I occasionally visit Philly for appointments and I’ve stayed here in the past. For my more recent visits, I’ve splurged a bit and stayed closer to center city as I was able to get good rates during the pandemic. I came back here this time because it was, by far, the best value. This location is a bit of a walk but that’s fine with me - it is pretty close to the historic area which is nice and the riverfront views are nice.

If you’re a light sleeper, beware. The hotel is wedged on a piece of property between 95 and Columbus Boulevard. I had a corner room on the south side of the building and one of the room windows was actually able to slide open a little ways (no screen which is probably a safety hazard) and the traffic noise was deafening. Closing the window eliminated most of the noise except for some dull roars. I like having white noise when I sleep so I was fine with it.

The one issue I had was being on the 9th floor (out of 10) was that when the hotel is relatively empty, the hot water takes forever to get to the upper floors. I learned that when I tried to take a shower my first evening. The front desk explained that the best way was to run the tub faucet until it got hot. They offered me the opportunity to switch rooms but it wasn’t worth the trouble. It was fine the next morning but I’m not a super early riser - whoever took the first shower of the morning probably wasn’t very happy. Also, it would’ve been nice to be given a heads up when I checked in as the hotel staff was well aware of this issue. I felt bad wasting so much water so I ended up just taking a warm shower that first night.

All in all, I’d give this a 3.5 but I’ll be generous and round up. The hotel was clean and breakfast was decent. They used to have a free shuttle van but I never saw it this time (and I didn’t have a need for it so I never asked). Be aware that, like all city hotels, they charge for parking but it’s not as pricey as hotels downtown. In fact, the room rates here are generally pretty good and I appreciate the special rates they offer for patients coming to town.

The location was excellent, as you can walk everywhere. The breakfast can get repetitive but it definitely takes care of the morning routine. Everyone on the staff was very friendly, except for Patricia, who I believe was the supervisor. She needs some help with training because it didn’t seem like she could handle it all that well.