PA Philadelphia Westin Rittenhouse Square - Business District

[flyingcupcake]

We had a quick check-in. No mention of hotwire, just an observation that the reservation was prepaid. There was free apple cider in the reception area for guests, as well as a coloring book for kids. Beautiful lobby areas, with lots of Christmas decorations everywhere. We ended up on the 9th floor, and the standard king room was comfortable and clean. Not a fan of the westin "dual showerhead" because it seems to just waste water and not make a difference in showering. I liked their toiletries, bath towels seemed a little scratchy but that's fine. Everything else in the room was clean and comfortable. The sheets in the heavenly bed were lovely, as well as the bed itself.

On our last night, we ended up with a major plumbing problem. The toilet was an old style toilet with a weak flush, and ended up overflowing like crazy. We called guest services immediately and they sent up an engineer with a huge industrial vacuum in less than five minutes. The carpet was already getting soaked in the room, and the bathroom was flooded. The engineer told us to pack our things, and arranged for the front desk to get us into another room. In less than 10 minutes, we were in a new identical room down the hall watching TV. The new room was a "starwood preferred guest" room, but the only difference was that the toilet was newer, the robe was newer, and there was a complimentary bottle of water. But the Westin staff really went above and beyond to make sure this plumbing issue in the first room didn't affect our stay in the slightest. They also removed any incidental charges from my bill as a courtesy "for the trouble they caused us."

Overall, this was a relaxing stay at the Westin, even with the plumbing problem/room change. They didn't have a pool, but they had a small but clean workout room with the nicest locker room I've ever seen. The locker rooms had marble floors and a sauna. I was also able to rent workout clothes and New Balance shoes as part of the Westin Workout program. The staff at Westin were pleasant and professional. The location was excellent. I'm really looking forward to staying at the Westin again when I visit Philly again.