Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia — Hotel in Philadelphia

Update - as was promised by the manager that commented on the review, we were reached out to directly and all possible actions were taken to help make this right. Management’s quick response and actions have restored my confidence in the Kimpton brand. We are also willing to give this location another chance.

Kimpton hotels are usually great, but after our experience at Kimpton Monaco in Philadelphia, we probably won’t be staying at a Kimpton property for a while.

Concierge 1 rushed through our check in and the keys to the first room we were assigned to didn’t work. No biggie - went back to reception and concierge 1 claimed the room they gave us was the wrong one - things happen and we really weren’t looking for an excuse, but this concierge has issues with accepting responsibility as we went on to see.

The second room we went to was ALREADY OCCUPIED! Allowing guests access to occupied rooms is one of the most mortifying things that can happen. We went back down and spoke with concierge 2. Concierge 1 walked over and started talking over the other’s shoulder - making excuses that it wasn’t her fault and no one should be in that room. She even looked at us and asked who checked us in… you did, twice within the last five minutes! She then instructed concierge 2 to give us any room that was available.

Finally got a working key for an unoccupied room. We did book a park view room, but instead got a brick wall. At that point we were just happy to be in a room but a little disappointing. A few hours later, we get a knock at the door from the hotel manager and concierge 1. We were expecting maybe this was an apology knock - nope! Hotel manager is asking us who we are and tells us no one should be in this room. Concierge 1 is insisting she doesn’t know what’s going on/what happened and looks dead in our faces for the third time that day and asks who checked us in. Finally they just kind of gave up and left.

Next day, our keys stop working midday. Back to the front desk and concierge 1 is there. I was a but frustrated now, reminded her of yesterday’s incident and asked if there was something wrong with the reservation. She wouldn’t look us in the face, just stared at the computer and over our heads and just brushed us off as she got us new room keys. Then she said that it was probably our fault that the keys didn’t work because we put it too close to our phones or credit cards. Again, more excuses and no apologies for the inconveniences.

That’s enough about staff, let’s talk about the noise level. They have a “rooftop” bar which is actually a nightclub that played building shaking music until 2AM. We are from a city and are used to higher noise levels, but it was off putting and would have been nice if this was mentioned to us. On Sunday it was supposed to be closed - But the hotel failed to mention that a private event with even louder music and non-hotel guests would be taking place. This is the first time a hotel hasn’t given us a heads up about something loud like events or construction that would be going on during our stay, so I think it’s best practice to let guests know about this stuff.

And now to the rooms itself. I’ve seen complaints about the decor but it’s the typical eccentric/eclectic vibe you might expect from a Kimpton. What wasn’t cool was the shower. It was basically unusable. The glass partition covers only half of the shower which is fine for longer spaces, but the shower is too small for this. Water gets EVERYWHERE! The bathroom door has bubbling and moldy damage from the water, so clearly this is an issue. The sink also had awful water pressure, appeared to be clogged, and let out boiling hot water when turned on slightly. Our stay wasn’t very long so we didn’t mind skipping the shower but would have been out of luck if it was a longer stay.

Overall - never staying at this property again and will warn others to stay away. Maybe we can fall in love with Kimpton again in the future but not for...

I recommend considering other options to avoid the service and staff ruining your special day. Embarrassed that I had our wedding guests stay here.

•Booked 45+ rooms for our wedding, and I would guess half of our guests’ encountered issues. No clue how this is a 4-star rated hotel.

•Upon arriving for an early check-in neither the bride or groom rooms were ready despite being promised this over phone two weeks prior. Front desk said we don't offer early check-in, which would have been helpful information when planning our wedding day(???) and not lied to on the phone. We were also one hour early to regular check-in nothing crazy.

•Despite email confirmation, the hotel had no record of groom’s addition to the reservation. Clearly unorganized everywhere.

