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The Phillies Win is Good News For Philly Hotels
*UPDATE* As of today, the Palomar is offering another introductory rate, and like last week’s, it starts at a very reasonable $119 per night, including continental breakfast. The special rate is for stays Thursday–Sunday until Feb. 28, 2010—but must be booked by October 30. The rate code to use online or on the phone is DINE1. (But it’s not available for those Phillies World Series dates—we checked.)
So the Phillies clinched their World Series spot, and now everyone awaits the Yankees to follow suit tonight. But it’s not just sports fans craving the drama of the big east-coast rivalry. The city of Philadelphia would love a Phillies-Yanks matchup, and all the money it could bring, partly through hotel-room taxes.
Which is great news for the new Hotel Palomar Philadelphia. During a quick trip to Philly yesterday, we popped into the city’s first Kimpton to have a peek at the lobby (small but, indeed, cozy as we predicted from the photos we saw last week.) There was plenty of activity and a front-desk clerk told us that the hotel had “hit the ground running” since its opening last Thursday. Rooms were fully booked for the first six nights, but you can snag one tomorrow night from $259 or this Sunday night from $159.
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Philly’s Hotel Palomar Opens This Thursday
While we wait patiently for a slew of hot new hotels to open in New York City, there is movement over in Philly, with the opening of the city’s first Kimpton property, the Hotel Palomar, this Thursday.
And we’re not the only ones excited about the opening. Just ask Ed Grose of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday:
“Having a property like Palomar by Kimpton come to Philadelphia confirms that we have made it as a city.”
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Philly Will Get Two More Kimpton Hotels
Philly’s new Kimpton property, Hotel Palomar, is still three weeks away from opening, but we’re already wondering about the status of another Kimpton project in the Illadel.
Developers ARCWheeler have been working to finalize the purchase of the city’s historic Boyd Theatre from concert company Live Nation, with a view to restoring the Art Deco movie palace to its former glory. (It opened in 1928 and is listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.) To help ensure the theatre’s future, ARCWheeler will partner with Kimpton and Martinez + Johnson Architecure to build a 287-room Monaco hotel on top of the theatre. According to reports on SkyscraperPage.com:
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Kimpton Hotels to the Eco-Rescue
Where: United States
A selection of Kimpton's eco-friendly products
Cue the swelling superhero theme music. There are comic book heroes and there are eco-warriors, and as of this month, Kimpton Hotels can count themselves in the latter category. For a commitment to sustainability that has spanned 28 years, they've recently been honored with a "World Saver" award by Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
The awards, which were held last night in New York City, are decided upon by a panel of 21 "academics, CEOs, and philanthropists" who recognize companies in the categories of Education, Poverty Alleviation, Wildlife Conservation, Cultural and Environmental Preservation, and Health. This year the panel noted that sustainable travel has been a sweeping trend, which is where Kimpton Group comes into the picture.
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Hotel Palomar Philadelphia to Open October 15th
In a move that makes us happy (hard to do on the day after a three-day weekend marking the end of summer), we've just heard that Kimpton Hotels will open their Hotel Palomar Philadelphia on October 15 in the City of Brotherly Love's Rittenhouse Square neighborhood.
Not only will the Palomar be the first Kimpton in Philly, but also the first Kimpton to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
By the looks of the room renderings we’ve seen so far, the décor will reflect the property’s green cred. The exterior looks pretty exciting too: the hotel is situated in the landmark Architects Building, built in 1929, and known as one of the city’s best examples of Art Deco architecture.
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Le Meridien Philadelphia Pushed Back Until November 1
We were all excited the other month when we heard that the Le Meridien Philadelphia would be opening just before Labor Day Weekend on September 3rd but today when we went back in to check on the hotel's website, it gave us this message:
Accepting Reservations for Arrival on or After Nov 1, 2009
When we tried to make a reservation online for that date, the site said there were no rooms available for the date requested. Ditto for when we plugged in dates for the following week.
Looking around the rest of the site, we didn't find much news except that the restaurant will be called Amuse and the bar will be called Le Amuse. Also, no pets will be allowed. For shame! On the bright side, the hotel just nearly makes the cut-off for the new SPG Bonus Starpoints promotion which ends November 6.
[Photo via The Illadelph]
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Philly Hotels Try to Woo You With Love Letters and Packages
Philly's running a new ad campaign that is sorta like a collection of love letters signed, "With Love, Philadelphia." The idea here sorta echoes an ad campaign from '97 — "Philadelphia: The Place That Loves You Back" — and apparently everyone likes love and people respond to love letters best in the tougher economic times.
So as part of the new (officially-titled) "With Love, Philadelphia XOXO" campaign, there are 100-ish featured hotel packages on the gophila.com/withlove website, and anyone who books will score a "special gift" at check-in.
This is a shot of the Loews Philadelphia, who is participating in the campaign (obvs) and whose "As You Wish" package is being offered through September:
Enjoy up to a $500 credit on food and beverages at the Loews — and the longer you stay, the more credit you receive!
