NJUPINTHEAIR

Well, I have been a big booster of this property for some time now, and for those who want a great rate, they should visit:

http://www.travelhero.com/eventhero/...id=441&aid=584

The Park Hyatt does participate (as does the Penn's Landing property) and you can ask the Hyatt phone agent if the pkg. is available as they are able to book it for you.

Sorry, not all weekends apparently apply to the Park Hyatt, and I don't see it as a pkg that you can book online to get the booking bonus.

peteropny

Also, Brasserie Perrier (Le Bec Fin's more casual and less expensive cousin). I had a great lunch there for about $30.

minnie

Also, Park Hyatt's Founder's Club restaurant is great for Friday and Sunday nights (if you're bringing someone with you). They have a piano and lounge singer for dancing. Also the "Library" is a great cozy bar on the 19th floor (where registration and the Founder's Club restaurant is also located).

Also, Ritz Carlton has a nice bar (about 2 blocks away) and Four Season has the best lounge, IMHO, in Philadelphia called the Swann Lounge. Their Fountain Restaurant is tops (ok, tied with Le Bec). Unfortunately, Brasserie's service has gone down a little in recent years.

I've stayed here at the PH in the past as at-the-time a non-status member and have been upgraded twice. The first time was my anniversary. Second, I was the event planner for a three day event being held there. Suites do vary in size and quality. (The first one was a nice size but in need of renovation or severe cleaning, the second time, rooms were updated and larger). They have tons of suites here, one on every exterior corner and then about 12 in the interior circle. Very nice hotel and service was just as good as the Ritz Carlton.

lalala

lala is on her way to Philly -- March 16-19.

How far is the PH from the 30th street station? Would it be prudent to take a street car or cab it?

Lala's taller half arrives a day earlier and is on the reservation, I assume that she will receive good treatment and the room that we would have gotten if I checked in with her? I will arrive a day later. BTW, this is a paid stay.

Looking forward to visiting Philadelphia. I am bummed that I am missing the PHL flower show though.

lala

rags1

lala, good choice with the park hyatt, it's probably has THE most ideal location of any hotel in philly as it is right off of Walnut & Broad. Walnut between broad and 20th has a slew of great shops and restaurants and is a great area to take a stroll in. Broad is a lively street, lots of restaurants and all the performing arts theaters. Broad is basically 14th st (runs north/south) so 30th street station is a 5 minute drive - i would cab it. Should cost you around $5. Saw the earlier posts regarding your hotel choices in philly. Here is a link to pictures of rooms in the philly marriott and the park hyatt in case you're curious. Good decision not to go w/penn's landing by the way. not much around there. you will definitely enjoy PH much much more. also, PH guests have access to a great sports club too if you care about gym facilities.

http://www.hotelscoop.com/bestOfPhiladelphia.php

[This message has been edited by rags1 (edited Mar 20, 2004).]

rfrost

lala, I've always been upgraded to a very nice room there. They also offer a glass of champagne at check-in, which is a lovely touch.
There's a major Manet exhibition at the museum on now, if that's of interest. Have a good trip!

lalala

Thanks rfrost--
I hope taller half doesn't drink all my champagne!

I am so looking forward to visiting Philadelphia even if one of my days there will be in DC!

lala

19103_aa

Lala,
Welcome in advance to PHL.
Specifically to the PH, you have two wonderful venues to enjoy while there: 1) The Barrymore Room is a luxurious, clubby atmosphere (think single malts and dark paneling). It's on the top floor of the hotel. Barrymore is part of the PH.

In the basement is Zanzibar Blue, an upscale jazz club with good food, mediocre service, and outstanding jazz. They have a very nice Sunday Jazz brunch if you are not pressed for time. Zanzibar is not affiliated with PH, so you cannot charge to your room.

Echo comments above re: Manet. Also walk the two blocks over to our new Performing Arts Center (Kimmel Center)

christianj

Just got back from a quick one night stay at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia. Decided to post about my experience since FT didn't seem to have any recent info on the hotel.

As listed in the title I gave this post....this is the tale of two hotels designs. First off the Park Hyatt has a great location at the corner of Broad and Walnut Street. The hotel is easy to find but the entrance is located on a side street/alley and not on either Broad or Walnut. You walk into a lower lobby but need to take the elevator up to the 19th floor to the reception area.

