Need help with hotels in Philly

[Ricky's Girl]

We're planning a short trip to Philadelphia in mid October (on our way home from D.C.). I've searched on-line for hotels near the historical sights in Philly. It seems that parking is pretty limited so I was wondering if it's best to pay extra for a hotel in the city center that includes parking so we can just walk out the door and be close to the attractions. Right now I'm considering the Holiday Inn Historical District which offers a special of around $199 per night with parking. I'd love to find something cheaper but don't want to waste precious vacation time looking for parking.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Parking is very expensive in Philly and most lots require that you leave your keys so that they can jockey the cars around. I would pay the extra just to have an off-street, garage parking spot.

Be aware that the area referred to as "Center City" is not the historical district. Independence Hall is at 5th and Walnut Sts. and much of the historical sights are are in a part of town called "Old City". A hotel in Center City located at Broad and Chestnut is not that close but would be very convenient to City Hall and the Academy of Music. If you're interested in the Franklin Institute then you want a hotel in the Art Museum area.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

akamadforthemouse The Holiday Inn I mentioned is at 400 Arch Street. It says it is in the historical district. It seemed like most of the other hotels I saw said City Center and stated they were anywhere from .5 miles to a couple of miles from the sites.

I'll search to see if I can find a better area map. We basically want to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Could you suggest any must sees other than what I've listed?

Thanks for your help.

 

[nmmom95]

The Constitution Center is worth visiting. You can also ride the ducks and go to the aquarium in Camden. Those are all around the same area. If you want to venture a little further out, the Franklin Institute is a lot of fun. Parking is ridiculous in Philly, so I would definitely get a hotel with parking. This site may be helpful: http://www.gophila.com/

 

[Ricky's Girl]

Thanks nmmom95 I've been on the gophila site most of the afternoon. Now I'm leaning toward the Sheraton Society Hill on Dock Street. They're about $50 less per night than the Holiday Inn with parking included.

Any recommendations for a great place for cheesesteak? We've gotta try it while we're there. I did see on a hotel sight that someone recommended Jim's on South Street. Anyone ever been there?

 

[nmmom95]

Jim's is really good and South Street is worth a visit as well.

 

[of the seas]

What about the Omni Hotel at Independence Park? We stayed there last year and loved it. We got a great price and you could walk to a lot of sites.

 

[kirbsam]

i stayed at the hyatt at penns landing, and i walked to the old city atttractions as well as south street. i walked past the sheraton society hill on my way to independence hall and thought it was a great location.

 

[clori]

I stayed at Sheraton Society Hill this summer with dd9 and dd5 with no car. I was there for a conference but we spent time sight seeing and no one complained about the walking we did. We had a philadelphiapass (.com) and it worked out well for us. The hotel is a very quick walk to the National Liberty Museum which was really neat. We aso did things like the duckboat, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross's House, National Constitution Center etc. We skipped Independence Hall.

Sheraton Society Hill had a nice pool with both a hottub and a kiddie pool right with the pool. The room we has was a basic room with two double beds but it was more than big enought/comfortable for us. I can't comment much on food since most of what we had was included in the conference pricing.

 

[Disney Doll]

We just stayed at the Marriott in the city center near the Reading marketplace. I think my DSIL has some sort of "Silver Member" crad or something like that so we got the room for $109/night, but parking ended up being $43/day with tax!

But, it was close to a lot of stuff.

 

[Cindy B]

The Holiday Inn at 4th and Arch is a great location to many of the historical sights. I work right around the corner from there and it is walkable to many of the places.. IIRC, The Betsy Ross house is right around the corner!

Parking is very expensive in Philly. If you decide to park on the street, be very careful. The Parking Authority is very vigilant and tickets very frequently.

 

[krcit]

i stayed at the hyatt at penns landing, and i walked to the old city atttractions as well as south street. i walked past the sheraton society hill on my way to independence hall and thought it was a great location.

I was going to suggest the Hyatt. We stayed there and got a great deal on Hotwire, I think around $120. We also stayed at the Sheraton and it was a good location but I liked the Hyatt much better. The Hyatt is about a 5 minute walk from the Sheraton. The views we had from the Hyatt were beautiful. You should look into the pass a pp mentioned-it's a great deal. Enjoy!

PS. If you are considering using Hotwire-check betterbidding, it will help you figure out which hotel you are bidding on. I'm pretty sure that the Hyatt is the only 4* in Penn's Landing.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

Thanks everyone for all of the great ideas and suggestions. I'm going to go back on the gophila site and see what rates I can find for the Omni and the Hyatt.