Philadelphia Nesties
Kernel14
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our night away..
will most likely be in Philly. AC is proving to be mad $.
So, suggestions on hotels, restaurant, bars (I'm looking at you, beer people). I've already scoped out Sofitel but it's $240 a night. Is that the norm? Just seems high.
My little nuggets
Re: Our night away..
I'm sure the beer folks will have suggestions but I'll recommend beers at Good Dog Bar, and then dinner at Talulah's Garden (I haven't been here but it's highly recommended and it's on my list for our next night away).
Have you tried looking on Travelzoo or Priceline "Name your own price'?
We get amazing deals on Priceline all the time - just be careful with the areas you choose. You can narrow it down as much as Rittenhouse Square or midtown (Convention Center area).
We normally bid on 4 star hotels, or maybe 3.5 stars and have had some amazing deals.
If you don't win you can rebid once every 24 hours, so I would start low (like $100 for a 4 star, then try it for a 3.5 star), then if no dice up it to $110 the next day.
The only thing is it is not flexible - no cancelling.
We used to enjoy staying at the Radisson Warwick - such a nice location right off Rittenhouse Square. According to Priceline that's a 3.5 star hotel (so you might do well with that on a 'name your own price' deal).
Good luck!
Or check Hotwire.
This Saturday they have a 3 star room at the Club Quarters for $99 or $139 for Loews (4 star). Both great locations.
When are you having your get away?
I was going to suggest Loews. We've stayed there a few times and got really low rates.
I've stayed at the Sofitel and Marriot near City Hall and have heard good things about the Westin, Palomar, Sheraton, and Loews. Raddison is in a good part of town too.
Good Dog is good for beer and bar fare, Monk's is better for beer and just ok for food though some love it, and many like Black Sheep but I was skeeved out by bathroom critters there once. Where else for beer... Tria. Jose Pistola surprisingly enough. Pub and Kitchen (good food too).
I really liked Talulah's Garden but really can't justify the price. I couldn't believe how much we spent. It was good but not worth it IMO.
Dandelion has good grub and great atmosphere. More casual that swank. I can give a million recs so let me know what type of place you're looking for.
Thanks everyone. I will look into these.
Nobooze - we're going this Saturday. I've used pricelines name your own a few times and I've always been happy but this time I sort of wanted to know before booking because I want something nice! If it comes down to it though, I'll do it!
My little nuggets
Years ago we did a sleepover in Philly package and stayed at The Latham. Really nice.
As for beer bars, I'm trying to think of the ones we didn't hit up on our bar crawl last year. I recall there being a few Belgian bars over near 2nd or 3rd.
You could also search on http://www.phillytapfinder.com/ where you can sort by Beer Style.
Annnnnd now I want a beer...
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
For those who have stayed at Sofitel...Expedia has a room for $185. Is the hotel super worth it? We can stay at the Loews for $140 so I'm just wondering if Sofitel is worth the extra $.
I appreciate the help. I'm not sure why this is stressing me out when I've booked trips to Amsterdam/Belgium/California with no worrying at all!
My little nuggets
Beer places:
South Philly Tap Room
In Old City, try: Beneluxx Tasting Room, the Khyber, or Eulogy
You could hop on the El and head up to Frankford and Girard and hit up Kraftwork, Frankford Hall, Johnny Brenda's, Barcade (all within a few blocks of each other).
Go check out the Piazza or the many bars in NoLibs, like Standard Tap, N. 3rd, the Abbaye.
Ah this is awesome and gives me so much to go on! Thanks everyone.
Katie - I'd like a good meal but I'm not trying to spend $200 either. Something that is maybe $20-30 per meal. DH eats anything and I pretty much just don't like seafood. We can always hit up the beer places later, which I now have a long list for!
My little nuggets
My no fail, great food without breaking the bank choices are:
Mercato (BYO, no reservations so go early/late)
Kanella (BYO)
Barbuzzo
Parc (on the higher end but worth it for the scene)
All in close vicinity to Center City.
If you take Erbur's rec for NoLibs try to get in Koo Zee Doo (BYO).
ETA: have fun!!
Where are you seeing the list? Mine said Omni, Sherton, Westin.
My little nuggets
The Omni wouldn't fall into the Rittenhouse area and the Sherton is 3.5 stars. To get an idea of what the possible hotels would be, first looked at the map under 'Name Your Own Price' option to see what area was considered 'Rittenhouse'. Then look under the 'List View' tab to see what 4 start hotels fall in the area. It's easiest to see if you change the Hotel Area to Downtown and the Star Rating to 4 Stars. It will narrow it down to 8 hotels, the five I listed above and three that would not fall into the 'Rittenhouse' area: the Omni, Lowes and Hyatt at Penns Landing.
I must be special because I don't see a "list view" tab but I'll take your word for it. Im leaning towards naming our price so we can spend money at some of these places that were suggested. My mouth is watering...for food and beer!
My little nuggets
This is a good website for knowing what your choices will be from priceline. http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=96&
List pretty much matches what NQ said.
or this one:
http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/topic/34644/PHILADELPHIA-HOTEL-LIST
I love priceline. I got a room at the Sheraton after a big birthday bash for a friend for $45.
Looks like someone just got the Le Meridian last saturday night for $70.
Thanks. Thats pretty rad. Didn't even know these sites existed. I'm going to book something one way or another tonight!
My little nuggets
If you go with a 4 star option on name your own, I really don't think you can lose - why spend tons of extra cash on the room when you could be spending it eating and drinking! : )
Another restaurant suggestion is Dmitris on Fitler Square. Just love it! It's also no reservations so don't leave it too late, it gets pretty full.
Have a wonderful time - I'm sure you'll have a blast!!
Thanks. I did priceline and we're staying at the Westin for $125! I reallly appreciate everyone's help. Now I need to start looking up the menu's to all these places so we can decide on where to eat. I'm really excited for this now.
My little nuggets
I just read the James Beard nominations (food industry awards) and some of the place I mentioned to you - Barbuzzo, Kanella, Koo Zee Doo - were all nominated for best chef/mid-Atlantic. Just FYI. Pretty cool stuff.
And Lando - did you see Zeppoli on the list for best new restaurant? In little Colls? Crazy!