I would have "liked" your post, but as often happens, I'm unable to do so, dunno why. Sorry.
Originally Posted by
paytonc
Stayed here last weekend. The Sporting Club is terrific, almost overwhelming given that I didn't have much time to spare. The location is good for events on Broad Street (e.g., Academy of Music, Kimmel Center, parades). The room was nice enough, but I'd give the edge to the Centric in that regard.
My stay included one comp beverage at Pergola, which is new enough that it doesn't exist on Google Maps. (Hint: only the main bank of elevators goes there.) It seemed strange that the window shutters were drawn, but indeed there's pretty much no view from that side due to ongoing construction.
Can you point out where Pergola is located?
This is a floorplan from a couple of years ago, just prior to the renovations:
This is a floorplan from 1976, before the spaces were redesigned. Confusingly, it used to be called the 18th floor, not the 19th
The Rose Garden Ballroom originally went all the way to the back of the building. The two domed halls were the South Cameo Room and the North Cameo Room. They were each connected by glass-walled skybridges to the Rose Garden Ballroom, so you could book all three as one connected event space.
After the 1988 renovations, the South Cameo Room became the Ethel Barrymore Tea Room. The hotel elevators from the small Chancellor Court entrance let you out there, and the main lobby was immediately on the right of it, where the Business Center is on the modern floorplan. The North Cameo Room was turned into a restaurant called Founders. The Rose Garden Ballroom had the rear 1/3 severed off and walls were put up, creating a hallway from the Ethel Barrymore Tea Room to Founders. The segment of the Rose Garden Ballroom that was orphaned on the west side of the hallway became the Philadelphia Library Lounge, a bar.
In 2007, the Tea Room, Founders and the Library Lounge were all renovated into one establishment, called XIX, with a cafe in the tea room, a bar where the Library Lounge was, and the restaurant where Founders was.
The 2024 renovations have turned the spaces all back into ballrooms. Founders/XIX Restaurant is now the Pearl Room, while the Ethel Barrymore Tea Room/XIX Cafe is again the Cameo Room:
https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/pe...special-events
I'm not clear what they have done with the orphaned section of the Rose Garden Ballroom at the back.