Philadelphia Marriott Downtown: Overview

The corner of Market Street and 13th Street.

The main entrance on Filbert Street. 

The north side of the hotel shows the U-shape hotel floors.
(photos: TheHopefulTraveler)

This is one in a series of posts about the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

The next few posts will be about the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown where I stayed during my three-night visit to the city. Like other properties in the area, the hotel is located walking distance to shopping, the convention center, museums, theaters and restaurants (the Reading Terminal Market is adjacent to the hotel) and eight block west of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

If you are a member of the Marriott Rewards program, three other hotels in its family of brands are located within three blocks: Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown, Residence Inn Philadelphia Center and the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. Ultimately I chose the Marriott because of room availability and price. The Courtyard and Residence Inn had no rooms available during my stay and the Ritz-Carlton cost more than I was willing to pay for a room. Although I chose a $179 advance purchase rate for three nights, the hotel did not charge my credit card until I checked out. Added to this cost was a 8.2% hotel room tax or $14.68 to the room rate and a 7% sales tax or $12.53 added to the room rate.

Although I would have preferred a more intimate property, my choice to continue earning points in the Marriott Rewards program limited my choices. The hotel does have 1,332 rooms including 76 suites on 23 floors. In addition the hotel boasts 72 meeting room that total 92,000 square feet that occupy the first few floors of the building above the lobby. It's location adjacent to the Pennsylvania Convention Center make it popular with business travelers.

The hotel floors are in a U-shape and after checking-in guests must know which bank of elevators are closest to their rooms. The elevators are not located next to the front desk which is located on the north side of the lobby. The elevators are located on the southwest and southeast corners. The front desk associate was very friendly and quickly checked me in and I was off to room 1491.

The hotel occupies an entire city block surrounded by Filbert Street on the north (where the main entrance to the lobby is located), Market Street on the south, 12th Street on its east side and 13th street on its west side.