Subject: Re: Philadelphia hotel help, please
Hi Rose, I don't know if you are interested in staying in city center. I always use my two favorite websites, Hotwire (www.hotwire.com) where you know the price and the area, and Priceline (www.priceline.com) where you know the area and you bid your price. You have a choice of locations and there are suburban locations to choose from as well in nearby New Jersey, and other Philadelphia suburbs. (Although I always recommend these sites for hotel rooms, I honestly do not work for either of those companies! We have had marvelous luck getting wonderful hotel rooms at fabulously low prices.) Last Christmas we stayed at the Hyatt Penn Landing which is a lovely new hotel, very close to many sites. You can walk across Philadelphia. Franklin Square and the Liberty Bell are very close by. I have also stayed at the Wyndham Philadelphia at Franklin Plaza (very near the Philadelphia Academy of Arts, and very close to my very favorite Philadelphia place, the Redding Terminal Market.), and at the Doubletree which is right in the thick of things. I have never paid more that $45/night for these 3.5-4 star hotels. If you have a car, I am not sure how much parking would be. You might check regular hotels to get an idea or perhaps someone in TheTravelzine community knows of places to park your car outside the city. Taxis a plentiful and relatively inexpensive in Philadelpia and there is also a subway and good bus system. You do not need a car in Philadelphia so if you have a rental and are staying a few days in Philadelphia, you might want to turn it in during that time. Although I have not used them, I know that there are many hotels and motels on the suburbs where you can take the suburban train into the city.

If you have never been to Philadelphia, I would recommend the two tier sightseeing buses where you can get off at any place and the bus will come around again in about 20 minutes. There is a lot to do in Philadelphia and it is an interesting city. We took a wonderful walking tour the summer before last of Society Hill, which is close to the Hyatt at Penns Landing.

Michele Missner Appleton, Wi.