Priceline Hotel: Advice for dowtown Philly

[gocubz]

Here's my situation. I am a teacher who will be attending a national education conference in Philly in June 2005 at the downtown convention center. I have used priceline once before with great luck for a vacation, but am still pretty new to it. Three things that concern me about using priceline in this situation:

1. Should I be concerned about there being a large conference in town that week and there won't be rooms available (especially close to the convention center)?

2. Should I be concerned that I am bidding so far in advance? (I have to be sure I get a room, and am scared to wait until the last minute.)

3. Should I be concerned that I need to be within walking distance to the convention center? (again, I am afraid I won't be anywhere close).

If anyone who is an expert could offer some advice I would appreciate it. I am wondering if the best thing wouldn't just be to suck it up and pay the $150 - $200 a night to be sure I get a room close to the convention center, but then I see how cheap the rooms posted on this site are for. Anyone have good advice?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What are the actual date(s) of your stay?

[gocubz]

We need to check in on June 27th and out on July 1st, 2005.

Thanks for responding so quickly!

[thereuare]

My pleasure.

I started looking at this and then noticed i was coming up with a few different addresses for the convention center... do you know the exact address?

While we're at it:

-what do you consider to be close enough to the convention center? Does it have to be walkable? If not, a reasonable cab ride away ok? (i understand that closer is better, but trying to figure out the best of the 'worst case scenarios') What about a mass transit option?

-if you have it in front of you, what are the suggested convention hotels?

[gocubz]

The address I am getting is 1101 Arch St. in Philly.

I would like to be able to walk to the center, but it is not 100% necessary. I could grab a cab if I had to. But it will be in June, so a long walk (half hour or so) wouldn't kill me. If it's possible to get within a half hour's walk, that would be ideal.

They gave us several hotel possibilities to go through the conference organization to secure a reservation. They are the Comfort Inn, Cortyard by Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Double Tree, Embassy Suites, Four Seasons, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Historic District, Inn at the Union League, Latham Hotel, Loews Hotel, Park Hyatt, Marriott, Radizon-Plaza Warwick, Residence Inn, Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton Society Hill, Sofitel, Westin, and Wyndham Franklin Plaza.

All of these are supposedly within a half hour walk. I would prefer one of the nicer ones (what appears to be a 3 or 4 star on Priceline's scale).

[thereuare]

Due to location restraints i'm thinking that Hotwire or another service may be a better option.

One of the best deals in the area (imo) is the Hyatt at Penn's Landing... but this is a bit far from the convention center. I spoke with the hotel and they said about a $12 cab ride, but when i inquired about mass transit options they said that a 3 block walk would take you to the SEPTA (philly's subway) which could take you to the convention center. I'm not sure if this is an option for you or just how convenient the SEPTA would be so i'd encourage any local or familiar with the area to give some feedback on this alternative.

If the Hyatt is an option then you may want to consider Priceline anyway for a better rate... and since this is one of the furthest hotels in the zone from the convention center it may be an ok zone for you to bid anyway.

Personally i would consider if the mass transit option is a viable alternative, and if not, continue to check Hotwire for other offerings in the coming months (Hotwire only shows one hotel per star level in each zone, so what you see can change as more hotels offer availability to Hotwire in the coming weeks/months).

[dahammer]

The properties that are but a short walk to the Pennsylvania Convention Center are: Marriott (connected to the CC) Marriott Courtyard, Marriott Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Lowes Hotel. I would avoid the Comfort Inn. The Embassy Suites is a converted apartment building and the rooms are huge (I luv the Manager's Reception and cooked to order breakfast) :) And is right next to the Four Seasons, where all of the movers and shakers stay when in town and about a 15 minute walk to the CC, about the same for the Wyndham Franklin Plaza. The Park Hyatt, Doubletree, Union League are all together and about a 10 minute walk. I think the Historic District that includes the Sheraton Society Hill is a good place as the nightlife and restaurant scene is better in this area than the other properties but will be a longer walk after a day of conferences :) Another thing to consider, will the organization have transportation to and from the conference hotels throughout the day? If so, you may hop a ride while making your own hotel arrangements. Also, by reserving this far ahead, what happens if your plans should change?

By the way, the PA CC is across the street from the Reading terminal market, a must see while in town and a great place for lunch, my personal favorite is the Roast Pork sandwich from Dinic's (they ran out of rolls when I was at a Trade Show a few years back) get it with Broccoli Rabe and sharp Provalone, its almost as good as Tony Lukes on Oregon Ave. Also, you can get a Philly Cheesesteak at Rick's, one of the best in town.

[thereuare]

dahammer, thanks for that info.

How inconvenient would taking the SEPTA from the Hyatt Penn's Landing be?

[gocubz]

Thanks for the information, everyone. Still not sure exactly what I will do. I may just go with the conference hotel reservation system. It is a small discount, but I can live with it.

[dahammer]

Thereuare, sorry for this late post, here is a link to a SEPTA map of public transportation in the Center City area. It looks like three bus routes stop about a block away from the Hyatt Regency at Penns Landing. Unfortunately, it looks like going westbound (towards the convention center) the busses travel on Walnut street, which puts you about two blocks south of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Market-Frankford EL is part subway, part elevated train that has a stop at 2nd and Chestnut, this appears to be about a 3 or 4 block walk. I think this is the best public transportation option. This train will stop at 11th and Market streets and you can enter the convention center on Market street through a building once called the Headhouse. I think that this was the end of the Reading Railroad on the second floor and the Reading Terminal Market is on the street level. I also called the hotel and the desk clerk said that the cab fare is only about $2.00 more than Bus fare, which would make it a $4.00 cab ride. This sounds too low. It has been my experience when attending a trade show or convention it is cheaper to book rooms directly and avoid the conference reservation system. Also, you may have problems if you need to cancel part or all of your reservation at the last minute if you book through the Conference. Philly is a great town with many dining options, I recommend Vetri, a small restaurant for fine dining. For lunch, you are just a few blocks away from Philly's Chinatown, check out Vietnam Restaurant on 11th street, just around the corner from the CC.

http://www.septa.org/maps/CenterCityMap.pdf