How to find a very short-term apartment rental (3 nights) in Philadelphia, for a family with 3 small children?
March 3, 2012 9:29 AM Subscribe
How to find a very short-term apartment rental (3 nights) in Philadelphia in early July, for a family with 3 small children?
Our family of five is looking for a very short-term 2-BR apartment rental in Philadelphia on a weekend in early July. We'll be there 3 nights. Kids are ages 5, 3, and 1.
We have done short-term apartment rental instead of a hotel in the past (in Los Angeles) and liked it; we had a nice 2-bedroom with kitchen for about the same price as one room in a hotel. In LA, we used a site called OMG Travel, but they don't offer apartments in Philadelphia.
We're in town for a wedding northeast of the city. We have a rehearsal out at the wedding location, then a rehearsal lunch in the city near 30th Street Station, and then the wedding itself the following evening. So it's going to be a bunch of driving no matter where we are, but at least if we're either near the wedding location, or near the lunch location, it'll be less. And then we'll have Saturday to kill until the evening wedding, so a fun city neighborhood would probably mean a better time overall.
We did look at airbnb briefly. A couple of places look nice, but they're a little more expensive than we expected given our experience in LA.
Any other suggestions on where to look? Are there other types of places for very short-term stays that are larger suites, multiple bedrooms, with kitchen?
Also, any suggestions about neighborhoods? It's possible we are looking in too-expensive locations because we don't know which neighborhoods are okay (getting information from probably oversensitive elder relatives who haven't lived in Philadelphia in years).
Our family of five is looking for a very short-term 2-BR apartment rental in Philadelphia on a weekend in early July. We'll be there 3 nights. Kids are ages 5, 3, and 1.
We have done short-term apartment rental instead of a hotel in the past (in Los Angeles) and liked it; we had a nice 2-bedroom with kitchen for about the same price as one room in a hotel. In LA, we used a site called OMG Travel, but they don't offer apartments in Philadelphia.
We're in town for a wedding northeast of the city. We have a rehearsal out at the wedding location, then a rehearsal lunch in the city near 30th Street Station, and then the wedding itself the following evening. So it's going to be a bunch of driving no matter where we are, but at least if we're either near the wedding location, or near the lunch location, it'll be less. And then we'll have Saturday to kill until the evening wedding, so a fun city neighborhood would probably mean a better time overall.
We did look at airbnb briefly. A couple of places look nice, but they're a little more expensive than we expected given our experience in LA.
Any other suggestions on where to look? Are there other types of places for very short-term stays that are larger suites, multiple bedrooms, with kitchen?
Also, any suggestions about neighborhoods? It's possible we are looking in too-expensive locations because we don't know which neighborhoods are okay (getting information from probably oversensitive elder relatives who haven't lived in Philadelphia in years).
I've stayed at a number of extended stay hotels that fit your needs. My favorite was a Staybridge Suites. Reasonable price, two good sized bedrooms in one suite, a kitchen, *free breakfast* and a pool! I got all that for $130 a night on Hotwire.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:58 AM on March 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:58 AM on March 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Have you taken a look at Vacation Rental by Owner? (Disclaimer: Have never used it personally, but my parents did to rent a condo in Florida). Taking a look at their site seems like they have a number of options in Philadelphia in early July when I took a stab at your dates. I'm not American or at all familiar with Philly, so I can't advise on specific areas but hopefully that can help your search! Other suggestion would be to try the short term or vacation rental sections of Craigslist.
posted by snowysoul at 10:13 AM on March 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by snowysoul at 10:13 AM on March 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
You might also try vrbo.com. Vacation Rentals by Owner.
posted by peakcomm at 10:14 AM on March 3, 2012
posted by peakcomm at 10:14 AM on March 3, 2012
(Sorry, just saw that you've already looked at AirBnB. It's growing so quickly that you might get a few more results if you check next week, though.)
posted by lisa g at 10:23 AM on March 3, 2012
posted by lisa g at 10:23 AM on March 3, 2012
Response by poster: Out of curiosity, with children that young why do you need a separate bedroom for the weekend? I worked as housekeeping in an Extended Stay hotel that had huge double bedrooms (large room with kitchen, bathroom, 2 double beds).
It's less about space, more about naps and bedtime -- the two younger ones nap, and the oldest goes to bed earlier than the others. If all five of us were in one large room, it would be difficult to keep the rest of the family quiet while a subset is sleeping. And then the adults would be sitting in silent semi-darkness from the hours of 8pm to 7am.
posted by chinston at 10:41 AM on March 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's less about space, more about naps and bedtime -- the two younger ones nap, and the oldest goes to bed earlier than the others. If all five of us were in one large room, it would be difficult to keep the rest of the family quiet while a subset is sleeping. And then the adults would be sitting in silent semi-darkness from the hours of 8pm to 7am.
posted by chinston at 10:41 AM on March 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
Craigslist has some short-term rentals, but I know nothing about pricing or geography for that area but it's comparable (and less than) Chicago. Another option is to ask on the city-data forums for Philly.
posted by sm1tten at 12:30 PM on March 3, 2012
posted by sm1tten at 12:30 PM on March 3, 2012
Tripadvisor also has vacation rentals. I've found places there that haven't been on VRBO or AirBnB.
posted by amanda at 3:55 PM on March 3, 2012
posted by amanda at 3:55 PM on March 3, 2012
What's your budget per night? How much kitchen do you need, i.e. for what?
posted by desuetude at 12:26 AM on March 4, 2012
posted by desuetude at 12:26 AM on March 4, 2012
Response by poster: Budget: $150/nt would be nice.
Kitchen: range, fridge, sink, microwave, dishes -- not for real cooking, but to make breakfast and eat it in the place, or to warm up takeout dinner.
posted by chinston at 10:09 AM on March 4, 2012
Kitchen: range, fridge, sink, microwave, dishes -- not for real cooking, but to make breakfast and eat it in the place, or to warm up takeout dinner.
posted by chinston at 10:09 AM on March 4, 2012
We don't use craigslist because so many are scams. We've used vrbo many, many times and have always been happy with the results.
posted by raisingsand at 7:12 AM on March 5, 2012
posted by raisingsand at 7:12 AM on March 5, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Of course, I'd never even heard of short term apartment rentals before.... so the price may be comparable
posted by myShanon at 9:52 AM on March 3, 2012