Penn Square & Nichols Hills
mall shopping · upscale retail · new dining developments · car-based outings
6.5/10
Calmer evening plans put it first, but check road-facing rooms rather than assuming the Nichols Hills name guarantees residential quiet.
- Getting around
- 1.1
- On your doorstep
- 1.7
- Hotels
- 4.5
- Value
- 5.8
- Axel’s verdict
- 6.6
Penn Square is a shopping-and-dining choice rather than a sightseeing base. The mall anchors the Pennsylvania Avenue side, while OAK adds newer restaurants and retail nearby. Classen Curve and Nichols Hills Plaza offer separate collections of shops and dining farther north and east; they are outings in their own right, not one continuous shopping street.
- Best for
- shoppinga quiet stayluxury travelers
- Skip it if
- You want to walk between the main sights; You expect one continuous pedestrian shopping district
- Getting around
- RAPID NW serves the Penn Square corridor via Classen and downtown; walking works within individual shopping developments, not comfortably between all of them; from OKC, use a taxi, rideshare or rental car.
- After dark
- Expect a dinner-and-drinks evening around OAK or Classen Curve rather than a club crawl; road-facing rooms deserve extra scrutiny.
Top hotels by Axel's take
Typical Axel rate $144 a night- 1. The Ellison, Oklahoma City, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel9.0
- 2. Courtyard Oklahoma City Northwest7.3
- 3. Renaissance Waterford Oklahoma City Hotel7.3