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Location Rating: Excellent heart of the city location across from the Convention Center.

Lobby Appearance: This is a unique property. It was the first modernist skyscraper when it opened August 1, 1932. Certain extravagances were bestowed upon the building, such as numidian sanguine marble from Algiers, Africa and Belgium black marble. You can see this marble in the lobby area, plus other unusual heavily veined marble in the elevator bank area.

The lobby has a modern look with a lot of black marble and subdued lighting. It's not a futuristic look, but it is modern. There really is no place comfortable to hang out there, but there is "Sole Food" a spacious seafood restaurant and bar area on the lobby level. A smooth jazz style of music plays in the lobby.

Room Appearance: Modern interior design style. It is a style which is distinct to this hotel. I found Presidential Suite #3118 to be large and coldly modern, except the bedroom was comfortable and the bathroom was quite nice. The shower had multiple shower heads. The tub had a fancy faucet. And both the bathroom and the bedroom had impressive views of the very close City Hall.

I visited executive suite #2420. This room had a nice little parlor and bathroom that could be made separate from the bedroom.

The views from high-up rooms can be very impressive and very interesting. Bathrooms are quite nice. Fancier rooms have a few fresh flowers in the bathrooms. Every room I saw was in perfect order. Clearly the standards are high here.

Useful Nearby Businesses: Since the location is the heart of the city, everything is here. Across the street is the city's largest hotel, the Marriott. They've got "JW Steakhouse" which they compare to Morton's and Capital Grille. A Starbucks is there. Also across the street is the Hard Rock Cafe and a Dunkin Donuts. And there is so much more nearby, including a huge selection of highly regarded restaurants.

Hotel Restaurants: They only have "Sole Food." This is a seafood restaurant. The atmosphere is unusual. I found it curious that the restaurant had a polished black stone on every napkin at the tables. The bar area has a large amount of space for standing around. A locally televised morning news show is filmed live in the corner window area. And outside that window is one of the city's busiest street corners for pedestrian traffic.

Other Amenities: On the 5th floor there is a nice quiet fitness center. It is spacious, has a good quantity of workout equipment, and it is not busy at all, and a skinny lap pool is a part of this facility. The lap pool might be only 8 feet wide, but it's long. I've got bad news for you though... it will cost you $10 to use the pool and fitness center. It's a quality gym with a fresh Scandinavian look and a quiet boom-boom disco beat in the air, but I am really unimpressed that the hotel does not include this in the room rate. The nearby Park Hyatt provides free access to the attached 5 story, 93,000 square foot "Sporting Club." It's an incredible, comprehensive multi-million dollar fitness center where you could spend your whole day, and for Park Hyatt guests it is free. It blows away the "Balance Spa & Fitness" center at the Loews.

Overnight parking is $30. If you want to use the WebTV in your room, that's $20. If you want to surf the net in their nice business center, that's $7.50 per 15 minutes. Free wireless is available only in the restaurant and on the 33rd floor. Rooms have a safe large enough to store a laptop.

Would I Stay Here? Yes.

Comments: What an interesting adventure it was to discover this building. These floors: 30, 31, 32 are the "Club Level" floors. Thirty floors doesn't sound like much, but I definitely felt the change in my ears as the elevator sped us skyward. To be allowed on to the Club Level floors, you will need to have a keycard which authorizes the elevator to go there. How fascinating it was to see the views there. A library area provides views towards the Delaware River, and you can see quite a lot from that high up. On the opposing end of the building is a private lounge with completely different, fascinating views of City Hall and other sights. I very much enjoyed these fascinating vantage points.

The hotel has 583 guestrooms on 33 floors. They say they are the most pet friendly. A flat per-stay fee of $25 is all that it will cost (that is $100 cheaper than the nearby Ritz Carlton).

Mainly, the hotel is very interesting to me because of its uniqueness, high quality, and terrific, up-close big city views of Philadelphia. As I toured the hotel, I felt like I was on an adventure. It is not a typical, ordinary hotel.