Bruiser

Back from surgery in Philly and I wanted to thank everyone who posted regarding hotels. What we found is that the Ritz was great!! We did have a special Rothman rate but had a large suite w/living room, hallway, bedroom, and large marble bath with walk-in shower. The people could not have been nicer or more accommodating - we were put in the 29th floor so it was easy to get to the Club Room on the 30th, which is indeed spectacular. We did go to The Rittenhouse before surgery (had a day before since we had to be there 2 days ahead for testing) and my opinion is that it is pretty worn around the edges - too floral for me and when we went to the lobby, a waiter wouldn't even get us some tea saying that "tea is over at 5" which sealed the deal for us. (and not too pleasant about it either) Never did get to the Four Seasons.

The AKA Rittenhouse is nice but in a very busy area with lots of noise. Might be good for a long stay (we were at the Ritz for 2 2/1 weeks) but pretty active and bare bones.

I would definitely recommend the Ritz - we were not on the side of The Residences construction but you could hear some drilling etc. at night close to the entrance on 10 Arts. It looks like they will be done soon. Our view was of Broad Street south - the bedroom was a corner room. We could see the rivers and the view was nice, especially since we were so igh. (there is now construction around City Hall). Our only complaint might be a very limited room service menu, but we were told that since they have just completed renovation the fall room service menu has not been finished. We ate some snacks in the lobby and the Club has a nice spread. Didn't try the restaurant which is in the lobby for some reason. The lobby is a bit loud but I don't see what can be done about that.

All in all, a very good experience with nice staff (who even used a courtesy car to take us to hospital on day of surgery and bring us back 3 days later) great Bulgari amenities, clean, fresh, all you would want.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

19103_aa

I'm glad it was a good experience and hope the lady is recovering well! ^

JanePond

Thanks for that review.
>"and my opinion is that it is pretty worn around the edges..."

I was there the other weekend and thought the same thing. However, I didn't have any noise, and do like the room service options.

DrivingRain

Thanks so much for the follow-up.

Im glad the Ritz took good care of you. I rate the PHL club room as below average for RCs, but its mere existence creates so many advantages vs. your other PHL options. After 2 1/2 weeks I reckon that the Club staff became very familiar hosts.

That sort of day-to-day personal service that the Club offers can be a real differentiator...especially for the type of stay you had.

In my experience, except in the smallest botique hotels, a familar Club Level staff can make a hotel feel more like home than any front desk staff or GM could.

DR

hairpeace

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your stay, Bruiser

Fontaine

Glad that your stay went well - hope the surgery did too.

I tend to eat simple foods when traveling, and if what I want is not on the room service menu (it rarely is), I just ask for it - and am usually well taken care of.

Bruiser

True enough usually, although the Ritz wasn't able to do that; kitchen not up to speed after renovation we were told. Actually that was a small matter since no one feels like eating a lot after surgery. The other good things about the hotel made up for it; we could get take-out from a couple of places and the concierge was quite willing to get things for us. I am sure this will be rectified.