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Phone: 215-923-3535

Street Address: Spruce At 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA

* Interesting, unusual City Views from upper level floors *

The Alexander Inn is buried in an interesting, attractive residential neighborhood that is also considered to be the gay part of the city. One of the things I found most interesting about this hotel is the corner views from the upper level rooms. Room 701 has the best view and this is the room to ask for. I had never seen this particular view of Center City before - very interesting.

The Alexander Inn is a national historic landmark which was built between 1890 to 1898 and it originally opened as the Flanders Hotel. It has 48 rooms on 7 floors. And it has the distinction of being one of the first buildings in Philadelphia to get an elevator. (Of course, the original has been replaced. The hotel was renovated recently.)

Sinatra style music played quietly over a speaker in the lobby. I didn't really like the darkish lobby area, but I was much happier with the room environments. The rooms are well lit, very clean, tastefully designed and comfortable, with excellent air conditioning. Their smallest rooms are cramped and those bathrooms are ultra tiny. For a little more money, I would go with their larger rooms... which have much more space.

In the basement is a small mirror-walled fitness room with 4 cardio machines and a set of dumbbells. Also in the room is a computer for checking email or surfing the web (free for guests). In the hallway leading to the fitness room are vending machines for snacks and drinks.

I noticed security cameras on the ground floor. One monitored the elevator. Interesting Philadelphia art hangs on the corridor walls.

They say they are always sold-out on weekends and have a lot of repeat customers.

General manager John Cochie, who is also one of the owners, is a stickler for detail. An example: there's a mark in the carpet in the second floor hallway. It is so subtle that I never would have noticed it had he not pointed it out. Steam cleaning cannot remove the mark, so he wants to replace that entire section of carpet. And if he can't get the same matching carpet, then he thinks he wants to rip out all the corridor carpets on all the floors and replace all of it with a carpet that matches. Wow! That is extreme attention to detail, and a good quality for a hotel manager. It says a lot. (I think replacing the carpet is unnecessary.)

What I like about this location is that you walk out the door and are surrounded by an interesting residential neighborhood where so much is within an easy walk. You can walk to the Kimmel Center and the Avenue Of The Arts for a concert or play, to artsy South Street to see Philly's wild side, and to the Convention Center. Restaurants, shops, historic sights are nearby. Antique Row is also close. I found myself discovering streets and alleys and interesting restaurants in this neighborhood.

The third and fourth floors are designated smoking floors. Wheelchair bound guests should consider another hotel.