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<p>We stayed at the Radnor Hotel once. Didn’t like it at all. Rooms are not well-lit and kind of dreary. There’s a Marriott in Conshocken that’s very nice and we’ve stayed there too. It has much lower rates on weekends.</p>
<p>If you want to avoid traffic, I’d take the advice of JHS and stay in Philadelphia and take the commuter train.</p>
<p>Radnor Hotel is old school…</p>
<p>We went to Penn first, parked the car near campus, then drove to the Holiday Inn on City Avenue (which was fine, no problems) and visited Haverford and Swarthmore the next day. </p>
<p>Or you could visit Penn and then stay at the Wayne Hotel, which is very nice and convenient to Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr. From the Wayne Hotel, you could walk to local restaurants, which might be nicer than staying on City Avenue.</p>
<p>To get a feel for the surrounding areas, it would be a good idea to drive to the suburban schools. However, taking a train from the burbs to Penn would be preferable to taking the highway I-76 into the city at rush hour. It is always crowded and unpredictable. The trains from the main line on SEPTA go right to the Penn/Drexel area. Very convenient.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I always like to spend the night right on campus during college visits. We’ve been able to book the University Sheraton at Penn on priceline for a decent rate (when you name your own price you can pick the University area on the map). Parking is extra of course but they do allow you to drive in and out easily. I didnt find it too hard to drive into Penn’s campus as it’s not in the main part of downtown - though it’s probably better to arrive the night before to avoid rush hour.</p>
<p>A couple people have mentioned the Holiday Inn on City Avenue- this hotel is no longer a Holiday Inn- its the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West. It could be used as a base for these college visits- assuming that you plan to travel by car.</p>
<p>I like the idea of taking the train into Philly, because it will give a realistic idea of what it takes to get into the city from the Main Line.</p>
<p>(not that it is difficult at all, but just will make the experience that much more real for the prospective student, since that will be their likely mode of transportation)</p>
<p>City Line Avenue isn’t actually convenient to any of these schools – it’s just equally inconvenient to all of them. And it’s just about the ugliest, least interesting place it would be possible to stay, unless you are really into Target, gas stations, and PF Chang’s.</p>
<p>From Haverford / Bryn Mawr to Penn, or vice versa, you have the additional option of taking the Norristown High Speed Line to 69th St. and then the Market-Frankford El to 40th or 34th (depending on where on the Penn campus you are going). That’s probably faster than taking the train.</p>
<p>there is a Sheraton right near the University of Pennsylvania</p>
<p>It’s true, there is nothing appealing about City Avenue, except the hotel was inexpensive and it was a quick trip to Haverford in the morning. The Wayne Hotel was definitely nicer. My favorite hotel in Philadelphia itself is the Loews but for much less money, the Alexander Inn is a good choice.</p>
<p>hmmm…well I don’t think I’d recommend that an out of towner attempt to take that public transit route via 69th street- that would be fairly scary I think!</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on trying out public transit- stick to the regional rail system which will take you right into safe areas of Center City</p>
<p>A slightly different tangent - for those kids who will choose to attend a Philly college outside of downtown (HC, BW, Villa, Swarth, etc.)- any suggestions for airport shuttle companies? Trains can be lengthy timewise, and taxis expensive if you can’t find someone to share a ride.</p>
<p>Also, I second Alexander Inn if you are considering downtown.</p>
<p>I’d like to know about airport shuttle/limo service too. And-- The Alexander Inn? Any other suggestions in Center City area? Thank you!</p>
<p>Students heading to the airport in the Philly area can use SEPTA Airport Line regional rail service - a lot cheaper than shuttle or limo; [SEPTA</a> | Regional Rail Schedules](<a href=“Routes – Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority”>Routes – Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority)</p>
<p>however, if public transit doesn’t work due to time of day or whatever, the airport has published a list of local shuttle companies which can be found at this link</p>
<p>[Philadelphia</a> International Airport - Ground Transportation](<a href=“http://www.phl.org/ground_transportation.html]Philadelphia”>http://www.phl.org/ground_transportation.html)</p>
<p>Some of the schools may run shuttles to the airport at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring breaks.</p>
<p>My daughter is a rising Senior at Swarthmore. For all breaks, about a week or so before break you sign up for the college shuttle to go to/from the airport. It is $10 as I recall (round trip). For arriving at school at the beginning of the year and leaving at the end (when students are more spread out), my daughter takes a taxi. I think it is about $20. Fairly often she sees another Swat student and they are able to share the cab. The cabs are quite reliable going/coming from Swat to the airport. </p>
<p>If you decide to stay in Center City and take SEPTA, the Swarthmore station is right at the base of the campus. In fact some of the dorms are on the other side of the train tracks from the campus (a tunnel goes under the tracks - no need to cross them). The Haverford train station is not next to campus - it is about a mile walk from campus. When we went to visit Haverford, we had been told the station was next to campus so we walked from the station to the first place we saw that looked like a campus lawn with several buildings and we went into the first building we reached. A sign indicated that admissions was in the basement. I thought it was a little odd that there also was a bar in the basement. The admissions office was closed for the day and when we inquired from the none-too-friendly staff, we soon learned it was the Haverford Polo Club or some such place at which we had stopped!</p>
<p>My D1 is a rising sophomore at Haverford. She’s found SEPTA to the airport to be pretty convenient, 20 minutes Haverford to 30th St. Station, change trains, then another 15 minutes to the airport, all for $9.50. Usually the trip takes an hour or less, a bit more on weekends. Haverford College runs some shuttles at major breaks but there aren’t many of them, so if there’s not one scheduled just when you want to go, it’s actually faster to take the train.</p>
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<p>This simply isn’t true. The Haverford train station is about 200 yards from the edge of the campus, and at most half a mile from the main campus area. The high-speed line stop is a little closer to the main campus area in the other direction.</p>
<p>If libartsmom wound up at the Merion Cricket Club, it meant that she walked the opposite direction from the college when she got off the train. And, yes, it’s certainly believable that she got a snooty reception there. It IS a mile walk to Haverford if you start by walking 1/3 of a mile in the wrong direction.</p>
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<p>Yes, it’s 2 short blocks from Haverford Station to the edge of campus, and maybe a 10-15 minute walk through a lovely, leafy campus to the admissions office. Pretty similar to Swarthmore in that regard.</p>
<p>From some parts of the Haverford campus, the Ardmore train station is actually closer, and 1 stop closer to Philadelphia.</p>
<p>I’d like to add Bryn Mawr College is also right next to the train stop.</p>