The Rittenhouse Hotel

From the moment we arrived we were treated as royalty! We arrived early, as we were trying to beat the Eagles/Cowboys tailgating traffic, and were allowed to checkin almost immediately. Our room was very clean and spacious. Our view of Rittenhouse Square was spectacular! This was a Christmas present from our son and daughter-in-law along with tickets to a play. The play was wonderful but the hotel was beyond our wildest expectations. We were greeted by name each time we passed the front desk and also by the bellman that we ran into multiple times. We had dinner Sunday night in the Library bar after our return from the play. The bartender made our evening even more enjoyable by explaining to us the difference between the different drinks he was making and our different food options. He was so experienced and professional we decided the Library Bar is now our favorite venue in all of Philadelphia! We had a very restful night in our beautiful room and had an excellent quiet full breakfast at LeCroix in the morning before our departure. Service, staff and all venues totally exceeded our expectations and we are already planning our return! Thank you again Rittenhouse staff for a very memorable stay!!

Specifics: six days and nights in a Superior King Park View room. Positives (many and varied):  Great staff. I met several employees that have worked here for over twenty years, a credit to the hotel and the culture. Everyone was very responsive and friendly. Paul the concierge was particularly helpful with several different issues from planning a morning run to departure airport transportation during the marathon. I was routinely greeted by everyone in the morning and upon my return after daily activities.  Heavenly spa and gym. The men’s side contained a steam room and sauna (!) with the former particularly relaxing. I was able to schedule a same-day deep tissue massage without difficulty.  Variable dining options. The premises contains a daily casual option (Library Bar), a more formal venue for breakfast and dinner (La Croix) and an upscale Italian restaurant (Scarpetta’s) with streetside access. I visited all three and they were exceptional. The staff at the Library Bar in particular (Richie, Omar, Amber, and Katie) were attentive, interactive, and fun.  Classically designed room. Understated luxury at its finest… Easy to use light controls and a comfortable couch to relax and read on. Sleep quality (i.e. my bed) was perfect. Decent mini-bar options. I’m not one to really get into interior design but suffice it to say I enjoyed coming back to my room every day and found it very calming and peaceful.  Central location. Rittenhouse Square is a safe area and there were numerous dining options within walking distance from Parc (French bistro) to Taste Cheesesteak. It was a thirty minute run to the museum and back, and a main Septa station (Broad and Market) is just four blocks away. Negatives (few and far between): - Minibar wasn’t replenished regularly. - Drain in the shower was slightly clogged - Sauna was cold in the morning (so I “had” to use the steam room) Summary: An excellent overall experience. I’ll be making fifteen to twenty visits to Philadelphia in the next eight years and am looking forward to making the Rittenhouse my home-away-from-home. A highly recommended world-class hotel.

This was our second stay at the Rittenhouse hotel. The first being 10+ years ago for my husbands birthday, when I was pregnant with our son. We were very much looking forward to our stay, to celebrate my husband's birthday, and hyped it up to our son, as our previous visit was seamless. We arrived on a Friday night, entered our suite, and immediately noticed a very LARGE stain on the couch. It was so obvious, so large, and so gross, I went back to the front desk to show them a photo I had taken of it. They very nicely agreed that it was "not something someone should have to look at", but explained there were no other suites available in the hotel, and could not move us. Which is fine, understandable. Housekeeping placed a sheet across the couch, which remained there for our three night stay. I did expect, at some point, that management would address it - in some fashion. But my email to the front desk manager (provided to me by the front desk receptionist), my completion of the survey regarding our stay that was sent to me a second time after I did not fill it out the first time (hoping Management would respond to the email before I did so), and my second email to the GM and the front desk manager all went completely unanswered. So in addition to the disgusting stain on the couch - the floor under the couch had not been cleaned in a VERY long time, the sink stopper in the bathroom was stuck closed (maintenance did fix this issue), the outlet in the dressing room did not work, the towel bar in the bathroom was broken and came down - only to have housekeeping put it back up and have it fall again, and there was ANOTHER stain on the headboard. There are other hotel options of the same caliber that the Rittenhouse holds itself out to be, that people should consider before booking here. I know I will.

This is definitely a five star hotel. From location, Dorman, front desk, large spacious and well appointed bedroom, to the Mary Casa Tea Room. It definitely was one of the top luxury hotels we have stayed in the world. After this experience, it will be harder to stay in anything but this experience.

This high-rise hotel on beautiful Rittenhouse Square feels like it is in decline—and has been for a while. There was poor advance communication by phone and online (we were not told the pool would be unavailable), lousy meals (an expensive breakfast no better than a truck stop “buffet”), a stuffy if spacious room (no way whatsoever to bring in fresh air, which is recirculated through a visibly very dusty vent), impossible to get to sleep with the vent itself so close to the bed (it is intrusively noisy), and lacking the amenities that used to give it real character (such as a world-class Sunday brunch that drew out-of-state patrons). We last stayed in 2021 and found the pool, spa, restaurants and nearby, child-friendly shops and restaurants a major draw and worth the extra charges, which include a $70 fee for overnight parking. But to call this a five-star hotel at present? Dream on.