· Stay 2 nights, earn $50 credit
· Stay 3 nights, earn $100 credit
· Stay 4 nights, earn $150 credit
· Stay 5 nights, earn $200 credit
· Stay 6 nights, earn $300 credit
· Stay 7 nights, earn $500 credit
Rooms here are starting around $339 per night, but the GoPhila website has tons of packages at other hotels starting at $77.
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Philly Probably Won't Be Getting That Waldorf-Astoria After All
So, remember how we told you that Philly was going to get a Waldorf-Astoria? Yeah, well, maybe not.
The building — which was set to be all done in 2012 — was going to have 136 residences (starting at around $1 million) and 175 guest rooms, plus a 14,000-square-foot spa fitness center with an indoor pool, two cocktail lounges, two restaurants and a seasonal outdoor restaurant and cocktail terrace.
But the $420-million project, unsurprisingly, has been put on hold — with a pretty sad-looking future. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, construction was supposed to start in January but the folks behind the project realized there were "structural problems in the marketplace right now," there was a change in the hotel ownership and, no doubt also due to the dismal state of the luxury hotel market right now, things got put on hold — indefinitely.
Though Hilton says they're still "committed to the project" and the owners remain under a management contract with Hilton to fly the Waldorf-Astoria Collection flag at the hotel, we're not gonna be holding our breath on this one.
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Alexander Inn Introduces 'Guest Stimulus Plan' with $1 Rooms
As if finding a way to Philly wasn't already rather cheap, now staying in the City of Brotherly Love is extremely, unbelievably, insanely affordable. And it's all thanks to the new Guest Stimulus Plan at the Alexander Inn which is offering limited rooms from Thursday through Sundays for $1.. No, that's not a typo. One George Washington is all you need.
Hotel owner Mel Heifetz said he decided to do the promotion to help out guests with their budgets but also to help out the city of Philly. Since folks don't have to spend so much on the hotel room, they can spend a little more on "art exhibits, show tickets, and in other neighborhood establishments." We couldn't agree more.
The promotion runs from March 10 to May 21. We suggest holding out until late April if you can as the hotel is going through a renovation which will see the arrival of new furniture in mid-April.
After the jump is the nitty gritty on the deal.
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How Important is Free Hotel Parking to You?
Exhibit A: This morning, we hit up TripAdvisor to check on guest reactions to the newly-opened Smyth Tribeca. There were two reviews smiling back at us — positive experiences, generally; good service, great rates, etc. — and then there was this:
We were able to get a sweet deal at $179 a night. We only had two slight gripes. There was only one robe in the large closet and we got spanked on the overnight parking at $75!
Exhibit B: On Friday, the Johnson family (pictured above) checked in to the Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia and were greeted with great fanfare and fun: they had redeemed the 100,000th "Philly Overnight" Hotel Package since 2001, making the Philly Overnight Hotel Package the most successful hotel package in Philadelphia history. Guess what the Philly Overnight Package offers? No big rate kickbacks — just free parking. Oh, and a welcome amenity.
Question: is free parking one of the most important factors you consider when booking your hotel these days?
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What The Economy Hath Wrought: Hostel Stays
IKEA furniture, an eye-assaulting color scheme, and a bongo drum can mean only one thing: we're in an American hostel. It's Apple Hostel, a member of Hostelling International in Philadelphia's Old City, to be more precise. Unimpressed with the hotel offerings in Philly and determined to keep our entire weekend trip under $100, we revisited this institution of responsibility-free youth and got in touch with our inner vagabond.
Everyone may be familiar with European hostels, those dens of Aussie accents and pub crawls, but American ones done right turn out like Christian youth centers; in fact some of our roommates were in town for anti-gun protests. Overall, this was the quietest and least-partying hostel we've ever stayed at, and we've slept across the rainbow of hostels in our day, from bedbugs in Brooklyn to luxury in Luxembourg.
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The LOVE Package in Philly Offers a Short and Sweet V-Day Getaway
It's time to start thinking about possible Valentine's getaways, and Philadelphia is hoping that more East Coasters will head next door rather than straight to St. Lucia. From January 15 through March 16, the City of Brotherly Love will welcome all the other kinds of love with their aptly named "LOVE Overnighter" package, centering around the city's iconic sculpture by Robert Indiana.
Pick any two consecutive nights to stay at city hotels, and the deal will show its love with discounted rates: like $299 for both nights at the Loews, $450 at the Park Hyatt at The Bellevue, or $209 at The Independent.
Like a good neighbor, Philadelphia will even help you out with your parking situation; the "LOVE" package lets you save the valet fees and enjoy free parking at the hotels. Add in in the extra gifts, a Macy's savings pass and a "Philly's More Fun" teddy bear, and it's kind of like an adult sleepover. Isn't that all you really want out of Valentine's Day anyway?
Book the LOVE package now at GoPhila.com.
[Photo: wikipedia/Andrew Aiello]
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