Reading. The name is a holdover: today the Penn Werner runs as a neighborhood bar, and its own Facebook page lists it simply as a bar. There is no kitchen, so come for a drink and a game rather than for dinner.
The bar
This is a local room in the plainest sense of the phrase. There are pool tables, Pennsylvania skill games are ready to play, and indoor smoking is still permitted, which has become rare across the county. The crowd is a regular crowd, the kind where people know each other's names and a newcomer gets folded in without much ceremony.
The Penn Werner is one of a handful of Berks County bars that still combine all three of those things. It appears alongside Victor's Cafe in West Lawn, Jack's Pub and the Van Reed Inn in Reading in our guide to Berks County bars with skill games and indoor smoking.
The rooms
The upstairs rooms are rented by the month rather than by the night, so the Penn Werner is not a stop for travelers looking for a place to sleep. What the building offers instead is long-term housing at a modest price in the middle of the borough, within walking distance of Penn Avenue.
The building and the town
Wernersville was a noted resort community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. City dwellers, particularly from Philadelphia and New York, rode the Reading Railroad out to the borough to rest and take the cool mountain air of South Mountain, and a number of large resort hotels went up to house them, among them Galen Hall, Bynden Wood, Grand View and the Highland Hotel.
The Penn Werner belongs to that stretch of the town's history. It has stood on Penn Avenue since the railroad years, under an earlier name before the one it carries now, and it is the sort of Pennsylvania hotel where lodging, drink and a public room sat under one roof regardless of how much lodging was actually going on. It was still being described as the historic Penn-Werner Hotel when the property changed hands in 2003.
Visiting
The Penn Werner sits on Penn Avenue, the main road through Wernersville, with easy access from Route 422 and street parking along the avenue. It draws from Wernersville and the surrounding west-end communities, including Robesonia, Sinking Spring and West Lawn.
Contact Information for Penn Werner Hotel
Wernersville, PA 19565
United States of America
County: Berks County
Phone: +1 610-678-2765
Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 133 reviews
Review data
5 star reviews
- 52%
4 star reviews
- 22%
3 star reviews
- 10%
2 star reviews
- 7%
1 star reviews
- 10%
Working Hours / Hours of Operation
Location Map
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