Research Your Hotel Options At Hotelinspector.com
100% Hotel Reviews
No Reservations Offered
Just info, opinions, recommendations... and THE BRUTAL TRUTH

Phone: 215-755-9500

Street Address: 900 Packer Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19148

* The One And Only Hotel Within The Immediate Vicinity Of The Stadiums *

Rates: $109 to $309 as of December 2004. Higher prices apply during the big games, like Eagles playoffs.

Location Rating: Very good if you want to go to a Phillies baseball game, an Eagles football game, or an event at the Spectrum or Wachovia Center. It is a poor location if you want to see historic Philadelphia. They say it is 4 miles from the airport and 4 miles from Center City.

Lobby Appearance: Looks new. Upbeat background music plays. A gas fireplace is to the side, a lobby hangout area is on the other side.

Room Appearance: Also looks new. Everything was renovated in 2004.

Useful Nearby Businesses: Only one - the South Philadelphia "Turf Club." This is a place to gamble on horse races, and it is huge! Nothing else is here except for vast parking lots and industrial businesses.

Hotel Restaurants: "Sportz Page Restaurant." It is a sport bar. You can watch every single football game in the country here simultaneously. Lots of big televisions.

Other Amenities: Plenty of free parking. And it is easy to park a bus here. Free business center. Free high speed internet access. They will lend you a wifi card for free if you need one for your laptop. Washers and dryers available for use at a cost of $1 per load. They have an outdoor pool, but it is only open during summer. There is a small, cramped fitness center. They say new equipment is coming. Rooms have new Sealy mattresses. No airport shuttle available for now. You will need to use a taxi instead.

Would I Stay Here? Yes, especially in a King Executive room. If you are staying around the fourth of July, ask for a ballpark view. You might get to see some fireworks.

Comments: Almost the entire hotel is brand new. The parking lot has been freshly paved. The corridors have a pleasant, fresh new look. Light colors. Calming. The rooms are new, with the exception of the tub in the bathroom. I was told all the bathrooms are being updated soon.

Smoking rooms are on the second, third and fourth floors. They have 6 rooms for the handicapped, including rooms with assisted bed lift.

The rooms have either distant views of the city's skyscrapers or close-up views of Citizens Bank Ball Park - where professional baseball games are played. They say that everyone asks for a stadium view and nobody asks for a city view. You can't watch a baseball game from here, but you will be able to see people in the stands. Near or on the fourth of July, every year, the Phillies (baseball team) launch a huge fireworks show after their game is over. I was there in July 2004. The game was tied after the 9th inning, so they kept playing. And playing, and playing! Finally in the 16th inning, the Phillies scored a run and the game ended. The fireworks began after 1:30 in the morning! And the hotel is right there in front of it. The intensity of the show was enormous and it must have woken up a huge number of people.

Of the rooms I saw, the King Executive (room 1115) was definitely the best. It was spacious and comfortable with a king-sized bed, a desk, couch, refrigerator, microwave and a good view of the ball park. It would be a comfortable place to call home.

Across the street is the Turf Club. I checked it out. Nobody under 18 is allowed in, because this is a gambling establishment. Inside I was astonished to see how big it was. A very large number of televisions show horse races from somewhere - I guess other parts of the country? (There is no horse track here or horses. You just place bets and watch TV.) The clientele is 99.9% men and the smell of cheap cigars is in the air.

From this hotel, you can walk to the baseball or football games. This is an industrial part of the city.

There is another hotel which implies in their name that they are close to the stadiums, the "Philadelphia Days Inn Stadium." This hotel is far from the stadiums. It is not within easy walking distance. And it is not as nice as this Holiday Inn.

Unfortunately, somebody just suffered multiple gun shots here (December 20, 2004) in an apparent drug deal that went bad. It is surprising news. The hotel is nice.

See Philadelphia Art         OR         Go To Next Page