Originally Posted by
Happy
Anybody recently stayed at either Element or The Notary?
I am trying to decide which one to stay in mid April. A week ago we decided to change Philly from a layover to a stopover for a few days. When I checked the hotel scene, I discovered unfortunately the weekend of our week in Philly has a Bad Bunny Concert (what is that?), hotel rates go thru the roof. We barely caught the nearby Resident Inn with a large top up on 35K cert for Sat and Sun before it too, ran up a lot. For Thur and Fri, I don’t want to stay at RI, am looking at either Element or The Notary, The Notary is in very old setting but is literally next door to RI, easier to move then Element though only a few min walk away.
Would appreciate any updates on both Element and The Notary.
Haven't been to the notary, but the Element is a very nice hotel. Valet parking is pricy at $60/day, but there is a garage not too far that's closer to $40/day (also valet). Mondays through Thursdays they have free beer, wine, local cheese, and bread in the lobby from 530pm-7pm. The building and rooms are new, shower water is hot, wifi is fast, elevators fast, staff very courteous and attentive. Shades are motorized, kitchenette (stovetop, fridge, dishwasher), there's a full size fridge with freezer and a filtered water tap at the kitchen sink (nice for us "fill a huge water bottle types" when paired with the ice cube tray in the freezer).
The only con I would say for the Element is the breakfast is not great... being in the heart of the city, there's a bunch of great places you could go to that aren't far. It's serviceable if you're not picky on breakfast or want to save money by using breakfast included in the rate.
I generally prefer it to the Aloft as the rooms are larger, there's a full size fridge w/ the filtered water. The Aloft is a very nice property too, but I end up there when I'm traveling solo for work, so I don't have to worry about room size or feeding a family.
The other issue is that they'll provide two towels and washcloths for a two day stay... I just end up calling the front desk asking for more towels. I've offered to go down to get them but they've always insisted on bringing them up to my room instead.