While the location is terrific and the shabbiness has already been reported, what most astounded us was the difficulty of just staying here, and the lack of anyone to appeal to for assistance. One checks in at the bar below the hotel, where no one knows anything except to give you the key. No one is responsible. If you have questions, they will phone someone. And then you can wait till hell freezes over. Breakfast arrived an hour late or never, and one never knew which it would be. If it had been an hour late, and you had gone in search of something to eat, you were scolded for not waiting. But much worse than that, Phillie was having a spring heat wave, and the windows supposedly could not be open because (given the cheapness of the construction), we were told, they would fall out. It did appear a real possibility, but in order to breathe, we risked it, propping two windows open with shaving cream and a book from the hallway. It was pretty tenuous. Worse, when we came down the last morning, the waiters had stacked all the outdoor furniture right in front of our only exit the night before, and it took several of us to shove the door open. I can't imagine what it would have been like if there had been a fire. Shoving out with us that morning were two young couples, who were as shocked as we were, and they wanted to report the situation to a manager. We drove off into the sunrise as they looked for someone, anyone--which was the situation when we arrived two days before.

After re-reading the reviews already submitted for this property, I think that these folks either stayed at a completely different hotel, or that something has drastically changed since their reviews were submitted. This property has great potential to be a wonderful Inn. It has a great location, right in the center of town. But that's about all it has right now. If we could, we would buy this place, gut it, scrub it down, and then turn it into the show place it can be. The building is apparently 140 years old (according to their website), and this grand old building seems to be treated rather disrespectfully. The current owners either don't care about it, or don't have the funds to run it properly. From what we could see, there isn't any competition in the town, which may be contributing to the fact that nothing at all is being invested in this property. Shabby, sad furnishings, old and mismatched linens, stained bedspreads, non-functioning air conditioning units, and thin walls were only some of our observations/problems. I heartily discourage anyone from staying here. Instead, stay somewhere nice in downtown Philadelphia, and then make Chestnut Hill a nice little day trip for shopping and lunch. It only takes 20 minutes by train to get there.

Chestnut Hill is about 9 miles north of downtown Philly and is very accessible on the regional railways - each station only about 4 blocks from the hotel. The hotel was clean and the front desk staff was very solicitous and even friendly. It is an old hotel but the charming area is beyond lovely. There are shops, restaurants and delightful places to walk to. On the slightly negative side, walls are thin so when our neighbors decided to entertain guests in their room their jocularity woke us up and kept us up. The front desk did go to their room but the noise really didn't subside until the party was over. Also, our room was really only serviced once during our 4 day stay, not sure if we left too early or late for housekeeping but they did bring us fresh towels when requested. Overall, I'd stay again. Free ample parking, a very basic continental breakfast and ridiculously charming cobblestone streets. If you cannot afford to stay downtown this is the best second.

Liked the hotel but the street noise prevented us from getting a decent nights sleep. The room was a good size, clean and nicely furnished. Staff was friendly and helpful. The location, in the middle of Chestnut Hill, was great. Close to shops ,restaurants and next to a market. Maybe the rooms in the back of the hotel are quieter.

My Husband and I stayed at the Chestnut Hill Hotel the weekend of Sept. 8th. The exterior of the hotel is very charming and so is the surrounding area. However, when we checked into our room I have to say I was a little disappointed. I was expecting more of an inn like feel and to me it felt more like staying at a Holiday Inn. The room was very sparsely decorated with very little hanging on the walls. We also only got 2 very thin towels instead of the usual 4 nicer hotels give. The big selling point was the plasma tv on the wall but to me that didn't make up for the boring and bland room. On top of that, there was a group from a wedding staying at the hotel that weekend. When they got back from the reception they went to the bar in the hotel (Chestnut Grille) and proceeded to spend the night on the porch out in front of the hotel. Unfortunately this was right under our 2nd floor window. They might as well have been in our room with us because we could hear every conversation. As this continued until about 12:20 am I decided to call the front desk and was told that there was nothing they could do because the restaurant has its own owner. The girl at the desk said it would probably end around 1 when the bar closed. I thought this was ridiculous that we needed to be inconvenienced while these people had a grand old time. There was a perfectly good bar inside where I don't think it would have been unreasonable to ask people to go that late at night. I would think the town had a noise ordinance too. The girl told me she would speak to the manager of the restaurant but that was all she could do. This is not what I wanted to hear. When we checked out in the am the front desk apologized again and said the manager of the restaurant did speak to the people and turned the music down (which was not the problem) but she did not offer to take any $ off the price of our room. Therefore, I would not recommend anyone staying at this hotel unless you want just a basic hotel room, but you can get that at a chain for alot cheaper. This was not worth the almost $200 I spent.