Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

Historical Sites & Attractions:

• Wannabe sailors can visit the nation’s most decorated battleship, the Battleship New Jersey, and take tours of the ship, ride the 4-D flight simulator, climb into the onboard helicopter and sleep in the sailors’ bunks as part of its award-winning Overnight Encampment program. 62 Battleship Place, Camden, (856) 966-1652, battleshipnewjersey.org
• America’s most famous flag maker greets guests in her interactive 18^th-century upholstery shop at the Betsy Ross House. Visitors learn about Betsy’s life and legend from the lady herself. Summer brings a weeklong, annual Flag Fest celebration with free events every day. Also,

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) today announced a new hotel search engine for visitphilly.com: BookDirect. A product of JackRabbit Systems, the search engine:

• Gives consumers the opportunity to compare and shop for rates as always, but enables them to book accommodations on their preferred hotel’s website. That means they can secure the best available rate and build or use loyalty points.
• Makes it easier for visitors to find the hotel that best suits their needs thanks to a new map view and search results that are filtered by amenity, location, price and property.

“Experience tells us that

Visitors to Philadelphia are sleeping easier than ever in 2013, thanks to a flurry of hotel activity that’s taking shape in the form of new properties, major upgrades and boutique-brand conversions. Here’s a look at Philadelphia’s hotel happenings in 2013 and beyond:

Brand New:

• Located just steps away from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Reading Terminal Market and Chinatown, Home2 Suites by Hilton will open on August 25, becoming the brand’s first downtown Philadelphia property and the first newly developed hotel in Philadelphia since the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Of the 246 studios, 22 are one-bedroom suites geared

Philly may be best known as the City of Brotherly Love, but sisters from Center City to New Hope have plenty of reasons to celebrate the LGBT-friendly nightlife scene. Women’s parties and exclusive nightclubs have put Philly on the map for lesbian life after dark. Here’s a look at where the girls eat, drink and party:

Bars & Nightclubs:

• Sisters – Philadelphia’s longtime lesbian nightclub attracts women of all ages Tuesday through Sunday with live entertainment, DJs, Thursday night karaoke and some of the best happy hour specials in the Gayborhood. The tri-level club features three bars, a restaurant

Pet lovers are crazy about their animal companions and spend more than $50 billion a year in the U.S. on pet services and accoutrements to prove it. For those who love to spoil their pet but hate to leave him behind while traveling, the Philadelphia region proves to be the “purr-fect” getaway. Pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and retail shops welcome visitors and their animal companions in all sections of the city and its suburbs. From canine-friendly parks to VIP (Very Important Pet) hotel programs, the Philadelphia region makes it easy for visitors to bring their furry friends along for the ride.

Philadelphia, aptly dubbed the City of Brotherly Love, caters to lovers looking to reenergize their relationships at cultural sites, romantic eateries, outdoor attractions and other swoon-worthy spots. Couples can make it a weekend—or longer—by booking special hotel packages, some of which are romantically themed, on visitphilly.com/hotels. One popular deal, the Philly Overnight® Hotel Package comes with two nights and free hotel parking.

Here are a few suggestions for embracing the region’s romantic side:

Cozy Cuisine:

• After a day in the Chester County countryside, foodies favor the Birchrunville Store Café, a bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) spot known for its contemporary French-Italian

Hotels throughout the Philadelphia region are offering packages to promote popular attractions and activities both indoors and out this winter season. Green thumbs can get in on Philadelphia Flower Show packages, art lovers can book a culture-packed option, families can take advantage of an offer that includes tickets to the BlueCross RiverRink and girlfriends can get cozy with a package that nabs them a 20% discount at The Bellevue’s haute shops. Here’s a look at some of the offers available this winter:

Tickets-Included Packages:

The Flower Show Hotel Package
Hotels: Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Sofitel Philadelphia, Sonesta Hotel Philadelphia, Embassy

Visitors to Philadelphia this winter can get art and about thanks to the new With Art Philadelphia™ Hotel Package. The one- and two-night packages, available from January 10 through March 31, include a With Art Philadelphia Pass, which guarantees one-time admission to six of the city’s top art destinations: the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rodin Museum, Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Penn Museum. The only way to get the pass is through the purchase of a hotel package.

The package is available seven days a week at the following

Hotels throughout the Philadelphia region are offering packages to promote popular attractions and activities both indoors and out this winter season. Couples can get in on the New Year’s Eve action at various hotels, families can take advantage of an offer that includes tickets to the BlueCross RiverRink and girlfriends can get cozy with a package that nabs them a 20% discount at The Bellevue’s haute shops. Here’s a look at some of the offers available this holiday season and beyond:

Hoilday Packages:

Philadelphia Holiday Package
Hotel: Omni Hotel at Independence Park
Package Overview: Guests enjoy deluxe accommodations, valet

If you haven’t updated your Philadelphia guidebook lately, you might be missing some major new museums and attractions. Over the past few years, the region welcomed some destination-defining—and trip-defining—attractions, including the Barnes Foundation, the renewed Rodin Museum, the National Museum of American Jewish History and The President’s House, as well as new fashionable hotels and fun festivals.

