The Best Hotels to Book Near Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia

This five-star operation on the square itself has Philadelphia’s largest guest rooms – in which glass-enclosed showers with massage showerheads, separate seating areas and a twice-daily housekeeping service come as standard. Many rooms directly overlook the park. Highlights of the quintuple-aspect gastronomic offering are acclaimed French/Mediterranean restaurant Lacroix and the Library Bar, a sleek cocktail joint in which the shelves are lined with rare books on the city’s history. Drinks are also served around the atrium pool.

Sofitel’s Rittenhouse branch welcomes you in grand style, with a colorful lobby floor made from seven types of stone – based on the quilt patterns produced by the Shakers. As is fitting for a hotel steps away from Philadelphia’s French quarter, the main restaurant, Chez Colette, serves up classic French cuisine, using herbs, honey and vegetables grown in the Sofitel’s rooftop orchard and beehives, in an interior modeled on a typical brasserie from the 1930s.

Built in 1886, this magnificent French Renaissance-style hotel is one of the few in Philadelphia to feature on the National Register of Historic Places. Rooms feature elegant, 14ft (4.2m) ceilings, as well as paintings and photography by local artists – those on the higher floors also have cityscape views. Under a whitewashed, domed ceiling at the 19th-floor restaurant, try the Chicken a la King, invented by the Bellevue’s chef in the 1890s.

Swim with a view at this dizzying Four Seasons, which has a 57th-floor infinity pool with views stretching beyond the cityscape. The spa also offers one-on-one yoga and pilates classes, massages with crystal-infused oils and crystal sound baths. Situated two floors above is the JG Skyhigh Lounge – where one of the signature dishes is crispy salmon sushi with chipotle mayonnaise and soy glaze. All rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling views of Downtown, City Hall and the Delaware River.

Housed in a neoclassical bank building constructed in 1908, Philly’s Ritz Carlton has a 30th-floor bar with views over the city’s rooftops and lobby restaurant set in white marble pillars, specializing in Mexican dishes and mezcal. Among its finest accommodations are the City Hall View rooms, which offer a perspective on the city’s most iconic structure through oversized windows – as well as handcrafted moldings on the high ceilings and Georgia marble bathrooms with rainfall showers.

This image-conscious boutique makes inventive use of a church that used to house Philly’s first African Baptist congregation, featuring eight rooms with soaring vaulted ceilings and multi-colored stained-glass windows. Shared spaces comprise a high-ceilinged lounge and dining area with minimalist, Bauhaus-inspired design and artwork by John Baldessari. Staff-recommended spots within strolling distance include Pumpkin, which is BYOB, Miles Table, for a great brunch and Bob & Barbara’s for free live music and cocktails.

A top budget base from which to visit Rittenhouse Square and other city-center attractions, Alexander Inn offers unfussy, orange-and-maroon doubles and twins with ensuite bathrooms – most of the rooms have bay-window seating areas with rooftop views. Amenities include discounted parking down the road, annotated maps and sightseeing tips available from reception and a lounge with local newspapers and leather armchairs, where a buffet breakfast is served every morning.

The Logan’s Assembly Rooftop Lounge is one of Philly’s hottest venues: take a seat on one of the horseshoe-shaped banquettes curved around a fire pit, order a champagne cocktail and gaze out over the Cathedral Basilica of St Peter and Paul. Not to be outdone, on-site Urban Farmer steakhouse serves locally-sourced meat in a dining room full of original artwork, mismatched furniture and cowskin-patterned cushions. Some rooms have panoramic views of Benjamin Franklin Parkway through picture windows.

Rooms at this century-old Georgian revival-style building center around a 75ft (23m)-high skylit atrium courtyard. Dressed in pale blues and grays, rooms have impressionistic charcoal sketches of City Hall’s iconic tower above the beds and views of the atrium or out towards the city. In the Amuse brasserie, chandeliers, wood-paneled walls and recessed, arched windows provide a refined setting for French classics such as snails in garlic sauce, onion soup gratinee (topped with a crust) and steak frites(fries).

Featured on the National Register of Historic Places, this Marriot franchise has an interior design inspired by the Roaring Twenties – in which rooms feature blue-and-white, art deco-style headboards and curtains, and subway tile bathrooms. This style blends with bright Mediterranean colors and wooden ceiling beams in Sabroso+Sorbo, an in-house Spanish joint serving sangria and tapas such as croquetas (breaded bites with a creamy filling) and patatas bravas (spicy potatoes). Start the day with a cup of Philly’s La Colombe coffee in the Pressed Coffee Bar.