Planning to go to Philly next weekend. Can anyone reccommend a downtown hotel that is close to the best sites. We don't need luxury, just a good clean place where we can walk to some of the sites. We plan to see Cirque de Soleil on Sat. night. Don't want to spend a lot of money on a place to stay if possible. Any help would be much appreciated on lodging or anything else.

Linda,

I just bid on Priceline for Downtown Philly and got the Westin on 10/11 for $75.

You can check out biddingfortravel.com to see a list of the hotels.

Which Cirque du Soleil? I just saw Drallion her in Seattle and Saltimbaco last year, fantastic!

Thanks! Do you reccommend Priceline? I have never used it but was thinking of it. Would I be safe bidding on a downtown location or could I get into somthing in a bad section? We are going to see Varekai. I have never seen a live Cirque show. How did you go about your bid to end up with the Westin? Thanks.

People from Philly refer to the "downtown" as "center city". It's broken up into all different sections, such as Olde City, Society Hill, Art Museum, University City, etc. If you want to stay near attractions, bid on a hotel in Olde City. There are no bad sections in center city, although some tourists don't seem to like the convention center area which is the area around 12th and Arch. I checked out the sections of the city that you can bid on, and as long as you bid on anything they have in the "downtown" list you don't have to worry about safety.

Linda, this is my 3rd time using Priceline and I love it. You learn as you go as with anything! This is what bidding for travel lists as the hotels in Philly:

PHILADELPHIA

Downtown

4 Star
Park Hyatt at the Bellevue LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Loews Philadelphia LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Westin Philadelphia LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Omni Philadelphia LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW

3 Star
Sheraton Society Hill LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Sheraton Rittenhouse Square
Crowne Plaza LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Marriott
Club Quarters LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Wyndham Franklin Plaza LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Doubletree
Radisson Warwick
Hyatt Penn's Landing
The Hotel Windsor LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW

2.5 Star
Hilton Garden Inn LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Courtyard Downtown

University

3 Star
Hilton Inn at Penn
Sheraton University City LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW

Trevose/Bensalem

2.5 Star
Doubletree Club Philadelphia Northeast LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Holiday Inn Select

Philadelphia Airport (PHL)

3 Star
Marriott

These are the areas Priceline offers (they don't space it out like Philly suggested):

Cherry Hill - Mount Laurel - City Line
Deptford - Runnemede
Downtown Philadelphia
Philadelphia Airport (PHL) Trevose - Bensalem
University Area
Veterans Stadium

Sheraton Suites LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Renaissance
Hilton

2.5 Star
Courtyard by Marriott

The other 2 times I used Priceline was in Boston. Once I got the Westin there also, the next I got the Doubltree. Both really good locations.

You are just going to love the show, I'm sure it is as exciting as all the others!!!

Linda:

Only stayed at Sheraton Society Hill. Very nice hotel and it was near alot of the sites.

Please help. I cannot find a hotel in the downtown city section of Philadelphia for 10-11 and 12 at a rate I can pay. I even tried Priceline! Many hotels are sold out for one night or the other. What would be the next area to check that would be convenient to get to the sites downtown? Is the airport Hampton Inn a decent location? Thanks for all your help.

Linda:

I am also going to see Verakai in Philly but we will be there the following weekend 10/11 and 10/12. I got the best rate from the actual hotel.....Shocking I now considering all of the bargain sites. I got a rate from the Omni Independence Hotel,(really nice) they run weekend packages. The Fri night is $140 and Sat is $160. That was the best I could do and trust me I looked for about 5 hours and asked a friend who is a travel agent and he could'nt find anything better. There must be other things going on in town that weekend. But seriously try the actual hotel. there # is 1-800-843-6664.If not you can e-mail direct or post here and I can try to find a last mintue deal for you I use alot of sites too many to mention here. ANd from what I was told its a few blocks from the liberty bell,independance hall, and betsy ross's house. And has a great view of the park.

We saw Dralion last year in NYC and it was awesome. Its really not the same on TV. You will love it. I cant wait. I picked the zoo and Cirque over other more romantic locals and Bed and Breakfasts.

