Well, let me first start of by saying what a great time we had all weekend. I didnt get a ring. But I was fine. It will come. We got into town after leaving NJ in a down pour. I was very unhappy. But to my surprise there was no rain in Philly the entire weekend.
We stayed at The Omni Idependence Park. The location was great but the hotel was OK. The showers where awful. NO WATER PRESSURE. It was like taking a shower with a watering can. The room itself was nice, but the bed wasn't very comforable for me. I sound very picky but I promise I am not.
We had dinner on Friday night at Buddakan. It was so good. We showed up early to have some drinks to kill time before our reservation and they seated us right away. We had a very nice dinner, we took a stroll down our memory lane and it was a very special night. We decide to take a walk around the area after dinner which turned out to be a big mistake. Ladies I am sure you can symphathize. I had on really high heels and got a bullet hole blister on my little toe. Not such a great thing when you will be walking all the next day.
I took it like a trooper when I packed my shoe full of cotton and we headed of to the zoo. Let me just say if you havent been to the zoo in awhile (I was 20 years ago,1982, 2nd grade) you need to go. I had THE best time. I enjoyed it even more then I thought I would. Even though I hobbled the whole time, it was great. I would defintly take a trip there again soon.
We went back to the hotel and I put on flip flops and we walked around to see the sights (liberty Bell, Independence Hall) More walking. I was ready to die.
After having to take the worst shower in the world we headed over to The Continental. Which was great. We had many appetizers before the show and we had alotted about 1 1/2 hours for a snack before the show and where done in about 25. So we sat and had some drinks which was nice to sit down for awhile. It fit our needs perfectly.
We took a cab to the show and at this point we where exhausted. The show was excellent, although we both seem to like the other show Dralion we saw better. I have a feeling we will always compare them to one another. We will try to see every new show every year. But it was a great show and the only problem we had was finding a cab back to the hotel. Our cab driver there said it was NO problem. Well there was about 150 other people needing cabs so we walked away from the area and just kept walking. We walked all the way back to our hotel, about 3 miles. It was a beautiful night and I still had my flip-flops on. We dressed very casual just so I could wear them and not look silly. I couldnt get any type of shoe on my feet at that point. But it was a nice walk, even though we were beyond exhausted at this point. We where was too over stimulated in one day. Too much to see and way too much walking.
It was a great trip though. Even without a ring, I had a great time. I would recommend Philly to anyone who would like a nice weekend away with some great restaurants, bars and sites to see.
Thanks for all your help.
JK

Juli, glad you had a great trip but I was also in Philly on Friday and it rained all day!!! Buckets! Then it was nice that evening. You must have arrived Friday evening? Good planning!

I have to head back to Philly in two weeks, tell me about Buddakan.

Also did you book the Omni thru priceline?

Most Omni hotels are really unimpressive in my experience.
Radissons, too.
After being burned a few times there are chains I simply will not waste my money on.
Cheap and depressing is not often better than expensive but memorable.

Frank:
I will remember your warning. Because it was a holiday weekend, we where stuck. I loved the location and every other hotel was about $200 per night. With tax the Omni ran $355 for the 2 nights. This trip wasnt supposed to break the bank. Next time I will make sure we dont take a weekend trip over a holiday weekend, especially when we have to work on Monday, no sense in that

Wendy: Buddakan was great. But pricy for 2 people. But like evry restaurant I think it is what you choose. They serve everything family style, presented nice and cut into small portions. We had 2 appetizers. The Chicken Ginger dumplings, and Wasabi Tuna Pizza (14.50) which I thought was worth it for the pizza. I am going to try to make it at home for a cocktail party. The we had the Tuna and Filet Mignon. Which I think are the 2 highest priced items on the menu. Plus dessert and 3 drinks each, (it was a long dinner) I think with tip and tax the bill was $150. But we like to eat good food and it was, and we treated this meal as a special occasion. The atmoshpere was really fun and even though we where in a crowded place we still felt very cozy and where able to talk. We wanted to try Cuba Libre,I think that was the name. Every time we walked by the smell was incredible and the food looked so good. They just didnt have a table and we couldnt wait we where starved.
I booked the Omni right through the hotel itself, they have weekend packages I think it was $140/fri and $160/sat. But it was a holiday weekend so it may be even less. Plus Buddakan is about 200 ft. away from the Omni and about 4 blocks away are another clump of bars and restaurants right at the entrance to Penns Landing, I think it was. Even though we walked alot I am still not all that familar with the area.
Any other questions just ask.

Juli: After being in Philadelphia do you have a recommendation for another hotel with a good location. I was thinking of the Omni for its location, but I would also like to stay somewhere with relatively nice accomodations.

The Society Hill Sheraton is very nice. It's within walking distance to many great restaurants (including Buddakan) and bars. Also close to Penns Landing. Hotel itself is was clean and accomodating. Staff and service were great. I stayed there last month and I paid under 125.00 including tax. Parking is a bit high though--I think it was 25.00. Maybe that's normal for that area of Philly.

I recall that the Omni was also going to charge about $25/day for parking on site, so must be typical.

I was also thinking about the Sofitel near Rittenhouse Square, however although the hotel seemed like it would have nice accomodation, I was concerned that the area would be a bit dead at night and we'd have to cab it everywhere. Any thoughts?

Sofitel is fabulous. I happen to love the location, especially at night time. There are fabulous restaurants (Pasion, Circa, Susanna Foo, Striped Bass, Rouge, Alma de Cuba...) and great bars. You are walking distance to "Restaurant Row" and some great places for late night drinks (Rouge, Bleu, Devon, Le Hexagone, Magazine, Bar Noir). It is a different atmosphere than "Olde City" which is only around a 6 dollar taxi ride. the restaurants and bars tend to be a little more upscale versus the trendieness of Old City. As a Philadelphia resident, I would prefer staying near rittenhouse square, but i would still allow for a night out in Olde City.

Cheryl:

I had priced the Hyatt, which is always my preference. pretty reasonably on Travelocity.com, but because it was a holiday weekend they werent offering the Sat. stay. There reg. price was around $300-$325 and I think they offered it at $165. I did find it on Expedia for both nights at $250 but it seemed crazy for just the weekend in Philly. I would check the dates on those 2 sites and honestly the Omni wasnt terrible. The room was really big, with a desk, couch and king sized bed. I just didnt like the low pressure shower heads. I think because we bought a special one for our shower at home, I've been spoiled but it annoyed me. For the money we saved over the Hyatt a great shower isnt worth almost $200 savings. So I guess I should look at it that way. We also spent very little time in the room. We where out all day Sat. and if we stayed in another part of town we wouldnt have had the time to see the liberty bell and independence hall. Also, I had picked Buddakan to eat at before I knew how close it was to the hotel so that was also great too, it saved us cab fare to and from the restaurant.
We also paid $25 for parking, I think that is standard.
Hope my info can help

Cheryl, also check out the Loews hotel, they have specials and you can usually find a good rate. Rooms are comfortable, nothing spectacular, but it's a nice building and good location.