My Stay at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia

Dress (runs big, size down)

Two weekends ago, I packed my bags and headed to the City of Brotherly Love. I've been to Philadelphia many times before, so I've done a lot of the classic tourist stuff, but the entire city is steeped in so much history, it's always fun to even just walk around and take in all of the sights.

The drive from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia is about 5 hours. It's not too bad because you literally just drive straight across the state on the turnpike (you don't even need a map, it's that simple).

We checked into the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia in the later afternoon and as we were checking in, we were greeted with water and champagne. That's my kind of welcome, that's for sure! The Ritz-Carlton is centrally located right across from City Hall... we never once used our car because most of the things we were doing were within walking distance of the Ritz-Carlton! And it's right next door to La Colombe- which is by far my favorite coffee in the entire world!

When you first walk through the doors, the 'lobby' (which isn't a grand enough word) is a giant rotunda that really welcomes you inside. Inside it has the lobby bar area, the check-in desk and Richard Sondoval's restaurant, Aqimero. The building was built in the very early 1900's and is a reproduction of the Pantheon in Rome. It used to be a bank until it was converted to the Ritz-Carlton. To say that the space is stunning is an understatement. It is luxe and gorgeous and there is so much light flooding the space during the daytime. 

There is a tower attached to the Rotunda which has 30 floors. There are a total of 301 rooms and suites. We were on the 29th floor in the most beautiful suite overlooking Philadelphia's City Hall.

Pajamas

Our suite was so gorgeous, I wanted to move in and never leave. There were TWO marble bathrooms on each end of the suite, two large tubs with sweeping city views (seriously look at our view in the photo with the champagne flute!!), a large living room, master bedroom with a walk-in closet (that also had insane views). And that bed? Quite easily the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. I figured out you can buy the bedding and the robes and I'm SO tempted to get both. Amazing.

Back to the bathrooms... I'm very judge-y when it comes to hotel bathrooms. I think one of life's simple pleasures while traveling is having ample counter/drawer space. The bathrooms had SO much counter space and even drawers to store your toiletries. 

The Ritz-Carlton went under a $25 million renovation last year and I was so excited to be able to see all of the gorgeous touches added. The rooms are so luxe as are the hallways, and public spaces. 

Not to mention, everyone was SO friendly and helpful. And I mean that not only about the staff of the Ritz, but also the people we came across throughout Philadelphia. We looked lost when trying to find a restaurant, and someone came up and so nicely offered to help us find our way.

We actually loved the suite so much, after doing a ton of walking the first day we got there, we decided to order-in room service. The food was excellent and it was so nice to be able to rest our feet and live the #robelife.  If I could move in and live there, I would in a heartbeat!

I'll do a full Philly recap as to what we did, but I'm focusing on our stay first! One morning, we had brunch at Aqimero, which is a Latin-inspired restaurant by Richard Sandoval that opened up last summer. Oh my goodness was it incredible! The menu had all sorts of 'different' brunch items that really stepped things up from what you'd typically see on a brunch menu. We couldn't decide because there were so many amazing options so we ordered three things to split. We got the Manhattan Bagel, the Lobster Avocado Toast, and the Chicken and Waffles. The avocado toast was our favorite and is one of the most incredible things I've ever eaten. Everything was delicious as well and look at that presentation! 

A big thank you to the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia for hosting me! I had the best time and could not recommend the Ritz more! Even if you live in the area, stopping in just to see the space and have a cocktail or brunch/lunch/dinner would be such a fun experience.