TRAVEL: Weekend Like A Local in Philadelphia

*I was hosted at The Inn at Penn in exchange for media coverage. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

If there’s one thing I love to do, it’s to explore new cities. Here in Dallas, we don’t get actual winters, I mean, here I am typing this in early February and it’s 78 degrees outdoors. I knew Philadelphia wouldn’t disappoint! It’s such a beautiful city with such friendly people and great food…more on the food later! I partnered with Hilton for a weekend in the city to show you how easy it is to experience any weekend of your choice like a local! You will truly feel less of a tourist with my recommendations! 😎

With the Weekend Like A Local package, you can get up to 50% off Sunday nights when you stay with Hilton, 50% if you’re a Hilton Honors member, or 40% off if you’re a non-Honors member). With this deal, you have to stay a minimum of 3 nights. This particular package is available at 10+ Hilton hotels in Philly, including The Inn at Penn, the Hilton Hotel I am featuring in today’s post! The package also includes a list of restaurants and activities to partake in. I’ll get into all of those later. For now, let’s take a glance at the hotel! ☺️

The Inn at Penn is a Hilton hotel located in the heart of University City, with multiple universities nearby, particularly the University of Pennsylvania. Though it is smack in the middle of a college area, it couldn’t be in a more perfect location. It happens to be in the Top 10 hotels in Philly according to US News and Reports! At The Inn at Penn, there are 245 stylish rooms and suites to select from.

Standard Room – Double Bed

For our trip, my assistant Zuheily and I stayed in a standard room with double beds. As with all rooms on the property, there is complimentary WiFi and iPads. The iPads ended up being one of my favorite things about the room. From here, you can place orders for in-room dining, read the newspapers and so much more. Cheers to Inn at Penn for taking the initiative to become more green and be less wasteful!

Isn’t the downtown view from our room gorgeous?!

Speaking of “green,” The Inn at Penn has taken a lot more thought into being sustainable with other amenities. For one, all of the fabrics, wall coverings and bathroom tile in the rooms are made with recycled content. In the bathrooms are WaterSense® showerheads, which helps to save thousands of gallons of water annually. This is huge!

Below is the Standard Room with the King Bed that is also offered as an option. Its bathroom has a walk-in shower!

Standard Room – King Bed

In the event you are an allergy sufferer like me, The Inn at Penn also offers allergy-friendly rooms! They are 99.9% allergen-free and have in-room filtration systems that remove air particles and the surfaces are treated to minimize the growth of bacteria. Everything in the room is sanitized, even the heating and cooling system. You can read more about the room’s amenities here!

ACTIVITIES

Philadelphia Museum of Art

I’m now going to get into the activities and food joints that are included in the Weekend Like A Local package. One of the destinations on the list I was most excited about is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. At the time, they were offering a Fabulous Fashion presentation, which will be available until March 3rd. This presentation features some of the most creative styles ever designed. Some of the numerous designers featured include Cristóbal Balenciaga, Oscar de la Renta and Geoffrey Beene. For the museum and everything it has to show inside, you can get $5 off admission on Sundays!

Below are just a few of the many designs featured for Fabulous Fashion!

Walnut Street Theatre

I was a bit skeptical on Ken Ludwig’s A Comedy of Tenors when I first saw it featured in the package since it’s a comedy show and I typically don’t gravitate towards those, but I am so glad I gave this one a chance. It offered real humor that wasn’t the least bit cheesy. It kind of reminded me of a daytime soap opera with lots of humor. Trust me, you’ll want to check this out too. You can get $20 off Sunday evening performances, including A Comedy of Tenors, at the Walnut Street Theatre (subject to availability).

We were also supposed to visit Battleship New Jersey during our stay, but sadly it was closed due to the government shutdown and weather conditions. With the Weekend Like A Local package, you get 50% off the “Fire Power Tour” on Sundays!

FOOD

City Tap House

One of the yummy restaurants we got the chance to experience was City Tap House. Here you get 1 complimentary “Veg & Spread” appetizer or any dessert on Sundays. It’s the perfect place to go for brunch. Everything was quite delicious! I got the Morning Avocado Toast (of course, haha!) and the Strawberry Sundae Pancakes and Zuheily ordered the Brewer’s Breakfast!

Stir Restaurant at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Our meal at Stir was the first we experienced upon stepping off the plane. It certainly did not disappoint! Everything was so flavorful; I would have thought I was dining at a Southern restaurant. I really appreciated the lighter, yet satisfying dishes. I tried to take note of everything I tasted so I could attempt to recreate them at home. I doubt I’ll get them as good as the Chef, haha! This gem is located inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You will more than likely have to ask for directions to the restaurant, as it’s quite tricky to find during renovation. It’s more than worth going to though!

Grilled Shishito Pepper

Hearty Kale Salad

Miso Braised Butternut Squash

Parsnip and Roasted Pear Soup

Stir Pommes Frites

Herb Roasted Salmon

Hands down, best salmon I’ve ever had in my life. My mouth is watering again over it as I type this! I will literally fly back to Philly just for this salmon. That’s how good it was!

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Olive Oil Cake

Love City Brewing

While I’ve been to a brewery once before, Love City Brewing was the first where I actually got the chance to try the beer. Both Zuheily and I ordered the Standard Flight, which consists of 4 beers of your choosing. There is a large variety of different flavors, no matter what your palate may desire. Based on the flavors I tried, I prefer the lighter beers rather than the darker ones. This flight option gives you the opportunity to try more than 1 at once to see what you like and if you find some you do like, you can order them in larger quantities! For the Weekend Like A Local package, on Sundays you can get 1 free beer flight per party! They also have appetizers that you can order to go along with your beer.

We also got the chance to tour the facility to see behind the scenes how the beer is brewed. Every thing is brewed in house! 👌

Hawker East Inspired Eats

Hawker East Inspired Eats is a food truck located in the garage of Love City Brewing. Though it wasn’t a part of the package, it was really convenient to have something healthy to eat that was a more of a meal. I got the vegetarian dish offered…so good!

3 other restaurant offerings we didn’t get a chance to try that were a part of the Weekend Like A Local package are as follows, along with the deals offered:

• 20% off your total bill on Sundays at Little Baby’s Ice Cream
• 10% off all food items on Sundays at Positano Coast
• Free dessert with each entree purchase on Sundays at Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant

The University Club at Penn

In the event you want to stay close to home, or rather, The Inn at Penn, the property offers a buffet-style breakfast, as well as a menu option for breakfast. There are healthy offerings and full-cooked breakfasts. The options are endless and it was really convenient to go here our last morning right before our flight back home!

Louie Louie Restaurant

Winter Salad

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Lasagna Rolls

Cream Spinach

Crème Brulee

Warm Almond Cake

OTHER AMENITIES AND PHOTOS OF THE INN AT PENN

The Living Room

The Living Room at The Inn at Penn offers cocktails and small bites 7 days per week. It’s the perfect place to unwind and chill!

You should definitely plan a weekend to Philadelphia! I felt just like a local getting to experience so much in such a short period of time; I didn’t get stay in the city nearly as long as I would have liked! You can book your stay with 10+Hilton area hotels and feel less like a tourist and more of a true city goer! 🙌