Philly Filter: Need hotel suggestions

August 30, 2007 7:23 AM

Need suggestions for a reasonably priced hotel near Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for Oct 11th-13th.

My four and a half year old daughter will be having outpatient surgery done at CHoP on October 12th. We live almost two hours away, so I'm planning on going down the night before the surgery and staying there the night of. I've been searching all the usual places (expedia, yahoo, priceline, hotels.com, etc.) and the close ones are all coming up $200-400 a night. Gah!!!!

What I need: A clean, non-smoking room, someplace preferably within 3-5 miles of the Hospital, parking, food on site. I'd like to keep it between $100-200/night. I'm not looking for something crazy opulent, but also don't want someplace that looks like a standing for the Bates Motel (a/k/a Penn Towers).

posted by dancinglamb to Travel & Transportation around Philadelphia, PA (10 answers total)

Have you asked anyone at the hospital about what parents tend to do? I'd think they'd have some kind of discount agreements in town.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:34 AM on August 30, 2007

Stay at the Ronald McDonald House - it's actually very nice, and it's a donation of $15.00 a night.
posted by iconomy at 7:42 AM on August 30, 2007

The Alexander Inn has rates as low as $109. They don't seem to have parking on site, but I know the neighborhood and there are many close-by parking garages.
posted by footnote at 7:45 AM on August 30, 2007

Response by poster: roomthreeseventeen:

They used to have a deal with a couple of area hotels, but apparently, that idea was scrapped a few years ago.

iconomy:

I thought about RMH, but feel kind of weird about staying there. I wouldn't want to take a room away from somebody who desperately needed a place to stay, had a critically ill child, and couldn't afford anyplace else, kwim?
posted by dancinglamb at 7:51 AM on August 30, 2007

I hear you. You could always call to see if there are rooms available. If there are several open you could stay with a clear conscience. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, they'll boot you to a nearby hotel if they need your room for someone else - see #9 on that page I linked.
posted by iconomy at 8:05 AM on August 30, 2007

Another option is to try and stay in Cherry Hill, NJ, which is about 10 miles out of CHOP. Just looking off the bat, the (two star) Extended Stay America has rooms for $79.99 a night, the three star Crowne Plaza for $144...
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:07 AM on August 30, 2007

I stayed at The Gables Bed & Breakfast a number of years ago. Rooms go from $105-$165 -- the prices are a bit lower than one would expect because it is in a residential neighborhood, not right in the middle of the action. But it's a gorgeous historic home in West Philly right on the trolley line.
posted by desuetude at 8:38 AM on August 30, 2007

Check out priceline/kayak/etc. We regularly get a hotel on front street/columbus ave for $80 a night for our incoming people.
posted by filmgeek at 10:43 PM on August 30, 2007

Dancinglamb, please email me privately and I'll send you information about a nice hotel in Center City for $140 (queen bed) or $170 (queen + sofabed). This is about two miles from CHoP.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:22 PM on August 31, 2007

Best answer: Thanks for everybody's suggestions. My brother suggested I basically screw with ridiculously low 'name your price' bids on priceline. Since I had never tried the NYP thingie, I started at $100 and worked my way up. I scored a room in a 5 star less than 2 miles from CHoP for $130 a night. I went to the hotel website and the cheapest they had online was $360. Woo hoo!
posted by dancinglamb at 11:01 PM on August 31, 2007