Philadelphia sites & fav downtown hotel
Aug 30, 2015, 9:21 pm
#1
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Philadelphia sites & fav downtown hotel
Will be spending a day & a half in Philadelphia in Oct. and want to see the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia Hall & a few other historical sites. Ideas? Fav hotel? I have IHG, SPG, Hilton, Hyatt & Marriott pts. TIA.
Aug 30, 2015, 9:41 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Philadelphia sites & fav downtown hotel
In the historic area, the Kimpton Hotel Monaco is nice with roof top bar. In Rittenhouse square area, I usually stay and recommend Westin, Sofitel or Palomar.
As for other sites - historic next to independence hall is the portrait gallery which I found very interesting. Walking around the historic area look for signs to hear history come alive as you can dial phone at stops or find the "once upon a time" benches to get a costumed guide tell you about the location.
Art - the Barnes Collection, Rodin Museum and Magic Gardens on South Street. The Mural Art tours are interesting and uniquely Philly
Food: Reading Terminal Market is historic and tasty
I have some Philly posts on my blog - same as user name
As for other sites - historic next to independence hall is the portrait gallery which I found very interesting. Walking around the historic area look for signs to hear history come alive as you can dial phone at stops or find the "once upon a time" benches to get a costumed guide tell you about the location.
Art - the Barnes Collection, Rodin Museum and Magic Gardens on South Street. The Mural Art tours are interesting and uniquely Philly
Food: Reading Terminal Market is historic and tasty
I have some Philly posts on my blog - same as user name
Sep 1, 2015, 9:06 am
#3
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I really like the Le Meridien. It has a great location a couple blocks from City Hall so you can walk to a lot of sites or get to the train and Broad Street Subway quite quickly.
As to sites, I also like the Reading Terminal Market, if you're there on a weekday you can go up to the top of City Hall and get breathtaking views of the city. The Mint is fun (and free!), Independence Hall is great too but it's best if you get tickets in advance.
As to sites, I also like the Reading Terminal Market, if you're there on a weekday you can go up to the top of City Hall and get breathtaking views of the city. The Mint is fun (and free!), Independence Hall is great too but it's best if you get tickets in advance.
Sep 1, 2015, 9:30 am
#4
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In the historic area, the Kimpton Hotel Monaco is nice with roof top bar. In Rittenhouse square area, I usually stay and recommend Westin, Sofitel or Palomar.
As for other sites - historic next to independence hall is the portrait gallery which I found very interesting. Walking around the historic area look for signs to hear history come alive as you can dial phone at stops or find the "once upon a time" benches to get a costumed guide tell you about the location.
Art - the Barnes Collection, Rodin Museum and Magic Gardens on South Street. The Mural Art tours are interesting and uniquely Philly
Food: Reading Terminal Market is historic and tasty
I have some Philly posts on my blog - same as user name
As for other sites - historic next to independence hall is the portrait gallery which I found very interesting. Walking around the historic area look for signs to hear history come alive as you can dial phone at stops or find the "once upon a time" benches to get a costumed guide tell you about the location.
Art - the Barnes Collection, Rodin Museum and Magic Gardens on South Street. The Mural Art tours are interesting and uniquely Philly
Food: Reading Terminal Market is historic and tasty
I have some Philly posts on my blog - same as user name
I really like the Le Meridien. It has a great location a couple blocks from City Hall so you can walk to a lot of sites or get to the train and Broad Street Subway quite quickly.
As to sites, I also like the Reading Terminal Market, if you're there on a weekday you can go up to the top of City Hall and get breathtaking views of the city. The Mint is fun (and free!), Independence Hall is great too but it's best if you get tickets in advance.
As to sites, I also like the Reading Terminal Market, if you're there on a weekday you can go up to the top of City Hall and get breathtaking views of the city. The Mint is fun (and free!), Independence Hall is great too but it's best if you get tickets in advance.
Sep 1, 2015, 9:02 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: BAEC Silver, SPG Gold
Posts: 465
Philadelphia sites & fav downtown hotel
Thanks, working on more Italy posts as I spent a month there. As for Philly if staying in city only I wouldn't rent a car as hotels charge $30+ a night to park. Septa regional rail runs every half hour from airport to downtown (Jefferson station at 12th/Market) or you can take cab for flat fare plus tip about $35.
I also like the Le Meridian and at the airport The Marriott is attached to airport walk to terminal.
