12 Best Hotels in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The hotel's sawtooth design ensures that each room has a peaked bay window with an eye-popping 180-degree view. Rooms on the east side look out toward the Delaware River, while west-side rooms overlook Broad Street. The four-story atrium lobby lounge, which features a cool fiber-optic chandelier, observes one of the busiest corners of Philly's theater district, directly across the street from the handsome Academy of Music and a short walk from the Kimmel Center. Where most hotel rooms go for darker, warm earth tones, refurbished Doubletree guest rooms are decorated in refreshingly light white and blond tones; they also have separate vanities. The Balcony restaurant offers daily breakfast and Sunday brunch. The Standing O Bar/Bistro serves burgers, sandwiches, and lighter fare.

This hotel is an affordable alternative to other hotels near the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It's within walking distance of the Reading Terminal Market, the Gallery Mall, Chinatown, and many historic sites. Rooms are spacious and simply designed, with comfortable beds, spacious desks, and flat-screen televisions. The "Stay Fit Kit" provides an in-room Pilates band, yoga mat, abs ball, resistance rope, and light weights. Like its neighbors near the convention center, it sits in an area that can be desolate after dark.

The Independent is among a handful of newer boutique alternatives to Philadelphia's big convention hotels. This property features 24 well-appointed, hip rooms that are all uniquely furnished, but share a warm butterscotch and ocher palette with funky accents, such as leopard-print rugs, exposed brick walls, and copper-tiled ceilings. The hotel's corridors ring a skylighted four-story atrium adorned with local art. Complimentary wine and cheese are served daily in the cozy lobby, and continental breakfast is offered daily, too. Little Nonna's, and Bud and Marilyn's, two eateries from prolific Philly restaurateurs Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, occupy the ground floor of the hotel. The Independent prefers guests to be 21 or older.

This eight-story hotel sits within what is billed as the country's "most historic square mile," within a block and a half of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. The rooms are pleasant, and a bargain for this part of the city.