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Phone: 215-925-0000

Street Address: 401 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA

* Very comfortable - great location *

The Omni is very well located in the Independence Park area. This means Independence Hall, the famous building on the back of the $100 bill, is right up the block. And the location of the hotel has an enhanced level of security due to the presence of the Park Service Rangers, in addition to the city police.

The Omni is situated on a fairly tame one way street. Guests can relax by the bar/lounge and enjoy views of horse drawn carriages transporting their tourist passengers.

The rooms at the Omni are of excellent quality. Concierge "Gale" gave me the grand tour. The hotel has a total of 150 rooms on 14 floors. I enjoyed the higher-up corner rooms with distant views of the Delaware River. Rooms feature numerous extras like safes, umbrellas, irons, robes, coffee makers... and 27" televisions.

Gale says the hotel is 12 years old. It looks like new.

On the second floor is the delightful Azalea Restaurant. I was impressed with the atmosphere of the restaurant. A large window overlooking Independence Park had a view of trees that could make a person think they are not in a big city.

On the basement level floor is a 3½ foot lap pool (small) which is in a secure area requiring a key card to access. A jacuzzi and sauna is there as well. I found this atmosphere to be soothing.

I was unable to see the "bridal suite" during my visit, since it was occupied. Gales says it is "glorious" and she spoke with pride about it. She says it has two stories.

In the lobby area a piano plays automatically, and the sound is nice. I really enjoyed George the bartender. He's a hell of a nice guy and fun to chat with. The bar area is a great place to watch the street action.

Across the street is "Cosi," a cafe with indoor and outdoor eating areas. And the well known restaurant "Buddakan" is next to the cafe. Behind the Omni is the Bourse Building. It has shops and a food court with many choices for getting a bite to eat.

The only negatives that caught my eye were exaggerations in the hotel's brochure:

- "Fully equipped fitness center"

To me, this means the fitness center is like Bally's or Gold's Gym. Reality is they only have 3 or 4 cardio machines in one very small room.

- "10 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport"

That's pretty optimistic. It's possible you could get to the hotel in 10 minutes, but you would need Speed Racer as a taxi driver and he would have to blow all the red lights. Fifteen minutes is about right, if there are no traffic problems.

I think the Omni is a great place to stay.