Enjoy your visit -
I also like the Le Meridian and at the airport The Marriott is attached to airport walk to terminal.
Enjoy your visit -
Sep 1, 2015, 9:52 pm
#6
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If you are looking for good tours while in the city, I recommend the Philly Tour Hub (located next to the Betsy Ross house). http://www.phillytourhub.com/Home.aspx
Their Segway tour is a blast, but they also offer various customized guided tours (such as the Rocky tour).
For hotels, I agree with the others regarding the Kimpton properties here (Palomar and Monaco). The Marriott hotels here in the city are pretty much geared toward the convention business. The Westin is very nice and in a good location for restaurants and shopping, but less so for the historical sites.
If you have money to burn, the Rittenhouse Hotel is very elegant.
Last edited by rittenhousesq; Sep 1, 2015 at 9:59 pm
Sep 4, 2015, 9:55 am
#7
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Philadelphia
Agree with all above.
Despite being SPG preferring, I've only stayed at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown which is your excellent city center full-service Marriott but any hotel downtown with the big brands will be excellent. The Kimpton across the street deserves special mention from a friend who stayed there 2x.
Despite being SPG preferring, I've only stayed at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown which is your excellent city center full-service Marriott but any hotel downtown with the big brands will be excellent. The Kimpton across the street deserves special mention from a friend who stayed there 2x.
Sep 7, 2015, 6:02 pm
#8
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Home2 Suites
I haven't seen a mention of the highly rated (#14 on TA) Home2 Suites by Hilton. Right by Reading Mkt. Price is reasonable at 40K Hh pts per night. Thoughts? I'd prefer the Hotel Monaco but hate to pay ~$600 for 2 nights when I have Hh pts, and others, sitting around gathering dust.
Sep 7, 2015, 8:51 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: East Coast, USA
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Another great about the downtown Marriott: it's connected to the Convention Center, Reading Terminal Market, and.. a rail station!
I still call the station Market East, but they are forcing us to call it "Jefferson"
Come on man, as if the AT&T station wasn't bad enough.
I still call the station Market East, but they are forcing us to call it "Jefferson"
Come on man, as if the AT&T station wasn't bad enough.
Sep 9, 2015, 9:44 am
#10
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 702
We go to Philly a couple of times a year. It is a great city and we are still finding fun things to do after 15 years.
The Rittenhouse neighborhood is hands down our favorite area. We always stay at the Sofitel because we can walk everywhere we want to eat for breakfast (the hotel breakfast is great if you don't want to leave) lunch and dinner.
My hubby is Plat with Marriott and has nearly a million points in his account and we still choose to pay to stay in Rittenhouse, we love the location that much.
I agree with the other poster about the location of the Westin.
The Marriott is another good location for sightseeing and the upgrade potential is pretty good there. Have heard good reports on the club as well if that is of interest to you.
Tickets for the City Hall observation deck are crazy hard to get because they only take 4 people every 15 minutes. If you want to do that, have every person calling at 8:59am and keep calling until you get thru. We called at 9:05am on a Tuesday and the entire day was sold out.
You need tickets (free) for Independence Hall. I don't remember those being too hard to get. Check out the website. You'll pick those up about two blocks away at the Constitution Center. The Liberty Bell is in between the two. The lines for the Liberty Bell look daunting but move pretty fast.
I wouldn't rent a car. We usually take the train in even if we get free parking. If you Uber, I think it is a great way to get around the city.
The Magic Garden is fun if you like quirky art. We toured it two trips ago and then walked down South Street to the waterfront (there is a pedestrian bridge over the road)
During this last trip, we did the art museum (Granite Hill restaurant in the museum had a very nice lunch) and the Mutter Museum, which was grossly fascinating, check out the website. Also did the Betty Ross house and Elfred's Alley at my son's request. Can't say I would recommend either unless you have time to fill. Both were quick and crowded.
Something we haven't done yet but will in the future is do a guided tour with one of the historical re-enactors. I have heard great things about them.
If you like walking, going down Antique Row is interesting.
The Rittenhouse neighborhood is hands down our favorite area. We always stay at the Sofitel because we can walk everywhere we want to eat for breakfast (the hotel breakfast is great if you don't want to leave) lunch and dinner.
My hubby is Plat with Marriott and has nearly a million points in his account and we still choose to pay to stay in Rittenhouse, we love the location that much.
