OT: Philadelphia area college tour lodgings...

[daker13]

I'm planning on doing a tour of a few Philly area colleges with my daughter and one of her friends. I've been to the area a bunch of times, but not recently, and I need a recommendation for a decent Hampton Inn-level hotel to stay at. We'll probably stay two nights, and try to do three college tours (four seems excessive), with the colleges likely including Swarthmore, Haverford, and Penn. Can someone recommend a decent place in the area that's reasonably close to these colleges?

Thanks!

[echappist]

I'm planning on doing a tour of a few Philly area colleges with my daughter and one of her friends. I've been to the area a bunch of times, but not recently, and I need a recommendation for a decent Hampton Inn-level hotel to stay at. We'll probably stay two nights, and try to do three college tours (four seems excessive), with the colleges likely including Swarthmore, Haverford, and Penn. Can someone recommend a decent place in the area that's reasonably close to these colleges?

Thanks!

I don't normally say this, but this is one of the few times where I know the subject matter quite well. I attended Lower Merion HS and lived a mile away from Haverford, considered applying to all of the schools you mentioned, and actually had to find hotels in the area more recently, as I moved away after college (though I did come back briefly last year, living two train stops away from Haverford)

Are you taking Amtrak or driving? Hotels in the city charges ~$20/night for parking, though there's one lot by the Art Museum charging $10/night (but you'd need to walk 10+ minutes to your hotel). That said, any of the three places are accessible by public transit: Penn via subway/trolley/regional rail, and the other two via regional rail (twice an hour). I would strongly recommend a tour of Bryn Mawr as well, as it's literally less than two miles down the road from Haverford. I'd certainly have considered it, had I been eligible.

As for hotels, I'd recommend some place on City Ave if you are driving. It's about 20 minutes to Penn, 20-25 minutes to Swarthmore, and 10-15 to Haverford. My recollection of Hampton is that their places generally run ~ $120/night before taxes and fees, which is a bit high for an inn. There are definitely places that charges a comparable rate on City Ave (~$130-150 ish). There's a Sheraton on the Penn campus, but you'll pay through the nose on that one.

If you want to save a bit, there are places in King of Prussia. It's quite a bit further away, but you probably save ~$35/night. Travel time is 25 min to Haverford, 30 min to Swarthmore, and 45 min to Penn (you'll want to time this one right, as traffic on the Schuylkill can get atrocious). Plymouth meeting will also have something similar.

Not many other choices closer by (or closer to Haverford or Swarthmore), as both are located in inner suburbs. I'd also give AirBnB a serious consideration as well (in Lower Merion township, as it's relatively centrally located).

We did once stay at a place near the airport. The location is okay (located right next to the airport, surrounding somewhat industrial), but you will get a decent night of sleep. Probably the least expensive of the bunch (sub $100/night before taxes should be doable). It is however, better than staying in NJ.

Feel free to PM me. We are actually looking at hotels in Philly for next year, as we are hosting a gathering there.

[sailorboy]

What about the Conshohocken area? Seems close-ish to all of those. I just don't know the hotel scene there, but there are a few high-rise condos so maybe look for hotels in that area?

[happycampyer]

I did a similar tour with my daughter three years ago, and we visited four schools in two days: Penn and Haverford one day, and Swarthmore and Villanova the next. At that time, the morning and afternoon sessions lined up best in that combination, iirc. Bear in mind that two visits in one day means that you don't get a lot of time, if any, to wander around the campus of the morning school, because there's typically just enough time to have lunch and get to the next school. The schools on the Main Line are a little easier in this regard to schedule, since they are so close to one another.

As far as hotels go, we stayed at a hotel in West Philadelphia near Penn's campus the first night (so we didn't have to drive to an early morning session), and the Courtyard Philadelphia Springfield the second night (since it was close to Swarthmore, the first visit the next day). The prices for hotels near Penn (Sheraton, Hilton/Inn at Penn, the Study, etc.) are all jacked up, but you're paying for convenience. There is a Hampton Inn near Media, which is close to Swarthmore.

