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Phone: 215-568-8300

Street Address: 501 North 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130

Rates: From $79 to $139, depending upon demand. (As of December 2004.)

* The Only Hotel With Free Self-Parking That Is Within Easy Walking Distance From City Hall *

Location Rating: Very good for proximity to the Philadelphia Museum Of Art and the City Hall area. Excellent if you need to be near the Rodin Museum. Future Barnes Museum (2006?) will also be very close.

Lobby Appearance: Average. I noticed the slightest scent of an old building in the lobby, but only there.

Room Appearance: I visited a wing of the building that had just been renovated in Fall 2004. The first room I saw was #105. Among the features was a 25" TV, a desk and a coffee maker. The bathroom had two lights. The light by the sink was fine. The light near the shower was very low wattage and not bright enough. The room has both baseboard heat and vented heat.

I also saw a suite, room # 212. This had views of the big skyscrapers. The living room area was spacious and seemed a bit empty with not enough furniture. It had a 25" TV. The bedroom was fine though and also had a 25" TV.

Useful Nearby Businesses: Wawa and Domino's is right down the block. A supermarket and gas station is also nearby.

Hotel Restaurants: Their "Rodin Cafe" is a good size. It looks fairly new and struck me as having a comfortable atmosphere. They also have BW Sports Bar. It has 8 televisions and two pool tables. A game of pool will cost you $1.25. Bring quarters.

Other Amenities: Free HBO. Room has a hair dryer, voice mail and data ports. Iron and ironing board. AM/FM clock radio.

Would I Stay Here? Yes.

Comments: New rooms; close to the heart of the city; free parking; budget pricing. The free parking is especially attractive. Many other hotels in this part of the city will charge you $25 for overnight parking, and parking on the street isn't a good option since the nation's most aggressive parking authority is right here, and they won't cut you any slack on a ticket.

They have an outdoor swimming pool that they say is "Olympic size." I didn't have an opportunity to see it up close since it is closed for the winter.

Their brochure says they have "a new state of the art fitness center." That is an exaggeration. The state of the art fitness center I saw was a room with dimensions of maybe 10 feet by 15 feet with 1 walking machine, 1 bike machine, 1 stair stepper machine, and one other small machine, plus a television. That's it. The words "new state of the art fitness center" makes it seem like they have quite a fitness center. But it is just a little room with not much equipment and no weights (and it was chilly). I really hate when a hotel misleads a reader with their promotional material.

They say if there is noise after 11pm and a guest complains, their security guard will knock on the offenders door and give a warning. If the noise persists, they evict them.

The hotel has 183 rooms. Over 75% are non-smoking rooms. They have one room on each floor for disabled guests.

The older gentleman at the front desk spoke loudly to guests who were right in front of him and it came off as being harsh, but he was efficient.

An advantage of the hotel is ease of arrival. If you are driving down Interstate 95, pick up Interstate 676 near Penn's Landing and head west. Get off at the art museum exit (Benjamin Franklin Parkway). Turn right, cross the parkway on 22nd Street, and look for it on the right. If you drive to Spring Garden Street, then you just passed it.

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