I needed a hotel close to PHL airport for an early morning flight. Their shuttle doesn't depart until 6 am and unlike most other "airport" hotels does not pick up from the airport, so it did me no good (cabfare from the hotel to the airport is a little under $50 roundtrip). I had dinner in the restaurant and ordered an entree that was described as being accompanied by coleslaw. When I received my food, the coleslaw was nowhere in sight, so I asked the server about it. Her response: "We don't serve coleslaw." I see. While she was very friendly and polite and the food was good, I was surprised that they offered nothing to replace the missing salad, nor did they offer to remove a small part of the entree's too-high price. Would not eat there again on principle.
When I left my room at 4 the next morning to get the taxi I'd called, there was a sign near the elevators directing guests to use the service elevator. After waiting and waiting for the elevator I took the stairs, which led me to the darkened exterior pool. I went back up to my floor and called the front desk to be directed from the pool area into the ground floor of the hotel. Once entering, I had to walk through a construction area - very carefully, as there were saws and other tools lying on the floor.
The room was generally clean, there was dust in the corners and a couple of the lampshades were bent and a little dirty. The gap between the bottom of the door and the floor seemed unusually large and although there were three lamps and an overhead light the lighting in the room was poor. One of the telephones didn't work. The bed was clean and comfortable and upon checking the mattress seams, etc., I saw no sign of bedbugs or bugs of any kind. It was very difficult to get the room to a comfortable temperature, there seemed to be a choice of cold or roasting hot. The bathroom was clean but has seen better days. I used the in-room coffeemaker to make hot water for my Starbucks Via in the morning - when I returned to my room later that night, the water I'd not used was still in the carafe. The rooms are not very soundproof, I could hear my neighbor's conversation and the closing doors are particularly loud. Fortunately there weren't noisy people on my floor. The hotel does offer free internet and free parking.
The front desk staff seemed friendly enough, although when I returned to the hotel at the end of the day and asked if the elevators were working, the gentleman at the desk looked at me as if I were crazy and said "...yes." The security staff was very helpful and friendly.
Unlike other hotel chains (and other Holiday Inn/InterContinental) properties as well), there was no free 24 hour coffee/tea station (if there was, I couldn't find it). There is a convenience/sports store in the lobby that sells an 8oz cup of single-serve brewed coffee for a little over $2. It is a little annoying that ice machines aren't on the same floor as the vending machines.
When I need to stay near PHL again I will make another hotel choice even if it costs a little more - I'd rather apply the $50 airport cabfare to a nicer hotel with a free 24 hour RT airport shuttle. If I were attending a night event at of one of the stadiums and wanted to be within walking distance of a hotel, I would choose this hotel. For that, I would imagine it's perfect just for the convenient location and parking.
A note: if you're heading to 95 North after leaving the hotel there's a 24 hour drive through Dunkin Donuts just prior to entering the highway.
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