rrrrrich

thphilly

The parkway fireworks on the 4th will be quite good over the art museum. The best views from a Hilton property would probably be the Embassy Suites. The Logan will probably have some good views and are probably reserving spots on their balcony bar/restaurant. The DoubleTree might have views depending on how high up your room is, but I doubt you'll be able to see past the Comcast buildings (and others). Are there fireworks on the Delaware River any night that week? I don't think there is on the 4th, but maybe another night? If that's the case then the Hilton Penn's Landing will have great views for that.

dmarge18

Thanks! I'll check out the Embassy. It looks like the main fireworks display is at the art museum, but I've gotten mixed reviews online about whethere there are any fireworks on the Delaware.

arlflyer

Any FTers stayed here lately? Have a stay currently planned - making my rounds through Philly hotels and it would be this or the Rittenhouse (the latter of course with no elite benefits). Currently showing seven suite categories open for my days of stay, so thinking that perhaps an upgrade *might* be possible...but then again they started pushing NOR1 the second I booked, so who knows.

MissJ

I wish. I love this property but it seems to be sold out every time my plans send me to Philadelphia. I've got a trip coming up there in October and of course... sold out.

arlflyer

If you have flexibility, check last minute - my experience has been that places open up as business travelers cancel.

That being said, Philadelphia as a city seems to be curiously under-hoteled, especially at the high end given the number of businesses in the area. There really aren't many nice options, and they're often completely booked for conferences or simply sold out. Seems like there is market opportunity there, but what do I know.

arlflyer

Ok, reporting back now...recently completed a stay and really enjoyed the property. I'm very much a hard product guy - there's no substitute for square footage and solid construction. And, this being the old Four Seasons, the place simply has good bones. Plenty of space, lots of soundproofing, good elevators, and quiet, powerful air conditioning that might make a certain Marriott poster flip over to Hilton for a few nights.

As a Diamond I wasn't auto-upgraded to anything of significance, but decided to inquire about an upgrade, and after a bit of discussion the FD agent bumped me up to a junior suite. She said that their standard policy is one category (which they hadn't given me), but all's well that ends well. I'd encourage other guests to check the app upon arrival and possibly hold their ground - the property appears to have at least seven categories of suites, so enough to go around. Having to haggle for suites isn't my idea of class, but you gotta do what you gotta do these days.

The room reflected the old FS layout - despite the name there wasn't anything "junior" about it; whereas a lot of juniors are a bigger room with a couch in the corner, this one had double doors separating the bedroom and living space - that makes it a real suite in my book! Bathroom was huge, with the rare bidet sighting. Despite being right on the parkway, there was no street noise whatsoever.

Amenity-wise, the indoor pool was usable and the gym decent by Philly standards (which isn't saying much, save for the Bellevue). The Wednesday night wine happy hour is a nice touch and was quite popular but still accessible. While I didn't try room service, the lobby bar was excellent, and though $16/person/day doesn't get you all the way to a full breakfast in Urban Farmer, I'd say it's worth chipping in the rest out of pocket - the dishes we had were truly excellent.

Service was good all the way around, from bell to front desk, to housekeeping.

As of the end of my stay, this was my favorite property in Philly...but stay tuned...

rittenhousesq

Recently completed a one night stay here (also stayed one night in late December). This was my first stay as a Diamond and was upgraded to a junior suite with a wonderful view of Logan Circle. Received an $18 food/beverage credit (in the form of a coupon as others have mentioned). But since all the restaurants are currently closed, you can only use in the hotel's coffee shop.
Staff here (especially check in staff) were uniformly friendly. I was pleased with the room and it seems the rooms were "refreshed" from when it was the Four Seasons. Overall, a positive experience.








Great view from the room of Logan Circle. Would be even better in the summer when the fountain is working!

DELee

This whole view is probably all of one color right now...