Between all their touring, visitors fuel up in a city that’s become a top dining destination, evidenced by recent multiple-page features in Travel + Leisure and Bon Appétit. The Italian Market, Reading Terminal Market, BYOB spots, red-gravy restaurants, chef-centric eateries, ethnic outposts, food

Philly’s restaurants can fuel any power breakfast with high style and great flavor. In the mood for an organic smoothie? How about chipped beef? Maybe it’s a quiche Lorraine kind of morning? Here’s a look at some of the best bets around town for early meeting and eating:

Cosmopolitan Conferences:

• A mod restaurant at the base of the AKA Rittenhouse, a.kitchen serves a well-heeled morning workforce toasted bagels with smoked salmon, thick cut onion and tomato; homemade English muffins with country sausage and fried egg; Counter Culture Coffee; and pastries from local artisanal bake shop Au Fournil. Monday through

Only in Philadelphia this fall, Prohibition, Titanic, Maya and Dead Sea Scrolls join such recent additions as the Barnes Foundation and the renovated Rodin Museum, making the region a must-see, must-do. A new Kimpton hotel even gives visitors a new way to stay—right on Independence Mall. Here’s a peek at what’s awesome this autumn in Philadelphia and The Countryside®:

Anticipated Accommodations:

• The 100-year-old Lafayette Building, located on Independence Mall, recently found new life as a Kimpton-owned Hotel Monaco. The 10-story, four-star hotel houses 268 rooms; a bevy of luxury suites; 120-seat Red Owl Tavern, serving modern American fare and

With hotel occupancy at record levels and revenues at an all-time high, Philadelphia is experiencing a hotel renaissance of sorts. In fact, during the first six months of 2012, Center City hotels enjoyed 75% occupancy, the highest of any year going back to 2000 (the first year data is available), and an average daily rate of $171, according to Smith Travel Research. 2012 also heralded the arrival of new properties—with the Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, Sheraton Valley Forge and Home2 Suites Philadelphia still on the way—major upgrades and top-to-bottom renovations. Here’s a look at what’s in store for 2012 and beyond:

Long a pioneer in the environmental movement, Philadelphia is attracting increasing global attention for its efforts to establish itself as a leader in urban sustainability. Across the city, eco-programs abound—from the implementation of the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters program to greenscape previously impervious surfaces, to Mayor Nutter’s program to give 300,000 trees to city residents for planting, to the Philadelphia School District’s recent designation by The Center for Green Schools as the greenest in the nation. Not to be outdone, the region’s service amenities and modes of transportation are also advancing the green revolution. Here’s a look

For one month only, the popular Philly Overnight® Hotel Package is going mega. Visitors who book the Mega Philly Overnight Hotel Package for a stay in the month of August get accommodations for two nights and free hotel parking as usual, along with a voucher for two roundtrip megabus.com tickets for a return trip to Philadelphia. The package is available at more than 45 hotels in the city and region, and it’s bookable at visitphilly.com/phillyovernight.

The free megabus.com tickets to and from Philadelphia are valid through March 15, 2013 from the following 14 cities: Boston, MA; Buffalo, NY; Buffalo

Those interested in indulging in a few days of luxury and pampering should consider Philadelphia, where living the high life is easier to obtain and more affordable than ever. A host of bargains, from prix-fixe dinners at elegant restaurants to overnight stays in five-star hotels to shopping deals at designer consignment boutiques, means visitors can save and still see the city and surrounding countryside in style. Below are just a few suggestions for a first-class visit to Philly:

High-Value Eats:

• At Rittenhouse Square’s Audrey Claire, guests experience an intimately set, open-air Mediterranean bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) restaurant without breaking the bank.

Nothing compares to a getaway to Philadelphia: The United States’ first great city is chock full of historical attractions, arts and cultural treasures, four centuries of architecture, delectable dining—and hotels that know how to pamper. A lavish $8,000 hotel package? The Rittenhouse Hotel awaits. A concierge who can make dreams come true? AKA Rittenhouse Square’s staff can arrange private trapeze lessons, cooking lessons, art instructions and more. Here are just a few of the hotel indulgences that virtually sparkle with grandness:

• Dreams do come true at the modern boutique hotel that is AKA Rittenhouse Square. Just steps from the city’s

Guests of the inns and hotels of Philadelphia and The Countryside® can now expect more than superlative service and historic trimmings. Increasingly, they can also avail themselves of in-room massages, customized facials, herbal body treatments and day-long day-spa escapes—without ever leaving the property. Such on-site luxuries are now standard, providing much-needed relaxation after traveling and rejuvenation before exploration. Here are some spas to visit before or after spending a night or two:

In-Room & In Luck:

• Guests at the new, contemporary boutique hotel AKA Rittenhouse Square can order up gentle to intense in-suite massages and guided relaxation therapies. They

2012 is a year to look backward and forward in the Philadelphia region. In a nod to the past, several of the region’s cultural institutions will showcase globally revered treasures from the worlds of religion and art that date from antiquity to the 20^th century. But with eyes focused on the future, the region is also embracing some of the most modern interpretive artwork ever commissioned. Plus, a number of the city’s museums are unveiling major renovations that will enable them to thrive for many years to come. Here are just 12 reasons to visit in 2012:

Relocations, Redesigns,

Gay and lesbian travelers have plenty of options when choosing gay-friendly hotel accommodations in the Greater Philadelphia region. More than a dozen hotels have identified as gay-friendly, letting gay and lesbian travelers know they are welcome and can be assured friendly service. With chic accommodations and budget-friendly options, the Philadelphia region is the perfect place to Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay. Here’s a look at some of the great gay-friendly hotels in town:

Gayborhood:

• Alexander Inn: Nestled in the heart of Washington Square West, popularly known as the “Gayborhood,” The Alexander Inn is one of Philadelphia’s