The Rittenhouse Hotel

Food & beverage: Beautiful hotel with memorable Lacroix and Mary Cassatt restaurants. The Library Bar has live jazz piano on Fridays and Saturdays and is open til midnight, pretty respectable hours for Philadelphia. The area has tons of well-reviewed restaurants to get takeout at, and the front desk won't hesitate to bring up and clear plates and cutlery if you want to eat in your room. Hotel packages: We got the indoor glamping package for our toddler and he was ecstatic about sleeping in the tent, building forts with pillows, decorating cookies, and munching on popcorn while watching movies (all this included in the package). Service: Extremely prompt. Staff brought up cutlery, bottled water, TV repairmen, etc., almost immediately after we called the front desk. The hotel accommodated multiple requests, favors, and questions quickly, thoughtfully, and generously. Neighborhood: No shortage of great places for cheesesteaks, drinks, brunch, dinner, afternoon tea. You are a 20-30 minute walk from Reading Terminal Market, which is a destination in and of itself for food. A lot of stalls at this market are already open at 8am. For small kids, the Rittenhouse Square park is fun (especially when full of fresh snow) and The Nest is a nearby playspace. Overall, the price is a lot for Philadelphia but I can see why this is the only five-star property in the city and the price is well justified.

Fabulous location and great staff make a stay at the Rittenhouse memorable. Had a weekend planned in Philly and stayed at the Rittenhouse as a special treat. Our initial room had a maintenance issue that was addressed immediately. Issues can happen at the best of hotels, what matters is how the issues are addressed and I must say that the Rittenhouse staff (Maintenance, front desk) acted quickly to see to our comfort. Special thanks to Victoria for her incredibly kind and hospitable manner. Every member of staff we encountered was welcoming and attentive. Room service was timely and excellent quality. The Library Bar should not be missed. Great live music playing on Friday and Saturday night. We had coffee, drinks, and appetizers at Bar 201 overlooking the park. Again, great service and quality treats. A stay at the Rittenhouse should be on everyone's list.

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.