I want to take my wife to the Ritz in Philadelphia and am finding lots of enticing rates. The problem? More bad reviews then can be ignored on tripadvisor and other sites. Not a lot of information here in past threads. I'd be looking at a standard room. Any thoughts are much appreciated.

It is in a central location - Market & Broad street. Next to the City Hall. The entrance & atrium is impressive - modeled after the Pantheon in Rome.

I stayed there a few years ago at a discount deal. I wouldn't say it was a wow. Service was courteous. We had a standard room, and the bathroom only had a shower, no bath tub. Bath robes were not particularly soft.

I am not a luxury hotel person - usually I use priceline and stay at Hiltons or Marriotts. I would say the Ritz wasn't that much better than a Marriott except for better service. And I definitely would not pay that much again for the RC in Philadelphia.

You may want to look at the Four Seasons or the Rittenhouse Hotel instead. Sofitel in Philadelphia has received lots of good reviews here too.

It's a beautiful property. We did a meeting there two years ago and my room was lovely - large corner bedroom, huge bath with windows all around and an enormous tub (great for the scented candle/bath thing) - but I believe this was a deluxe room. A couple of my juniors had regular rooms and they seemed small and kind of dark (but perhaps it was the time of day). So if you do this go for deluxe or a suite.

Can you get a comparably priced room at The Rittenhouse? It's a better location and overall a nicer hotel (IMHO).

I think it is now the best in Philadelphia. Its facilities have always been the best, but its service dragged behind the Four Seasons & Rittenhouse. It has now caught up on the service IMO.