I really wanted to like this property, but...
My review actually covers two separate properties, one of which isn't even a Comfort Inn. It is relevant to the review, and details are below.
This property is in a great location for anybody visiting the older part of Philly for all of its historic sites. That was the main reason we chose it. It is also reasonably close to some bars and restaurants, and if you don't mind some walking then your options expand greatly. They have a shuttle service that will run you around but we didn't use it, even though we had planned on using it. Not the hotel's fault - we just didn't use it. Parking and getting your car in/out is very easy and convenient, too. Highway access is decent, and there is every conceivable chain store and restaurant you might want a few miles south on Columbus if you have a car and need to get stuff.
Property seems fairly new and has a lot going for it, but there were plenty of things that went badly on our stay to make me hesitant to return. Our seven night stay was booked and confirmed in advance, and we knew the property was sold out for our first night's stay. We showed up at midnight only to find out that we did not have a room!! After 90 minutes (now 1:30 AM) and a lot of promises from a clearly exasperated desk clerk who had this problem put in her hands even though she didn't create it, we are told that another hotel has a room. Technically, that was a true statement. After getting INCREDIBLY poor directions there, we found that it was across from the Philly convention center and right next to a homeless shelter. Seriously. No hotel parking and barely any place to even stop to drop off people and luggage. I was absolutely thrilled when we got up in the morning to find the car was still in the surface parking lot and hadn't been broken into - hopefully that gets the picture across of the surroundings. The only elevator in the hotel was broken, and we had four flights of stairs and a week's worth of luggage to haul up there because we did not plan on having a one night stay anywhere, nor were we ready to leave everything in the car just to have it stolen. Breakfast was apparently typical for that chain (the sleepy bear) but was pretty pitiful. The room itself was actually pretty clean but NYC hotel rooms got NOTHING on this place as far as being tiny!! Comfort Inn did pay for our room at this place, but that was not even close to covering the hassle, aggravation and difficulty we had. There were AT LEAST three other parties that had the exact same thing happen to them - who knows how many more ended up in this mess. Comfort Inn knew at least 9-12 hours ahead of time (11 AM check-out time, 3 PM check-in time) that they were not going to have a room for us when we arrived. Instead of contacting us AND attempting to find another property with available rooms ahead of time, they let us show up there at midnight and THEN had their desk clerk do all that work while also dealing with the people already checked in. This isn't 1950!! We were easily reached by phone or email THE ENTIRE DAY that we were supposed to be checking in, so no excuses there. That is what the corporate reservation center should have been doing if the local property couldn't do that. Very, very bad experience to say the least.
We did end up at the Comfort Inn as planned for the remaining six nights. Breakfast was fine if you like biscuits and gravy, as that was the advertised "hot dish" each and every morning save one. I do indeed like biscuits and gravy, but nobody else in our party likes it. After a few days of that it got old for me as well. The one morning we didn't have that was because they had NO hot dish, and in fact ran out of a lot of supplies and food. Come on - it's not hard to plan ahead to have adequate food, paper plates and forks, is it?? They ran out of all of those items and then some. It's also not hard to serve up pre-cooked scrambled eggs, pre-cooked bacon or sausage, pre-cooked single eggs for making a breakfast sandwich... This was just pure laziness on the hotel to have the same thing each and every day. They even have a permanent sign on the wall that says "Do Not Put Gravy In The Waffle Maker". Classic...
The room was really nice and spacious, and would have been even better had a vacuum cleaner been used in it within the past month. I'm not sure if the hotel even has one on site - never saw one being used anywhere and there was dirt and debris on our carpet when we walked into the room. Sheets were never changed while we were there for six nights. Box spring was not covered and had stains on it. Who knows what was on the mattress - at least that had sheets!!Bathroom was fine, but cleaning wasn't the greatest - same issue with sweeping and vacuuming. One of the two elevators worked intermittently while we were there. That made for a fun morning when the place was completely booked!! Our room A/C was extremely noisy, and the maintenence/engineering crew could not get it fixed. I was told that they had a batch of brand new units (this was one of them) that had been installed but all had this same problem. They did their best to fix it but nothing worked. A/C worked, but made it difficult to relax, watch TV, go to sleep etc.
Fitness room does indeed exist, but we didn't use it even though I typically would have. We did a LOT of walking on our trip so I didn't need it. An exercise bike and an elliptical were squeezed into a room off of the lobby, and that is the fitness room. Very small. If that is important to you then beware of the very limited options here.
Outside grounds and appearance were fine. Always felt safe and comfortable walking to and from the property. I was concerned with Camden NJ being literally right across the river, but there was never an issue with that.
The convenience and location of this property are really, REALLY big. They almost outweigh all the problems. Almost. There are some basic problems with this property that are easily fixed, and I bet would be fixed if anybody who was in charge took the time to get them fixed. Unfortunately, those easily fixed problems weren't, and it was plainly clear that they had been around for a while and wouldn't be fixed any time soon. Too bad. I hope the company that owns this particular property reads this review. If I do return to Philly and can see that these problems have been fixed then I would readily stay there again. Right now?? I don't think so.