Our Bellevue Hotel Philadelphia Review: The Gym Alone Is Worth the Trip
Debbie and I don't have to go far for a great hotel stay. The Bellevue is about 90 minutes from our New Jersey home, right in the heart of Center City Philadelphia.
We booked one night through the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program using our Platinum Card, and it was a great hotel stay.
Here are the details of our hotel review.
The Bellevue Hotel on the left with Philadelphia City Hall in the background. All Photos by John O’Boyle / The Empty Nest Explorers (except where noted)
A Little History First
The Bellevue opened in 1904. At the time, it was considered the most luxurious hotel in the country. Fifteen U.S. Presidents stayed here, from Theodore Roosevelt through Ronald Reagan. Queen Marie of Romania checked into the Royal Suite in 1926. The building is a National Historic Landmark, a 19-story French Renaissance tower that has anchored the corner of Broad and Walnut ever since.
The hotel went through a major renovation and relaunched in late 2024 as part of Hyatt's Unbound Collection. The bones are still very much 1904, but the rooms are very much 2024.
| 📍 Address | 200 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 |
| 🏨 Hotel Brand | Unbound Collection by Hyatt |
| 🏛️ Historic Status | National Historic Landmark — opened 1904 |
| 🛏️ Rooms | 184 rooms and 39 suites (floors 12–17) |
| 🍽️ Dining | Pergola, 19th floor — breakfast, lunch, dinner |
| 💪 Sporting Club | Complimentary for hotel guests — 100,000 sq ft, pool, saunas, courts, outdoor deck |
| 🅿️ Parking | Valet from $76/night at hotel entrance; parking deck directly next door at 220 S. Broad |
| 💳 Amex FHR Benefits | Breakfast for two, $100 F&B credit, upgrade when available, noon check-in, 4 pm checkout |
| ✈️ Airport | Philadelphia International (PHL) — approx. 8 miles, 20–30 min by car |
Getting There and Parking
The Bellevue sits at 200 South Broad Street, right on the Avenue of the Arts. City Hall is a few blocks north. The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music are steps away. There's also a SEPTA subway entrance directly outside the front door, which makes getting around the city easy.
For parking, valet is available at the front entrance for $76 per night. We skipped valet and used the parking deck directly next door, managed by Parkway Corporation at 220 South Broad. It was completely painless. Pull in, take the elevator up, done. We had in-and-out privileges but never needed them. For a city hotel, it was about as easy as parking gets.
Check-In and the Room
Our room was ready early, which was a nice start. We booked over a holiday weekend, and there was a wedding at the hotel, so the place was busy. We were not upgraded to a suite, which was no surprise given how full the hotel was. The standard room was still impressive.
The feel was exactly what you'd want from a building this old. High ceilings, classic moldings, that sense of old-world scale. But everything inside was sharp and updated. The closet was huge. A large cabinet held a mini fridge. The TV was enormous. Small details mattered too - a good reading light and USB plugs right at the bed, which sounds minor but makes a real difference at the end of a long day.
The bed was extraordinarily comfortable. There is nothing better than a great bed after a day walking around the city,
The bathroom was larger than average and beautifully finished. A walk-in shower and marble accents.
Dinner at Pergola
The pappardelle pasta with a vegetable ragu . Photo by Debbie O’Boyle / The Empty Nest Explorers
Pergola sits on the 19th floor with views over Center City. The room is surprisingly small for a hotel of this size. The staff is very attentive, and every table gets real attention.
We started with the fantastic artichoke fritters. Debbie and I both had the pappardelle pasta with a vegetable ragu for our main, and it was excellent. The food was genuinely good.
The total came in just over our $100 Amex food and beverage credit. So dinner - a real sit-down dinner with an appetizer - essentially cost us nothing out of pocket.
One honest note: Philadelphia is a tremendous food city. If we hadn't had the credit, we probably would have gone out to explore the neighborhood. The credit made the decision easy, and we were glad to have eaten at Pergola.
The Sporting Club: The Real Reason to Stay Here
Here is where this hotel becomes something else entirely.
The Sporting Club is adjacent to the hotel, and hotel guests get complimentary access. Calling it a gym or a spa doesn't capture it. It's a five-story, 100,000-square-foot athletic and wellness complex that is open to both hotel guests and paying members.
The first floor has the grand entrance, a cafe with a snack bar, locker rooms, saunas and steam rooms, a 25-meter indoor lap pool, and hot and cold plunge pools. There's also an outdoor deck overlooking Broad Street.
The second floor has six fitness studios for boxing, yoga, pilates, spin, and TRX. Also on the second floor: an NBA-regulation basketball court, three pickleball courts, two international regulation squash courts, and a golf pavilion with simulators.
The third floor has the main fitness floor -- a massive open space with cardio equipment, free weights, and an elevated indoor running track circling the entire perimeter above.
There's also a club room with a bar, lounge seating, pool tables, foosball, and bubble hockey. If you work from home, there are many places to work and a conference room available, too.
Debbie and I played pool and ping pong, then found the outdoor deck overlooking Broad Street and barely wanted to leave. We could have spent the whole day there.
We have traveled often and stay in a lot of hotels, and we have never seen a hotel amenity like this one. Not at this level, not this comprehensive. It alone makes staying at the Bellevue worth the rate.
John in the process of losing to Debbie in pool. Photo by Debbie O’Boyle / The Empty Nest Explorers
Breakfast at Pergola
Breakfast is served in the same dining room as dinner, with the same 19th-floor views. It's a buffet setup, and the food was good. The options were a bit limited given the price point - the buffet runs $42 per person.
Luckily, breakfast for two was included in our Amex FHR benefits. The bill at breakfast came in close to what we spent on dinner the night before, and dinner included an appetizer and dessert.
Good food, but we'd recommend having the Amex credit in hand before you sit down.
The Amex Platinum Fine Hotels and Resorts Angle
We booked through AmexTravel.com using the Platinum Card Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Here's exactly what we received at the Bellevue:
Complimentary breakfast for two at Pergola
$100 food and beverage credit (we used it for dinner)
Room upgrade at check-in when available (we were not upgraded -- the hotel was at capacity with a holiday and a wedding)
Noon check-in when available (our room was ready early)
Guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout
Between breakfast and the dinner credit, we got around $200 in value directly off the bill. That's real money, and it changes the math on a stay like this.
One thing to know: you must book through AmexTravel.com and prepay to receive the benefits. Booking directly through Hyatt or the hotel website will not include the Amex perks.
Part of the Bellevue Hotel lobby.
Bottom Line on the Bellevue Hotel
The Bellevue is a special hotel. The history is everywhere, and the rooms are comfortable and beautifully done.
Pergola is a genuine restaurant, not just a hotel restaurant. And the Sporting Club is unlike anything we've encountered at a hotel anywhere.
With the Amex FHR benefits, the value was exceptional. Without them, the Bellevue is still worth it for a special occasion - just budget accordingly, especially for breakfast.
We're close enough to Philadelphia that we'll definitely be back. Probably sooner than we think.
This post was researched and written by John O'Boyle of The Empty Nest Explorers.
John is a professional photographer whose work has been published by the New York Times, NBC News, and Getty Images. He has been part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and nominated for New York Emmy Awards. You can learn more about John and the Empty Nest Explorers here.
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A first-hand review of the Bellevue Hotel Philadelphia. Historic rooms, excellent dining at Pergola, and a 100,000 sq ft athletic club that blew us away.