Bethlehem has the best main street in the U.S. That’s not just an opinion — it’s the findings of an annual contest conducted by USA Today.
Bethlehem won the contest in 2025 and found out it was a repeat winner on Wednesday.
And it’s not alone locally in being honored as part of USA Today’s 10Best contests.
Hotel Bethlehem, the iconic hotel on Main Street, has been voted No. 1 on USA Today’s 10Best Historic Hotel/Resort list for five years in a row.
How Main Street and the hotel — and nearly a dozen Lehigh Valley sites — were nominated and in some cases repeatedly won over the years is no simple matter of luck. Local leaders plan and work hard to get on the list, which helps draw more visitors, feeding the local economy.
They also credit Lehigh Valley residents for their win.
“I think the main ingredient is the community,” Hotel Bethlehem General Manager Kelly Ronalds said, “and that we continue to foster the relationship with the community. The hotel is generationally important to people.”
Other Lehigh Valley attractions that have garnered nominations and wins include:
• Musikfest, which was recently named the top music festival for a fourth time.
• Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, named the top minor league ballpark in March.
• Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, which is nominated in 2026 for Best Drive-In Theater. The theater was also nominated in 2025, when it placed second, and 2024.
• Easton Public Market, named the best public market in 2023 and is on the ballot again.
• Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, which has won or been nominated in different categories such as its Halloween-themed attraction, and is currently on the ballot for best lazy river and best wave pool.
• Christkindlmarkt, nominated several times as best holiday market, most recently in 2025.
• Allentown’s West End World of Food Festival, which received runner-up honors in 2025.
• Easton Garlic Festival, nominated in 2024, finishing eighth.
• The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem, named eighth-best outlet mall in 2025.
•The Peeps Chick drop was voted the sixth-best New Year’s Eve drop in 2025.
Hotel Bethlehem staff, local officials and business owners celebrate Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, after the hotel was named the best historic hotel for the fifth year in a row in USA Today’s 10Best Historic Hotel competition. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
The Black Keys perform Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, at Musikfest’s Wind Creek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
People attend the 22nd annual Garlic Fest on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Centre Square Easton. The festival, with the motto Eat, Drink, Stink, celebrates all things garlic with vendors selling garlic-themed food, drinks and other items. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call).
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola begins a rehab assignment with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, pitching against the Worcester Red Sox at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Nola is working his way back from right ankle and rib injuries that have kept him out of the Phillies lineup since May. According to MLB.com, the Phillies want to build Nola up to 90 pitches before calling him back up. He was expected to pitch about three innings and 55-60 pitches Wednesday, then increase his workload by 15 pitches each outing. That means Nola will likely pitch three or four times with the IronPigs. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
Bethlehem rings in the new year for 2026 with the annual Peeps chick drop as part of PeepsFest. (John Misinco/The Morning Call)
People enjoy the sights and sounds Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, during Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem. The German-inspired holiday market, which closes Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, features artisan vendors, festive treats and family activities. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Actors scare visitors during media night at Dorney Park’s Halloween Haunt on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in South Whitehall Township. The event features haunted mazes, scare zones and live entertainment, along with signature thrill rides in the dark. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Main Street in Bethlehem bustles with people Monday, March 9, 2026, after a news conference at Schropp Dry Goods Shoppe in the city unveiling that the area was nominated in USA Today’s 10Best Main Street competition for 2026. It won in 2025. The news conference also promoted the Our Star Shines All Year Round initiative designed to convince travelers to visit Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
The Easton Public Market is one of many Lehigh Valley institutions that has been honored by USA Today’s 10Best. (Harry Fisher/The Monring Call)
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Hotel Bethlehem staff, local officials and business owners celebrate Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, after the hotel was named the best historic hotel for the fifth year in a row in USA Today’s 10Best Historic Hotel competition. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
For Ronalds, who took over as Hotel Bethlehem general manager in January after spending several years in management roles, the honor never gets old.
She said the hotel “has a deep-rooted connection to the community.” Since it was originally built via community-sold shares, generations of Lehigh Valley locals have celebrated milestones there, such as weddings and banquets. That creates a legacy guest base that drives its success in public voting contests.
