Day's Inn, the former Sheraton Penn State, claims to be less concerned about glamour and glitter as it now aims to attract the middle-income visitor to State College.

The quality of services and prices for accommodations have not changed, but the hotel has shed its old name and exclusive image, said Mark Morath, the facility's general manager. The hotel will now cater to middle class guests, which is a market that has previously been unsatisfied here, Morath said.

The structure at 240 S. Pugh St. officially switched its affiliation to the Day's Inn franchise on Dec. 31, 1989, after 22 years with Sheraton.

"The market that travels on an interstate to non-metropolitan areas is price sensitive and the Days Inn name is more appealing to State College visitors," Morath said.

The single-occupancy rate at Day's Inn -- $59 a night (more expensive on home football weekends) -- is significantly lower than the $80 average rate at Sheraton, said Rob Emmons, public relations employee of ITT Sheraton. But the rate is comparable to other Days Inns and hotels in similar "middle market" chains, he said.

Day's Inn's most direct competitor in the region is the Holiday Inn, 1450 S. Atherton, while the Sheraton's competitors had included the more expensive Toftrees Hotel, 1 County Club Lane; the Nittany Lion Inn, North Atherton Street, and the Atherton Hilton, 125 S. Atherton St.

The Holiday Inn charges about $49 a night for a single room. No hotel managers were available for comment yesterday afternoon.

Sheraton Penn State's management has been considering leaving the Sheraton chain for several years, Morath said. One reason may have been to save money.

A year-old regulation of ITT Sheraton Corporation requiring a sprinkler system in all rooms of hotels in the chain, may have prompted the switch, Emmons said. "Smoke alarms save lives; sprinkler systems save buildings," he said.

The Pugh Street hotel only has sprinklers in some areas of the building, but smoke alarms exist in all areas, Morath said. He added that many hotels, particularly older buildings like the Sheraton Penn State have left the Sheraton chain as a result of the new regulation. New sprinkling systems cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

Day's Inn is the world's third largest hotel chain with 1,400 locations either open or under development in all 50 states and various foreign countries, said Carol Bivens, public relations employee of Days Inn Corporation.

"Days Inn is attractive to middle America," Bivens said, adding that the chain has worked hard to change its budget image.

Adding hotels like the former Sheraton Penn State has helped, said Days Inn Franchise Services Manager Susan Soden. "It is one of the nicest Day's Inns in the chain," she said.