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ROOMS
If at first you’re looking out onto the roof of a neighboring
building, and your view is of a generator, then try again. Keep
changing rooms until you get a view of William Penn. That’s the
whole point of Philadelphia. For years (until 1987), his statue was
the highest point in the city—and the unwritten law was that no
building was to be higher than Penn’s hat. So you want to see
him—and the rest of the city’s lights at night. For unlike what W.C.
Field’s infamously said about Philly being nothing more than a
cemetery with street lights, there’s a view to be had in Philly,
what with its new skyline, marked by two Helmet Jahn towers (One and
Two Liberty Place).
Once you’re settled into a room where you belong, you’ll notice a
kind of Thirties Art Deco quality about the furnishings: for
example, a chaise longue in burgundy velvet and cherry cabinets
edged with ebony, along with tables fitted out in chrome and glass.
It’s a bit generic, and maybe a forerunner to what has become known
as W Hotel style, but there’s nothing wrong with it either, as far
as comfort. It’s a non-demanding room, asking little more of you
than to sink into a chair and enjoy the view.
As for the bathrooms, they’re furnished with Loews Bloom toiletries
and are perfectly acceptable.
PUBLIC SPACES
Housed in what is generally considered to be the nation’s first
modernist skyscraper (built in 1932 and once the headquarters of the
Philadelphia Savings Fund Society), the Loews Philadelphia Hotel is
now a National Historic Landmark with the signature PSFS sign still
shining red above the city. Retaining the marble floors and the bank
vaults, the lobby of the Loews has a kind of grandness often
associated with savings banks of yesteryear. Mind you, there are two
entrances, and neither of them particularly gracious—the entrance on
Market Street doubles as an entrance to an office
building/convention center bringing you smack in front of an
escalator, and the entrance on 12th Street showcases a connecting
side corridor—but once you’re at reception, the building’s appeal is
more readily apparent.
One entire corner of the main floor is given over to an oversized
(and often too empty) restaurant called Solefood where the emphasis
is on fish and the design, in the hotel’s own word, is “eclectic.”
BREAKFAST
The vast dining room on the first floor is a bit too impersonal for
breakfast—though the menu is fine. The room doubles as a television
studio for Philadelphia’s morning show—and one morning there was a
segment on tutus for dogs. We ate our eggs while dogs paraded on a
catwalk—which somehow seemed appropriate for the odd charms of
Philadelphia.
PERSONNEL
Extremely pleasant (if not model gorgeous) with absolutely none of
the attitude one might associate with a city such as New York,
Miami, or Los Angeles. This is, after all, the “City of Brotherly
Love,” and the staff appears to take the sobriquet to heart.
LOCATION
Again, it’s a matter of direction. Walk out the main entrance and
head east along Market Street toward the river and you’re walking
through a neighborhood frequented more by the homeless. Avoid this
stretch of Market and head west toward the statue of William Penn,
and Rittenhouse Square just to the south. Overall, the location is
convenient to the Kimmel, the gayborhood, and even Old City.
OVERVIEW
The Loews Philadelphia has beautiful bones—if not the most
fashionable dress (and address). For a business traveler, the Loews
Philadelphia works perfectly well. |
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