We stayed at The Rittenhouse for one night. We were in Philadelphia with our ten year old son to see the historical sites. Let me begin by saying that for us, service is number one. That is our first requirement and if it is bad the entire trip/experience is ruined for us. The Rittenhouse does not fail in that department, however I will say that when we arrived I was not impressed with the gentleman checking us in. Other than that the service was flawless.
Pros:
* Service: Other than at check in, service was great. We were in the room possibly five to ten minutes when we had a knock on the door and a tray with complimentary bottled water, fruit, milk and cookies for my son, a treasure map for him to color, etc. was delivered. When we called down for towels, they were delivered within minutes. We called to have our safe looked at (my husband pressed some button that turned off the display) and they were there immediately. Every request was tended to extremely promptly and cheerfully. We were offered champagne,juice, chocolate covered strawberries and cookies in the lobby. When we checked out we had a small cooler in the car, they ran (without being requested to do so) to refill the ice and brought it back with white glove (literally) service. Reservations for dinner, etc. all wonderfully handled. Complimentary car service was offered by Mike (extremely helpful) to drop us at Independence Hall. Wonderful.
*Location: On Rittenhouse Square. Beautiful park right in front of the hotel, nice shopping, restaurants nearby.
*Complimentary car service within city limits. This was great for us.
*Comfortable beds with good sheets.
*Complimentary internet.
Cons:
*Decor: The decor in the main part of the hotel is fine. The rooms are dated. There is no getting around it. The reviewer that compared it to Dynasty had it right on. We were in a suite on the 9th floor. It was spacious, but dated. Wallpaper border, doorknobs that I think must go back to the 70's. The shower was about 3 ft. x 2ft., and I am being generous with that measurement. I literally measured it with my feet. I am a ladies size 7. My 6'1'' husband could barely move his arms around.
*Pool: My husband and son went in while I sat poolside. They had to get out because the chlorine was so, so strong. We swim every day at our club at home and are used to pool water. This was ridiculous. My husband and son both had eyes so red that they got out and had to rinse out their eyes. My son was looking forward to swimming, but I would not let him get back in.
Overall, we enjoyed the hotel. This is because the service we received was excellent. I have not stayed at the Ritz in Philadelphia, but have been to the Four Seasons. We chose The Rittenhouse based on Trip Advisor reviews. I liked the Four Seasons, but it was very much focused on the business traveler so we thought we would try The Rittenhouse. The service at The Rittenhouse would be hard to beat, but the Four Seasons wins for decor. On another note, check out City Food Tours of Philadelphia. We went and really enjoyed it.
hotel reviews