Kassie Hilgert, president and CEO of ArtsQuest, which runs Musikfest, says being named the best music festival four times “is an incredible honor and a testament to the energy, creativity and community spirit that define Musikfest.”
She said the largest free music festival in the country, which reported a record 1.45 million visitors last August, brings in visitors and artists from around the world.
“This recognition belongs to our entire community — from the musicians on our stages to the local businesses, sponsors and volunteers who help make the festival possible,” Hilgert said.
ArtsQuest also runs Christkindlmarkt and the Peeps drop at its SteelStacks complex in Bethlehem.
Getting noticed
In an email to The Morning Call, USA Today said it picks an expert panel to put together a final set of nominations for a particular category, which are reviewed by the media outlet’s editors for the 10Best section.
When voting is open, the public gets four weeks to cast ballots. An individual is eligible to vote for a favorite in each category once a day.
So how do Lehigh Valley attractions get noticed by USA Today’s experts?
Ronalds said Hotel Bethlehem is visited regularly by travel writers, some of whom are on the USA Today experts panel.
“The more travel writers we host, the more attention that we get for the great things that everybody’s doing, whether it’s Musikfest …. or Coca-Cola Park,” she said.
Sam Jellinek, manager of broadcasting and media relations for the IronPigs, says it’s important to have a track record of excellence across many facets.
“From consistently high attendance, excellent ballpark amenities that extend from fan-focused areas to on the field, guest service that goes above and beyond, an overall guest experience that exceeds expectations, concessions that are delicious and also seamless,” Jellinek said, “there are so many check-boxes you have to hit across so many different areas to put together an all-around case for USA Today to take notice.”
He said the nomination was an indication that USA Today had its eye on Coca-Cola Park for years on how it conducts fan experiences.
Laurie Monteforte from Strong Mountain Media has helped with 10Best campaigns for Hotel Bethlehem and Main Street Bethlehem. She says using a public relations and marketing firm can be helpful, especially ones with experience in tourism and travel PR.
“We worked with historic Hotel Bethlehem on two-tiered strategies to earn nominations and wins for the hotel and for Bethlehem’s Main Street,” Monteforte said. “The first tier involves gaining the experts’ attention to secure nominations.”
That entails creating media pitches to show journalists on the travel panel “how amazing both the hotel and the city are” to raise awareness with them. For example, a travel writer that stays at the Hotel Bethlehem will receive an itinerary that shows the city’s highlights, including local historical sites.
“The second tier involves generating public enthusiasm for the voting phase,” Monteforte said.
The campaign
Jellinek said getting IronPigs fans engaged to vote was the easy part.
“Our partners and sponsors love our relationship so much that they encouraged their employees to vote, and in turn like with Hotel B and the city’s downtown we were happy to return the favor for them,” Jellinek said. “Combine that [with] we have been the most attended ballpark in MiLB the last three years and there’s a lot of people who care about Coca-Cola Park and want the world to know just how great it is.”
The fans did the work themselves once they knew about the nomination.
“We are so lucky in that regard, as despite being one of the smaller markets in Triple-A baseball, we have a very passionate fan base that has a lot of pride in letting the world know just how great Coca-Cola Park, and Hotel B and Main Street, are,” Jellinek said.
Monteforte said a kickoff news conference helps get the word out and generates excitement. During its news conferences, Hotel Bethlehem gets involved with other community partners such as the IronPigs, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites and Lehigh University.
“When planning the news conference, we work to involve local business owners and community leaders,” she said. “Once the announcement is made, local marketing efforts ramp up. Hotel B has an incredible force of marketing experts that combine modern digital outreach and good-old-fashioned boots on the ground efforts. So, you’ll see everything from social media marketing and digital newsletters, to flyers in windows and community members wearing ‘vote now’ T-shirts.”
USA Today posts running results over the first three weeks, but goes dark for the final week.
Ronalds says Hotel Bethlehem has fun with the campaign and is in friendly competition with other historical hotels, such as the Hotel Hershey and the Peabody in Memphis, Tennessee. She noted that at least one rival hired a New York PR firm to take over the top spot, but failed.
“We have fun with it. It’s a little competitive, but I think it’s a fun competition.”
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.