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Phone: 215-735-2300

* One of the city's worst. But it is cheap *

This hotel is fairly horrendous. I was curious why this hotel was not listed on the city's official tourism website: www.gophila.com . And the prices seemed like such a bargain? The hotel's website lists rates at between $37 to $53 (as of July 2004).

I was not given the opportunity to see the rooms or walk the guest floors since my visit was on a Sunday, and I was told that only the manager could show me the rooms (and he was not present). But that's okay. It was quite easy to see that it's not a suitable hotel for most travellers.

This is a hotel for the poor. Behind the front desk is a sign that says condoms are free, courtesy of the city's health department. Right on the front desk is the "Complaint Book." I had never seen such a thing at a hotel. The guests had been writing their complaints in this book detailing the date, the room number and the problem. I noticed that each page in the book lasted about 2 days - so I could see there were many complaints over a very short period of time. Common problems were:

- toilet clogged

- sink clogged

- bathtub clogged

- no hot water

- blinds need replacing

- mattress needs replacing

And some people were writing in the same problems for the rooms again and again, so at least some things were not being promptly addressed. (Pages and pages of complaints.)

The cheapest rooms do not have bathrooms, just a sink. You have to share the toilet and shower with another room.

The lobby is low class... with lots of fans blowing around hot air. Yet, they have excellent limited edition Philadelphia prints on the lobby walls.

The clientele is low class.

And they have mice, which they blame on the local restaurants (and they are trying to deal with it they say). Hmm...

Outside, looking up at the building, I get the impression that this place is so poor. I hate to trash someone's business, but I'm going to call it as I see it: this place is bad.

If you are coming to Philly to experience the city, where you stay will have a substantial impact on the enjoyment of your visit, your level of comfort, and the memories that are created. While the Parker Spruce does have a very good location in the center area of the city, the quality of the facility appears to be quite bad. It's a rough place to stay. Do yourself a favor and choose a different hotel. However, if you want to go with this hotel, they say no partying and no prostitutes. The staff lives at the hotel and they sort of police this fairly large, old, tired, beat, facility.

I like the Philly prints in the lobby. There is a good convenience store across the street. The location of the hotel is very good. But the quality of the facility, in my view, is unacceptable.