Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue

Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue Review

Though its name has been changed many times, this building will always be "the Bellevue" to Philadelphians. The hotel has had an important role in city life, much like the heroine of a long-running soap opera. The epitome of the opulent hotels characteristic of the early 1900s, the Bellevue Stratford was the city's leading hotel for decades. It closed in 1976 after the first outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, which spread through the building's air-conditioning system during an American Legion convention. The hotel has reopened several times since then, and now includes upscale shops and restaurants and a food court in its basement, but its character seems to have remained the same.