The reception/lobby/restaurant area you enter when exiting the elevator is beautiful. The overall decor is very modern but tastefully done like most Park Hyatts. We checked-in without any problems and were upgraded to a Park Deluxe for our one night Gold Passport award stay. The room was located on the 14th floor so you have to take an elevator down to the rooms. When the elevator door opened on the 14th floor I thought we had landed in a different world. The decor of the hallways was awful! Think grandma's retirement community!! The wallpaper was teal with gold accents and the carpeting was a horrible blue pattern. The room itself was also very "old world" and not modern at all. I wasn't expecting a new modern Park Hyatt room but the room we had was not even close to the pictures shown on the Hyatt website. The wallpaper was white with green, blue, gold and brown patterns. The room was very large so we didn't get too bothered by the decor since we were only there for one night. I just can't understand that the rooms have not been updated to match the decor of the lobby area. What a hodgepodge of colors and designs! Diamond Amentity was a bottle of Cab and a box of brownies.

Didn't get a very good nights sleep due to noise in the hallway and a fire alarm at 4:30am. The fire alarm announcement continued for over 30 minutes before they finally announced that it was a false alarm. Evidently this is a common problem at the hotel if you search the forum.

To summarize...hotel rooms need to be updated to fit in with the lobby area and the Park Hyatt vibe. Beware of fire alarm issues!

peteropny

I hadn't been to this property in quite a while - thanks for the update. Do you know if they are still renovating the property? Perhaps that could explain much of the disjointed nature of the property. I just looked at the pictures on the website and actually find the "lobby" pictures rather startling since the decor really doesn't fit with the architecture of the building. I'm not a fan of the "traditional" decor but it works in this property - much like the former PH Stanhope.

I do agree that the fire alarm issue really needs to be corrected - this has been going on for years.

christianj

I asked the check-in attendant if the rooms had been renovated and she said they had not. The way she reacted and her comments to my question lead me to believe that they were not currently updating any of the rooms.

I do have to admit that the more modern Park feel of the lobby/restaurant area is not in tune with the old architecture of the building. This however seems to be common today in boutique style hotels that occupy older buildings. I think the Park Hyatt in Milan which I stayed at in May is an example of this. A very old interesting building with a modern decor and vibe. The current hodgepodge at the PH Philly really confuses customers that haven't looked at the Hyatt website and expect a nice modern decor after leaving the lobby area for their rooms. I really wish we had brought our camera but we forgot it at home. That hallway wallpaper was the worst I have ever seen. It hurt to look at.

ENIAC

I stayed there recently for three nights, and before that two years ago. The lobby area is looking quite cool, and I liked the toiletries. The bar and restaurant have reopened, but breakfast is still in the round tower off the lobby. This time I used the large pool and steam room in the sports club over the bridge, which is well equipped and spacious but not particulary chic in its decor. If the weather's hot the upscale foot court downstairs has some good eating options for an inexpensive lunch -- there's soup, vegetarian food, sushi, and a suprisingly good cheesesteak.

I'm now only a Platinum rather than a Diamond with Hyatt, and if there were any in-hotel benefits I missed them. No free coffee delivery. Got a small room. The quality of furniture and finishings was quite high, and they did not seem worn, but it did not have the minimalist modern Park vibe of my rooms at Tokyo, Milan, Chicago, Hamburg, or the former SF location.

The government rate there is very reasonable, and it's a good location. When I lived in Philly I used to drink at the bar quite often. I've certainly got no complaints for the money. Just don't expect the Park Hyatt experience. Then it's the only Park Hyatt I've ever paid for in cash rather than points or FFNs.

idealflyer

Has anyone stayed here recently? Have rooms been redone? What are best rooms to request? After reading and searching, have only found out that some even # rooms face the atrium and lack natural light.

tinnub

Spend the 4th of July at the Park Philadelphia, and quite honestly will not return. Gone is the champagne upon checkin. Staff was woefully undertrained, gone is the choice of Diamond amenity, though there was a bottle of wine in the room. Breakfast vouchers have 5 different boxes to check though nobody who works there really understood. Self parking is now $27/day. Rooms was worn, and had black stuff in bathroom. Staff never responded nor was it cleaned. Emailed General Mgr, and got the form letter, "we'll do better next time". Certainly not the worst stay, but very dissapointing for a Park. There is a Ritz-Carlson down the steet, a new Loews along with Marriott, etc, in Center City.

thc

I remember the last time I stayed here ('05 I think), there was no internet in the rooms. Does anyone know if that is still the case?