Not a bad experience at all, but don't expect luxury... this is a motel.
Pros:
* Location, quiet 'hood & motel, bed is fairly comfy, plenty of pillows, very clean, recently updated.
* Weiss Market & Walmart are about 2-mi away, in different directions. Weiss has a lot of beer choices, if that's your thing. Hot chickens but no hot deli foods.
* Small fridge & in room coffee pot, although I had to flush some water through the latter before using to rid it of dust & water stains... it appears it's not used often. Note: No m/w so don't buy heat & eat meals.
* Housekeeping does a great job cleaning & when the "do not disturb" sign is left on the door, they actually read & honor that request... that's a rarity in itself.
Cons:
* As others have said before, price is high for what you get (no amenities like fitness center or in-room niceties, like m/w), but it's due to location near UPenn & that will always keep prices high.
As a walk-in (no AAA discounts) I paid $90 on Sat & $80 Sun/Mon nights. PA taxes add almost $10 more to the total cost, yikes! Most area hotels are double the cost & not heavy on amenities either. Just understand that if you stay in or near a college town, you're paying higher prices, no matter which state.
* Lighting is fairly poor. I had to turn on the overhead light at times, but it always gives me a headache, so I prefer a fair amount of bright lamps. It's always annoying when owners use lower wattage bulbs. For some reason foreign owners always do so... it's very frustrating as someone who needs to work on the computer in-room.
* Wall a/c unit is loud. If you want to watch TV, you've got to crank the sound. Fortunately, walls are pretty thick. I was there during a rock concert & they were fully booked... I heard nothing from outside or any room, surprisingly. But, if you're the type who is bothered by noise when sleeping, you may have to disconnect your a/c unit plug... there is no "off" button on the old unit.
* "Breakfast" is fairly grim... in fact, I'd call it snacks, not b'kfast. A handful of store bought, sugary muffin bites & barely filled canisters of corn flakes & another tasteless cereal (honestly, there wasn't enough of either for 1 full bowl), but I couldn't find any milk, so opted to go without. Even the mostly empty, old fashioned glass coffee carafe didn't look appealing (it looked like it had been burning for hours & there was barely enough for 1/2-cup), so I opted to venture off to a market for a few food items.
The owners live on property, but aren't always at the desk... I've even interrupted them at 9am to extend my stay & the mom came out with unbrushed hair straight out of bed to work the register, as her young son couldn't.
Slight annoyances aside, solid 3.75* out of 5.
I'd stay again, even though the high cost vs virtually zero amenities leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. read more