francophile03

We have a reservation to stay at the Sheraton Philadelphia Center City Hotel which was formerly a Wyndham next week. It's for a group event so the group gets a discounted rate. After reading all of the many negative Trip Advisor reviews I was wondering should we just cancel and stay elsewhere although it'll cost us more including cost of transportation (event will be held at the Sheraton Center City)? Or just try to make the most of our stay whatever that may be?!

If anyone can suggest alternative good hotels that are within walking distance, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

francophile03

Since no one answered my question, I will just note what occured during our stay. We did keep the reservation at this particular Sheraton.

On the whole the hotel was very good. Maybe we were fortunate but we received a 6th floor room that was recently renovated. The bathroom had new marble tiles and a granite countertop.

The only minor issues we had were the spotty housekeeping where the housekeeper somehow forgot to replace soap and towels. This occured daily for the five days we were there. However, if you called Housekeeping they would bring up the necessary missing supplies promptly or if you saw the housekeeper in the hallway she would give you whatever you were missing. We just could not figure out how they could miss these items as they clean the rooms daily. It's a routine.

As for the Terrace Restaurant it has a limited b'fast buffet and it's a bit expensive for that matter at $17/person. Service could be a bit slow as they get overwhelmed with many guests all at once. One issue here was that there were still dirty dishes mixed in with the clean ones.

Front desk staff were not the friendliest nor were they very helpful.

All in all, the hotel is good if you get a renovated room. Do not expect 100% for service and you won't get frustrated. However, I believe management should seriously improve on these issues.

Suki

Hi francophile, thanks for the info. I did not see your original post, but it has been many years since I stayed at that hotel so I would not have been able to offer much anyway. How was the rest of your trip to Philadelphia? I hope you had some time to enjoy the city.

francophile03

Hi Suki, thanks. Yes. We had a great time in Philly. As it was the July 4th weekend there were a few festivals like the Taste of Philly food fest going on. It was so hot and humid we didn't want to spend hours in line waiting to get to see the Liberty Bell and Indpendence Square, two sights that are free. We did go visit the other Old City sights like the Betsy Ross House, Christ Church graveyard, and Elfreth's Alley. Couldn't see the Rodin Museum as we went on a Monday when it was closed, but saw The Thinker as it was outside the compound. We wanted to compare the museum to the one in Paris. And of course, we enjoyed the chesse steak sandwiches immensely too!

Barbara_in_CT

I'm seeing more and more hotels that post a small sign saying they won't replace the towels unless you leave them on the floor. It is an energy conservation matter

AnnMarie_C

Thanks for the follow up, francophile. DH & I are going to Philly in October, staying at the Westin--I haven't been there in 10+ years and am looking forward to returning. You mentioned some sights I hadn't considered.

francophile03

Just fyi, all the towels were placed on the floor. The Trip Advisor reviews suggest that the housekeeping has always had the problem of replacing towels and amenities even when it was under Wyndham's ownership.