I booked the City Center Embassy Suites after an amazing stay at an Embassy Suites in Honolulu. I was going to a conference that was held at the Sofitel and chose not to stay there since I am a Hilton HHonors Gold VIP.

Amazingly, the Embassy Suites was MORE expensive than the chi-chi Sofitel. I figured the included breakfast and happy hour would make up for the difference, but this hotel had the worst happy hour food-- only dried out pretzels and chips with Pace salsa.

The renovations going on at the time weren't bothersome to me. I've seen worse.

The best thing about my stay was the view from my room. It was breath-taking! I stared right down the road overlooking the huge fountain and art museum.

Thanks to the reviews from Trip Advisor we changed our hotel from the airport Embassy Suites to the Center City Embassy Suites and were extremely happy. The location is right on the Parkway next to almost every main attraction, and if not, then a short walk will get you to the majority of hot spots in town. The hotel room was newly renovated and huge. The bed was extremely comfortable and the staff were all very friendly. The hotel is connected to a T.G.I. Fridays for breakfast, which was fair, and the hotel has a comfortable sitting area for happy hour. There were only two draw-backs to the hotel: 1) The elevators, there are only 3 elevators, and most of the time, especially when the hotel is full, it takes a while for the elevator. Knowing this ahead of time made the wait acceptable. 2) Since the hotel is downtown, you have to pay for valet parking which was $31/night. A little steep but from what I hear cheaper than most cities. I would definately recommend this hotel to anyone staying in downtown Philadelphia. Another plus was they matched the AAA rates on-line.

This hotel has a prime location if you're taking advantage of the museums along Ben Franklin Pwky., it's about 7 blocks to Walnut St. & Rittenhouse Park. It has a very dated exterior, but the inside is being renovated. My room was one of the renovated ones and the furnishings are room size are very impressive. Large kitchen area, huge living room with private balcony and a nice seperate bedroom. The bathrooms are small and they're kind of stingy with the bath ammenities (one soap, one very tiny shampoo, 2 towels, etc). For a recently renovated room, I felt it could have been cleaner but housekeeping might have been in a hurry as it was a busy weekend.

There is limited room service, just deliveries from the TGI Friday's in the lobby. Breakfast is an average buffet at the restaurant, but get there early or you're not going to get in. Parking is high $31.00/
night.

The staff is wonderful, we had a problem with the video game unit in the room and it was fixed ASAP. The front desk remembered me by name when I went in and out and they spent time chatting with my young son. Even the valet was professional and courteous. All in all, a nice place worth staying at for professionals and couples but it doesn't offer much for kids.

We went to Philadelphia to see the Barnes exhibit and have dinner at the City Tavern. We wanted a suite hotel since we were traveling with our adult children. The rooms were clean with adequate space, but in the first room we were given, the circuit breaker on the thermostat kept tripping so we were without heat. The second room, newly renovated, the bathroom door would not close. The elevators were inadequate for the number of guests. The remote controls for the televisions were terrible. Our previous stays at Embassy Suites in other cities have all been in stark contrast. Philadelphia is a great city, so visit, but stay elsewhere.