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canyonwalkerMay Family Visit Travelog #12
Spark hotel in Wyoming Valley, PA · Mon 25 May 2026. 10pm.
Tonight we're staying at a hotel near Wilkes-Barre in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania.
"Wyoming?" you might wonder. "Why is it named after a big western state?" Actually that question has it completely backward. The state of Wyoming is literally named after the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. That's why this afternoon we did a hike on the flank of Wyoming Mountain. And tonight we're staying in a hotel near the foot of Wyoming Mountains. The word "Wyoming" comes from the Munsee language of the native Delaware people. "How is the Wyoming Valley even relevant to me?" you might ask next. Well, the city of Scranton is here. 🤷♂️🤣
Okay, so maybe you're not linguistically curious. Maybe your next question is, "Why are you staying at a hotel when you're already staying at your inlaws' place for free?"
I'll tell you, that's a question I've asked myself several times. We're just 2 hours from their place by shortest driving route right now. So it was feasible to do this two-day trip-within-a-trip as two day trips. But we had a few reasons to stay out for a night.
Probably the biggest reason is that One reason is that it's less driving back-and-forth this way. We're saving about 3 hours in the car by staying here. Reason two is we figured we'd enjoy some time away from family. And reason 3 is we found this hotel with a nice indoor pool and hot tub— which felt really good to soak in this evening. That's right, we needed a dose of #PoolLife this trip!
This trip we're at a Spark by Hilton hotel. Yes, that's their name, "Spark by Hilton". It's like with a new brand they need to add the parent company to tell you it's good.
But is it good? Well, it's yet-another limited service property. It seems to slot in as more basic and no-frills than Hampton Inn, which has been Hilton's biggest footprint (most properties) and a mainstay for us as a reliable mid-scale brand.
A lot of Hamptons, though, and most of the other Hilton brands, too, were designed decades ago, Spark is brand new and more Millennial or even Gen-Z appealing. I noted right away in our room one thing it doesn't have: an alarm clock/radio on the bedside table.
The damn things are ubiquitous in hotels. They used to be ubiquitous everywhere. I remember getting one for my nightstand at home when I was ten. And I remember also getting rid of it, like, twenty-five years ago when mobile phones replaced clocks and alarms. But hotels seemed to not get the memo. They've continued to clutter their nightstands for the past 25 years with these relics of 1980s technology.
This is literally the first time I've stayed in a hotel that does not have an alarm clock/radio on the nightstand. Instead they've got a power bank/charging pad. There's even a note stenciled on it for those who fret the sky will fall without alarm clock/radios to hold it up: PLACE PHONE HERE. Better yet, there's one of these on each side of the bed.
Spark hotel in Wyoming Valley, PA · Mon 25 May 2026. 10pm.
Tonight we're staying at a hotel near Wilkes-Barre in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania.
"Wyoming?" you might wonder. "Why is it named after a big western state?" Actually that question has it completely backward. The state of Wyoming is literally named after the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. That's why this afternoon we did a hike on the flank of Wyoming Mountain. And tonight we're staying in a hotel near the foot of Wyoming Mountains. The word "Wyoming" comes from the Munsee language of the native Delaware people. "How is the Wyoming Valley even relevant to me?" you might ask next. Well, the city of Scranton is here. 🤷♂️🤣
Okay, so maybe you're not linguistically curious. Maybe your next question is, "Why are you staying at a hotel when you're already staying at your inlaws' place for free?"
I'll tell you, that's a question I've asked myself several times. We're just 2 hours from their place by shortest driving route right now. So it was feasible to do this two-day trip-within-a-trip as two day trips. But we had a few reasons to stay out for a night.
Probably the biggest reason is that One reason is that it's less driving back-and-forth this way. We're saving about 3 hours in the car by staying here. Reason two is we figured we'd enjoy some time away from family. And reason 3 is we found this hotel with a nice indoor pool and hot tub— which felt really good to soak in this evening. That's right, we needed a dose of #PoolLife this trip!
This trip we're at a Spark by Hilton hotel. Yes, that's their name, "Spark by Hilton". It's like with a new brand they need to add the parent company to tell you it's good.
But is it good? Well, it's yet-another limited service property. It seems to slot in as more basic and no-frills than Hampton Inn, which has been Hilton's biggest footprint (most properties) and a mainstay for us as a reliable mid-scale brand.
A lot of Hamptons, though, and most of the other Hilton brands, too, were designed decades ago, Spark is brand new and more Millennial or even Gen-Z appealing. I noted right away in our room one thing it doesn't have: an alarm clock/radio on the bedside table.
The damn things are ubiquitous in hotels. They used to be ubiquitous everywhere. I remember getting one for my nightstand at home when I was ten. And I remember also getting rid of it, like, twenty-five years ago when mobile phones replaced clocks and alarms. But hotels seemed to not get the memo. They've continued to clutter their nightstands for the past 25 years with these relics of 1980s technology.
This is literally the first time I've stayed in a hotel that does not have an alarm clock/radio on the nightstand. Instead they've got a power bank/charging pad. There's even a note stenciled on it for those who fret the sky will fall without alarm clock/radios to hold it up: PLACE PHONE HERE. Better yet, there's one of these on each side of the bed.
