We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Piladephia for a getaway weekend. The city itself is a great place for a family trip. The hotel, however was another matter. It started off great until we got home and found that the debited our account for hundreds of dollars more than we actually spent. When contacted they agreed that the charges were made incorrectly but they had no record of those charges actually being made and could or would not do anything to help us get our money back into our account. Basically, they had no idea how the charges got there other than they did and had no idea how to undo this mess.

I would advise that when choosing a place to stat in Philly, you avoid this place - they are inefficient and not particularly accommodating to the customer.

We (me, wife, 2 kids aged 9 & 6) just returned from a 2 night stay (7/7 - 7/9) at the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia.

It was a quick getaway using my Priority Club points.

We stayed in a Club Level Room on the 24th floor (room 2406). It was a few doors down from the elevator and ice/soda machine, but VERY quiet. We didn't hear any noise at all (and we did have people across from us, and on one side - the suite next door was not occupied during our stay).

The room was a nice size (two comfortable double beds) with a great work area for your notebook. Nice Flat Panel TV with good TV choices. The bathroom was small. Not much room between the shower and toilet, but it was functional and clean. Having the sink outside the shower/toilet area actually worked out better for us.

Being on the Club level and being a Gold Priority Club member, we had access to the Club Lounge on the 8th Floor. This worked out great for breakfast. They had the usual bread, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, oatmeal, cereals, granola bars, and one hot dish (eggs the first morning, and egg mcmuffin type things the second morning). Coffee, tea, juice, soda, and water were also available. It was perfect to get our day started.

In the evening, they also had a managers reception where they had cheese, crackers, fresh fruit, a couple of hot items (mini-lobster things and mini-lamb chops the one night we stopped in), and a few other snacks along with soda, water, juice, as well as 'adult beverages'.

They also had a movie night in the Club Lounge, but we did not attend.

The Club Lounge itself was very nice, comfy chairs/couches, newspapers and magazines.

Originally I thought only the Gold Card member was able to access the lounge, but they said everyone in the same room was able to use it. You do need a card that was programmed for club access to get in.

Staff in the lounge was outstanding, as was the staff throughout the hotel and parking garage.

We made use of the pool twice - and it was never crowded. We didn't use the exercise room, but I did look in and was typical for a hotel exercise room. Modern cardio equipment, some free weights, and some weight machines.

We did not eat in the hotel restaurant, but did notice a fair amount of people there and at the bar.

We parked in the attached garage ($33.00 per night), and it worked out well. There are some less expensive garages in the area, but having in/out privileges was worth the few extra dollars (not to mention the convenience).

They are still working on the elevators, but we did not experience any noise or delays as a result of the work.

Only negatives (and not really that negative) were housekeeping did not replenish the shampoo/soaps/conditioner the second day - but a quick call to housekeeping and they brought up a whole bag full within minutes! Other negative is that two glasses were left by the service elevator (which was out-of-service) and remained there out entire stay. Again, not a big deal as it was off to the side, and not visible unless you were going to get ice or a soda from the vending machine - but you would think someone from housekeeping or elsewhere would have removed it.

The hotel itself is very convenient. It is near mass transit, and there are plenty of restaurants and shopping right around the hotel. You can also walk to a lot/most of the major tourist attractions in the area (we walked to the Mint and Treasury, although we took the subway back). Unrelated to the hotel, but we did the CityPass which worked out very well for us.

Overall, it was an excellent hotel and experience.

Ed

We stayed here for a weekend as part of a holiday in Eastern US cities. It's located in the financial district and we got a really good deal - we suspect that's because it was the weekend.

Location was fine, about 5 minutes from City Hall and 10 from Rittenhouse Square and good public transport was near at hand.

Room was large (2 double beds), well-appointed, very clean and modern. Facilities were also very good. Swimming Pool was welcome in the hot weather and not busy. Restauarant and bar in the hotel was good - we didn't fancy going far on our fast night after some long travelling - and food and drink was good value, although there are better restaurants when you're going out for the evening (Devon Seafood and Grill on Rittenhouse in particular).

The one thing that really stood out was the helpfulness of the staff (apart from the barman on the Sunday evening of our stay - but don't let one miserable sod put you off he was the exception to the rule!). From check in, concierge staff, restaurant waitress and cleaners we were impressed by their friendliness, courteousy and willingness to help without them being overbearing and this helped change the stay from okay to very pleasant.

We missed our connection at Philly airport and were looking for a hotel to spend a day at downtown to at least use the time before continuing our trip the next evening. I was clever enough not to ask for a walk-in rate at the hotel (probably 200+) instead called the travel agency, and made a reservation for remarkable less money. This even works well in te middle of the night (it was around 10 pm already).

Second advise: take a taxi, there is a flat rate in Philly for transportation from the airport to downtown, and its only 30 USD. We listend to the advise of the hotel and used a shuttle, which took us on an almost 1.5 h ride before arriving the hotel - a taxi takes about 15-30 minutes.

Hotel check-in was nice, we got a good room which was clean even though quite small and old facion - today, you would probably make the bathroom some how bigger. But the room is nice. We woke up the next morning because of traffic noice. The hotel is really at downtown, and in the morning the streets are filled with people and cars. And you will hear that. Never mind, it was ok for us.

The good thing regarding this hotel is the location: just 5 doors further, there is a 24 h dinner which I can recommend a lot. Nice old facion american style, great food, reasonable priced. We went there shortly after midnight and had a nice sandwich as well the next morning for a remarkeble good breakfast - taste their pancakes!

What else to say: nothing much, it was just one night and I actually didn't test many facilities of the hotel. But probably not a bad choise when you are there - free internet access, etc. Also close to the attractions at downtown. So for a pick without checking for hotels here at tripadvisor it was ok. I would give it a 3.5 and probably go there again - why not.