Have a great time and let me know if I can help, everyone helped me picking restaurants so I would like to be able to return the favor.
JK

Call hotels directly. The following are in good locales: Doubletree, Sofitel, Sheraton Society Hill, Latham, Loews, Omni, Sheraton Rittenhouse, Radisson Warwick. If you can take a chance, keep trying Priceline or wait until next week and try again at hotels directly.

Linda:
I have been checking and if you are going 10/11-10/12 you could have alittle trouble. Because of Columbus Day they have booked so many hotel deals I had seen when I was looking. But let me know if you need help still.
JK

The hotles at the airport are near nothing except the airport. You cqannot walk to anything. It's about 10 miles from center city. The only thing you could do is if the hotel has an airport shuttle, you clould take that and then catch a train that runs from the airport to center city but they may stop running after 12. I think you are much better off at one of the hotels in the city.
Was just down there the other day and saw a new(to me, any way) hotel at Penns' Landing. Could be a Hilton or Sheraton. had a fabulous view and is a good location.

To answer your question about the airport location, if you can get a good deal, you might consider it (assuming you have a car). The aiport in Philly is well located to downtown. You just get on I-95 and take one of the Broad Street exit or one of the Center City exits -- about 15 minutes.

Try the website www.gophilly.com for hotel deals. If everything is booked, look into bed and breakfasts. I personally wouldn't stay at the airport location only b/c of the inconvenience of shlepping back and forth from there to the city. Plus if you factor in traffic, it could take longer than 15 minutes, and then you have to deal w/parking.

Point of Information: The correct website is www.gophila.com.

Linda: Check the Latham, great location, usually $99 rate, room is clean and comfortable.

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions. I tried everything and ended up at the Hampton Inn at the airport. I just was unwilling to spend the big bucks and there were NO DEALS anywhere. Many, many places were sold out. Some made mention of a big convention being in town.
Now, should we drive into the city on Sat for our sight seeing or take the train from the airport? I think the Philly Plash (sp) will do nicely for getting around to the various sites but have no idea about the parking situation if we drive in. We have tickets for the 8:00 Cirque de Soleil show but have all morning and afternoon to look around. Would there be a central location to park the car so we can get back to it after the show or should we ride the train in. The train takes almost an hour! Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks again!

I haven't yet stayed in Philly so I can't help with hotels, but...I saw Varekai last Sunday and it was breathtaking. Every seat is pretty close to the stage, so everyone gets a great view. I saw O in Las Vegas over the summer and, while the two shows are hard to compare, both were amazing. It's hard to believe that Varekai is a traveling show since the stage and tent are so elaborate! Have a great time in Philly - don't forget to have cheese steak while you're in town!

I would suggest taking the R1 airport line into Center City. The fare is $5.50 each way during peak times and $4.25 off peak. Go to www.septa.org for more information. The train actually takes about 25 minutes. You can get off at either Suburban or Market East Stations, depending on where in Center City you are going. I think that the Philadelphia Trolley Tour is a great way to get an overview of Philadelphia (www.phillytour.com) You can purchase tickets at 5th and Market across from the Liberty Bell at Independence National Historic Park. Take R1 and get off at Market East which is at 11th and Market and walk over to 5th Street. You can hop on and off the trolley at 20 different stops in downtown including South Street, the Parkway area, Rittenhouse Square and Fairmount Park.

Great info. Thanks to all and if anyone has anything to add, I'm all ears.

Would getting back to the train be a bit of a problem after the show? If I have figured it correctly, the closest station to the Broad/Washington St. area would be the Ellsworth-Federal. We would have to walk a few blocks to get to it and it would be around 10:30 PM. That train takes 55 minutes to get to the airport. I am thinking that by the time we pay for 2 of us to ride the train, twice, it might be cheaper just to pay to park all day in a garage. Any thoughts on this option?

You can take the Broad Street line from Ellsworth/Federal to City Hall, which will take about 10 minutes. From there follow the signs to Suburban Station to get the R1 Airport Line. You can get to Suburban Station from City Hall via underground walkways. The R1 train from Suburban Station to the Airport should take about 30 minutes. You can buy tokens for the Broad Street line subway at the station for $1.30 each. The cost including the airport train roundtrip should be about $13.60 per person. If you decide to drive, the parking will probably be about the same, or maybe a little bit less depending on where you park. The main advantage of taking public transportation is not having to put up with traffic and searching for parking.