Archives for December 2014

Where: Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia, PA

When: December 2014

Who: 2 adults and 2 kids (ages 8 & 10)

How: Using Club Carlson Points for 2 nights (Buy One Get One free with credit card)

Hotel Status at time of stay: Club Carlson Gold

Recently we spent two nights at the Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia as a mini-staycation so that we could take the kids to as many of the fabulous Philadelphia Christmas attractions as possible in one weekend. Plus we had heard great things about this hotel and wanted to check it out. It has undergone a renovation, from a plain old Radisson to a Radisson Blu. I am pretty sure that BLU brings a heavier price tag, but also a funkier experience. The decor is fresh and modern. There are blu blue lights in the lobby. There is a somewhat creepy-yet-artsy mannequin that might represent Ben Franklin (if you are drunk enough). And a Christmas tree made out of books. This may inspire me to ditch the Douglas Fir next year. Or not.

Radisson Blu Warwick with Kids

Location:

One of the prime features of this hotel is its fabulous location, right in the Max Brenner, which is one of our favorite places for an expensive and massive dessert). We walked to the Franklin Institute, City Hall, LOVE Park, Macy’s, and Comcast (all of the places we visited this time for Christmas-y things to do).

 

Check In/Front Desk Experience:

We arrived on a Friday night around 7:30 pm. The front desk staff members were very friendly and helpful. Earlier in the year, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago (see review here), and they asked me about our stay there. When I mentioned that we had been given lounge access in Chicago, the agent looked at my reservation and saw that I had status with Club Carlson (Radisson Blu is part of Club Carlson), and offered to upgrade us to a larger room on the club lounge floor (11th). This gave us access to the club lounge for free breakfast and evening drinks and appetizers (more on the lounge below).

The reason I have status from Club Carlson is only because I have their credit card, which is one of my favorites. I wrote more about it here, but one of the best benefits is that you get “buy one get one free” when you book two nights using points. For this stay, we paid a total of 44,000 Club Carlson points for two nights (this hotel has since increased to 50,000 points).

 

The Room:

Like I said above, we were upgraded to a larger room. It had two beds (we are still at the stage that the kids are young enough that we can all share one room with 2 beds), a small sitting area, a TV that spun around from bed-view to sitting area view (this is so cool for the kids – they are easily impressed), a desk area, and a small bathroom. The room was updated and very clean. The beds were comfortable. Although the windows were small, we still had a decent view. This is an old, historic building that has been renovated, so there is still character in the architecture throughout the hotel.

The Lounge:

I am a huge fan of hotel status and free lounge access, especially when travelling with kids. It makes life so much easier to just walk down the hall barefoot, in your pajamas, to get breakfast (just kidding, don’t be that person. Get dressed if you are over 10 years old). We have become lounge snobs, which I am not proud of. We judge the free breakfast based on whether or not they serve fresh berries. We criticize the free coffee. This lounge had great fruit and weak coffee. They offered eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, muffins, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, fruit (including berries), nuts (bonus points), yogurt, juice, coffee, water. When we were there, it was not crowded and we were often the only people there. Which was great, because we had one whole room to ourselves and the kids could watch SpongeBob on the enormous TV while we adults read USA Today.

The lounge is large compared to others we’ve visited, especially in some cities. There are two separate seating areas, which was perfect for the losers adults who didn’t want to watch SpongeBob.

We were too busy ice skating and eating expensive desserts to make it back to the Radisson Blu Warwick for the evening lounge offerings, but I did ask about what they offer because I knew that you’d be dying to know. I was told that they had beer & wine (no extra charge), a hot food item, vegetables and dip and some finger foods. This would be similar to our lounge experience at the Radisson Blu in Chicago. This lounge was very clean, well stocked, and the lounge attendant was friendly and helpful.

Parking Tip:

The hotel offers valet parking for $40 per night, but there is a garage right across the street that is half the price. Save yourself some money, and park there if you are driving.

 

Overall:

We really enjoyed our stay at the Radisson Blu Warwick Philadelphia with the kids. Philadelphia is such a great city for a family trip, as there is so much to see and do. Plus all of the history. And the amazing people, of course. The location of this hotel is great, and the decor is fresh, fun, and modern. The upgraded room was large. It’s a great value with the BOGO that you get with the credit card. I’m sure our first stay won’t be our last.