For searches, I would include hoteltonight.com. They often have cheap prices. A quick search shows a couple of hotels near King of Prussia in the $120 range. Personally, I would spend a little more to get closer to where your first visit is, so that you aren't fighting traffic etc. to get to the morning info session.

[djg]

If you will have a car, you could look at some of the chain hotels near the airport— it’s not that far from Swarthmore by car, although definitely a very different neighborhood. The Marriott/Bonvoy chains have quite a few properties downtown, if you want to stay there as a base — I just tend to check the usual web sites to see who is featuring relatively good rates at a given time (and remember to factor in parking, if you’ll be parking).

[daker13]

Thank you, everyone! I will look over your suggestions and see if I have more questions.

These college tours/info sessions can be pretty grueling, and I don't want to schedule any more than is necessary, but I'm planning on arriving one night, doing two colleges, then another the next day and then driving back to RI. Willing to add another school if necessary, though.

[93KgBike]

Stay in Villanova, use the blue route to go west and 76 to go east.

[Dude]

The hotels along City Ave are your best bet. The town is called Bala Cynwyd (pronounced Bala like “ball ah” and Cynwyd like “kin wood”).

There is a Hilton and a Marriott there. King of Prussia and Conshohocken have you dealing with 76 which is always a parking lot.

[Dude]

I live in the area so PM me with any questions. I can give you some good riding routes if you have enough time too.

[adampaiva]

Do the daughter and friend (or you for that matter) want to get more of a feel for the campus/area than just the tour, even if just dinner and walking around a bit in the evening? That would be a good reason to stay closer to the schools. Especially UPenn I would think staying out on City Ave or Bala Cynwyd would not give any sense for what its going to be like to live in West Philly for four years. Probably airbnb's in the UPenn / Drexel (where I went) neighborhoods, or across the river in Fitler Square area?

Also, maybe the other schools do this as well but Drexel had some discounted rate negotiated with area hotels for prospective students.
https://drexel.edu/procurement/travel/hotels/

PS - I loved Philadelphia for my 5 years of college. I was back this weekend and the city feels a lot nicer than when I was there.

[jemdet]

I don’t have much to add on lodging, but I graduated from Haverford in 2012. Feel free to PM if you want to ask any questions!

[djg]

Thank you, everyone! I will look over your suggestions and see if I have more questions.

These college tours/info sessions can be pretty grueling, and I don't want to schedule any more than is necessary, but I'm planning on arriving one night, doing two colleges, then another the next day and then driving back to RI. Willing to add another school if necessary, though.

Grueling, yes, and astonishing in their sameness. But here and there one stumbles upon some distinctive information; and the tour ritual also seems a good prompt to get or keep the kids thinking about the process, and what it is they want. Or so I tell myself.

I’ve got two looking this fall. Best of luck to you and yours.

[daker13]

Grueling, yes, and astonishing in their sameness. But here and there one stumbles upon some distinctive information; and the tour ritual also seems a good prompt to get or keep the kids thinking about the process, and what it is they want. Or so I tell myself.

I’ve got two looking this fall. Best of luck to you and yours.

Overall, I think they're useful, but so much of it seems to depend on the student tour leaders turning on the charm. They've all seemed like nice kids, but sometimes the substance is a little lacking.

The weirdest thing since my own college years is the preoccupation with food. I'm a vegetarian and prefer that a school has some good vegetarian options, and it's great that so many of these schools are thinking about sustainability and local sourcing, but several colleges have really played up the gourmet cuisine angle to a ridiculous degree. This is COMPLETELY different from when I went to college. Obviously, the quality of the food has become a huge selling point for small liberal arts colleges and I'm rather uncomfortable with the idea that I'm going to be paying for my daughter to eat at gourmet restaurant two or three times a day for the next four years. (Wellesley, for ex., apparently has a gourmet ice cream endowment.)