I spent LOTS of time reading reviews here, and thankfully, there were good reviews about this hotel, and location was one of the top priorities for this trip.
We were happy with our room rate, although we booked rather last minute, and the only type of room available was a king bed with a sleeper sofa. This was not my 1st pref. but we just put the kids on the sleeper sofa. We were only there for one night. Yes, the valet charge was a bummer, and the only thing I noticed was that it took them a long time to move our car from the street in front of the hotel to wherever they store them.
The room was fairly clean and quiet. The lobby is very pretty and the staff was friendly and helpful. They gave the kids "goodie bags" when we first checked in. We didn't let the kids open them until we were in for the night.
The conceirge at the hotel was wonderful. I spoke with her A LOT about everything and she had answers for everything and she was very elegant and treated us with respect and she was very sweet with the children. You could tell she enjoys her job.
She recommended several places for dinner and we ended up choosing a restaurant called Jones. (Jones-restaurant) It was a very hip retro style restaurant with GREAT food. They have no kids menu specified, but they could order selections from an adult entree and they would just bring part of it. But some things on the menu were very kid friendly. My daughter had tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. My son had fried chicken and french fries - his portion was a bit large. My other daughter had grilled cheese and chips. See photos of food.
The hotel is within walking distance of many sight seeing things from a historical perspective. We happened to be in the right place at the right time and were near liberty plaza during an open house of independence hall, so we did not have to wait and get tickets etc. The tour guide was awesome. He was a great communicator and very knowlegable and easy to hear and understand. He involved the children and kept their attention.
We also splurged on a 20 min. horse and buggy ride through the historic district. This was great because they are not just letting you ride and look, they give you a running commentary on the history and they know lots of little neat tidbits of info that you may not have known or they point out things you may not have noticed. I wish we would have paid for a longer tour. We paid $30 for 20 min. There was a sign that said tips were appreciated, so I tipped $5. My kids were thrilled because this is something they would like to do in NYC, and we never have, so it was a treat.
The new visitors center is awesome and the gift shops all around are great. The one at the Betsy Ross house and the National parks building are 2 we visited. If you have lots of money to spare, there are adorable historical dolls for purchase at the National parks gift shop. Ben Franklin, and other colonial looking dolls. They start at like $90 each, though. I wish I would have splurged on one, because they were beautifully made. But, no, I did not.
However, we never made it to the Rittenhouse square area, shopping area or other areas in the city. But having never been there, I'm not sure what I was missing. Our location was close enough that we could walk down to Penn's Landing.
The Liberty Bell was great. The display for it now is beautiful. It's cool to see Independence Hall behind it through the window when you are inside looking at it.
Also, a couple of doors down on the block of the hotel entrance there is a tiny shop that sells ice cream and water ice (slushees). On the opposite corner there is a COSI. We went to both places.
If you are there with kids to see the historical things, I would highly recommend this hotel. I booked over the phone with the hotel "headquarters," and they were careful to ask about what type of view and what floor in addition to smoking or non, beds, etc. If we return we will stay there.
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