Philadelphia.
Philadelphia's hotel inventory is chain-heavy (the downtown is full of Marriotts and Kimptons), but a handful of real independents hold their own. Guild House in Rittenhouse is the quiet design-forward pick. Lokal's six-apartment-suite model in Old City is the best Airbnb-alternative. Independence Park, Penn's View, and Kestrel round out the list across Old City, Old City, and West Philly respectively.
Guild House Hotel
A 19th-century former women's club in Rittenhouse — twelve rooms, female-forward design, under-the-radar.
Independence Park Hotel
National Register 1856 dry-goods store turned hotel — steps from the Liberty Bell, improbably independent.
Kestrel Hotel
Clean-lines modernist in West Philly — quiet, specific, the opposite of the Marriott downtown.
La Reserve B&B
An 1850s Rittenhouse Square B&B — seven rooms, grand piano in the parlor, breakfast included.
Lokal Hotel
Six mini-apartments in Old City designed by a local creative collective — the best Airbnb-style stay in Philly.
Morris House Hotel
An 1787 Georgian townhouse on 8th and Locust — 15 rooms in the historic district.
Penn's View Hotel
Fifty-one rooms in a 19th-century Old City warehouse — balconies over the Delaware, one of the city's oldest continuously operating inns.
Thomas Bond House B&B
A 1769 Georgian home in Independence National Historical Park — 12 rooms, the only B&B inside the park.