David

arlflyer

Great to see that the property is still doing well during the current situation - the breakfast voucher probably isn't as much fun at the coffee shop as the restaurant (I loved getting their burger for weekend breakfast), but it's nice that they are still trying to treat elites well when a lot of properties have just thrown in the towel.


Indeed, you can see for yourself via webcam (https://www.fox29.com/philadelphia-webcam) - The Logan is just barely visible in the left side of the frame.

rittenhousesq

Exactly. Since I started staying at hotels again this past fall, so many properties don't even bother trying to offer any kind of benefit. The only Hilton property that I've stayed in recently that still offered an unabridged breakfast was a Tru. They just didn't allow self serve, but still had the waffle maker and even better, the pancake machine!

arlflyer

While I've only been traveling here and there (and only for leisure within a driving radius), I've found that the last months have shown properties' true colors - the ones that have always been good to their guests have made a way, and the ones that always treated their guests as a money tree have mailed it in. The Logan, in my experience, always has fallen in that first category, so no surprise that they're still giving it what they can. And to your point about Tru, I've found that some of my favorite small-town Hamptons have continued to go above and beyond to give their usual touches, getting creative with breakfast, etc.

When this is over, I definitely won't be forgetting which properties tried and which didn't.

PrancingPonyGoldMember

Recently completed a stay here and give them high marks overall. I wanted to - the breakfast vouchers covered a reasonable set of choices for brunch, although the food is good enough that you definitely will want to go over, and the lobby barista had some options including heating up breakfast sandwiches for weekdays. They're trying to make the best of it and for the most part it works - staff are very informal but happy to help with whatever you need.

Based on calling a bunch of "full service" properties in Philly, this was one of the few that was actually offering most services - Pool and Gym open by reservation every day, restaurant open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday and Brunch on the weekends - check the exact hours and make reservations in advance for anything important to you!

Only gripe, late checkout was a non-starter even as Diamond unless I wanted to pay $100, but I'm spoiled by Marriott and Hyatt in that regard with it being guaranteed- and their equivalent properties in Philly offered little more than a room for the same rate at least at this point.

seawolf

Just came from after a weekend state. Previous stay was Dec 2017.

Check-in - Use the app especially for weekend arrivals to obtain digital keys. There is no dedicated Hilton elite line so there could be a wait for in-person check-in. You can always obtain breakfast vouchers at an off-peak time. My recommendation is either check-in for a higher floor (7th/8th) to increase chances of a empty car arriving to take you down to the lobby or a lower floor so you can take the stairs.

Parking - While valet is an option, Logan Square garage located at 1815 Cherry offers in/out privileges if you prepaid at iParkit. $21 per 24 hour period. You get a QR code which will provide entry/exit. Do not pull a ticket; use the QR code.

Elevators - During peak times, there could be a wait for elevators. The middle set of stairs near the elevators (interior is painted with a blue band) will allow you access to a meeting room on the lobby floor (passage to lobby floor is somewhat hidden but it is next to a door to street which is alarmed). The other set of stairs will only provide access to other room floors; no access to lobby or street (door to street is alarmed).

Gold/Diamond breakfast vouchers are still $18 per person per day redeemable at Urban Farmer or Commons. As per Hilton rules, only two vouchers provided per day. As of this time, Urban Famer is open for breakfast only on weekends. Reservations thru opentable are HIGHLY recommended due to limited capacity especially for weekends. While paper menus are available, the preferred choice is scanning QR code on each table which will take you to this menu. We tried the strip sampler for dinner as well as the 7X Wagyu. The 7X Wagyu is definitely no A5. My favorite breakfast offering is the blue crab omelet.

Pool/Fitness - Reservations required. This appears to be a miss. We made reservations for 5 PM and there were at least 12 people already in the pool at 5:10PM. Not sure what capacity the hotel is targeting or whether the prior reservation didn't leave but it's not possible to social distance in the pool especially without a mask with that many bathers. We abandoned our booking.

dmarge18

Great tip...thanks!!