I agree with the other poster about the location of the Westin.
The Marriott is another good location for sightseeing and the upgrade potential is pretty good there. Have heard good reports on the club as well if that is of interest to you.
Tickets for the City Hall observation deck are crazy hard to get because they only take 4 people every 15 minutes. If you want to do that, have every person calling at 8:59am and keep calling until you get thru. We called at 9:05am on a Tuesday and the entire day was sold out.
You need tickets (free) for Independence Hall. I don't remember those being too hard to get. Check out the website. You'll pick those up about two blocks away at the Constitution Center. The Liberty Bell is in between the two. The lines for the Liberty Bell look daunting but move pretty fast.
I wouldn't rent a car. We usually take the train in even if we get free parking. If you Uber, I think it is a great way to get around the city.
The Magic Garden is fun if you like quirky art. We toured it two trips ago and then walked down South Street to the waterfront (there is a pedestrian bridge over the road)
During this last trip, we did the art museum (Granite Hill restaurant in the museum had a very nice lunch) and the Mutter Museum, which was grossly fascinating, check out the website. Also did the Betty Ross house and Elfred's Alley at my son's request. Can't say I would recommend either unless you have time to fill. Both were quick and crowded.
Something we haven't done yet but will in the future is do a guided tour with one of the historical re-enactors. I have heard great things about them.
If you like walking, going down Antique Row is interesting.
Sep 9, 2015, 2:19 pm
#11
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arrive Sunday, fly home early Wed. am
Thanks for the ideas. For a day & a half visit what are your "must see" places?
We're driving up from SC but will park the car and use public transport or Uber.
Probably will spend 1 day in Amish Country and a day & a half in Philly.
We arrive from "points south" on Sunday afternoon. Will spend that night in Philly. Next morning will probably drive to Amish country and do a tour and train ride. May spend Monday night there and drive back to Philly early Tue. morning. Spend most of Tue. seeing Philly and then head for our airport hotel ca. 8pm.
Good plan? Suggestions?
We're driving up from SC but will park the car and use public transport or Uber.
Probably will spend 1 day in Amish Country and a day & a half in Philly.
We arrive from "points south" on Sunday afternoon. Will spend that night in Philly. Next morning will probably drive to Amish country and do a tour and train ride. May spend Monday night there and drive back to Philly early Tue. morning. Spend most of Tue. seeing Philly and then head for our airport hotel ca. 8pm.
Good plan? Suggestions?
Sep 9, 2015, 2:52 pm
#12
Join Date: Nov 2012
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Plan on at least 1:45 to 2:00 each way to reach Lancaster County. The interchange around the PA Turnpike and King of Prussia can be a traffic nightmare, so can the Schulkyll Expressway into the city no matter the time of day.
(not to discourage you from Lancaster Co. but it will eat up a lot of time)
(not to discourage you from Lancaster Co. but it will eat up a lot of time)
Sep 9, 2015, 9:51 pm
#13
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Plan on at least 1:45 to 2:00 each way to reach Lancaster County. The interchange around the PA Turnpike and King of Prussia can be a traffic nightmare, so can the Schulkyll Expressway into the city no matter the time of day.
(not to discourage you from Lancaster Co. but it will eat up a lot of time)
(not to discourage you from Lancaster Co. but it will eat up a lot of time)
Sep 10, 2015, 7:00 am
#14
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That would give you more time in both locations.
Sep 12, 2015, 6:03 pm
#15
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The 4S was a nice spot to stay, but I think they've closed it up as it's relocating to the new tower that's being built once it is done. The Sonesta (in downtown) was a dump...not worth paying the price I did for it. The Courtyard Marriott (right next to City Hall) is a nice location - really in the heart of things, literally 1 block from the deliciousness of Reading Terminal, and closer geographically to Old City and all the sights regarding the American Revolution, etc.
Rittenhouse is a lovely neighborhood as well - depends on whether you want a bit more quiet (which it will provide) or if you want to have a bit more of the city feel to where you are staying.
+1 to whomever said driving on I-76 out of the city will be a nightmare...go early or go late. Anytime else during the day will probably be miserable...
Rittenhouse is a lovely neighborhood as well - depends on whether you want a bit more quiet (which it will provide) or if you want to have a bit more of the city feel to where you are staying.
+1 to whomever said driving on I-76 out of the city will be a nightmare...go early or go late. Anytime else during the day will probably be miserable...