Limber up for that early morning false fire alarm
A birthday getaway trip turned into a real struggle at the Palomar in Philadelphia. The real downer was the 4:30am fire alarm that required evacuation of the hotel. Safety is important, but the lack of interest in ensuring everyone was relatively satisfied in an awful situation (crammed into the lobby for 45 minutes to hear it was a false alarm) is a concern. A small bottle of lukewarm water didn't sit well with me after having to hike back up 18 floors of stairs since there was a mad rush to the elevators. Luckily able to get a little more sleep when we made it back to the room around 5:15. No apologies, follow-up from hotel management the next morning (it was like it never happened?), and I laughed when I saw the charge for a can of mini-bar soda to rehydrate after I got back to the room from the walk back up. Also, valet parking is a challenge (to drop off and pick up) with a lot of waiting around, even during non-rush hour times. For the money I spent - I will definitely be looking elsewhere next time.