•Our wedding vendors, including makeup artists, hairstylists, photographers, and videographers, all expressed their frustration with the hotel's lack of cooperation. They had encountered similar issues on previous visits. We had provided the hotel with a list of vendors to prevent phone calls on our wedding day, but every vendor was delayed by half an hour because the front desk staff had to call the bride while she was getting ready—an issue we had hoped to avoid. We were later informed by Ian that the hotel doesn't allow this practice, which would have been useful information to know when we provided them with our vendor list hoping to avoid this as we would have gotten ready elsewhere. The hotel also attempted to charge $50 per chair for makeup artists and hairstylists, as well as for extension cords. This nickel-and-diming approach was both unreasonable and frustrating.

•The staff at the rooftop bar, who proudly boasted hosting 13 weddings every weekend, displayed an alarming lack of care and hospitality. One staff member even stated in front of our group, "We have 13 weddings a weekend here we don't give a ** about you," and they were consistently rude, even slamming doors in guests' faces. A follow-up phone call with Ian Ballinger, the sales manager, only served to dismiss our concerns, with the absurd explanation that they were "counting money." It's laughable that he expected us to accept such excuses.

•The rooftop bar also charged $20 per person for hotel guests, despite our contract not mentioning this fee. Perhaps reviewing security footage to ensure the lounge isn't pocketing extra cash would be wise. Additionally, Ian claimed this was in our contract (which it was not).

•Although the hotel can't control external events, it's surprising that they didn't address the exorbitant charges for rooftop bar access, especially considering a tragic double shooting incident right outside the hotel on our wedding night, resulting in one death. No communication was sent to guests staying there, which was deeply concerning. Welcome to Philly I guess.

•The hotel applied unreasonable parking charges, despite our contract specifying a $55 rate, with a sneaky clause allowing them to charge whatever they pleased with no notice. Guests ended up paying $80 a night for parking, significantly higher than typical downtown rates, nearly quadrupling the cost for a weekend night.

After voicing our concerns, Ian offered a free night at the hotel as compensation, an offer we declined due to our dissatisfaction. I’ve had hotels with no hot water offer more. Other reviews from our wedding weekend share similar complaints.

Recommendations: Caution wedding venues against recommending this hotel and seek alternatives. In the past, they comped rooms for the bride, groom, and parents. They also used to comp gift bags for other wedding parties but now charge $5 per bag. Stated they didn’t offer as this was not a season in which they offer these perks. Was in a wedding summer of 2021 that booked half the rooms where they received this so the same “season”. If they want to recover from COVID losses, they should do so with exceptional service, which was lacking...

I booked this hotel for my daughter and I when we attended the Beyonce concert. The location was one of the "closest" to the stadium and had good reviews for its location and dining. The location and dining were the only good things about it.

I am an IHG member and received a notification on my mobile app that my room was ready when I arrived at the Philadelphia International Airport. I got the option to check in using the app and did so. However, when I arrived at the hotel, front desk couldn't find my reservation - at all - and could only finalize the check in using my confirmation number. I chalked it up to a glitch.

I was given a queen room with a park view (upcharge) and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, I realized that the room was a bit shabby - blinds askew and not able to be fixed, TV volume didn't work and while the hotel is non-smoking, a cigarette hole on the other side of the pillow that I'd been using. I called the front desk and asked for a room change, which I got. The second room was worse. It was half the size and tucked into the corner of the building. I called the front desk and asked for a room change again. I was settled onto the 10th floor, just under the rooftop bar. The room was still shabby - scuff marks, chipped mirror, etc. - but the same size as the first, with the same view. The noise was loud, but I agreed to the inconvenience because we planned to be out during our stay. Housekeeping was friendly and prompt, and the Red Owl's food and staff were more than accommodating. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell were steps away, and we took advantage of the proximity.

Three days later, that Friday, when I checked out, it was seamless. I was ruffled at the $1100+ bill, but I'd opted to stay there. The hotel was less than expected but the experience was good. I'd chalked it up to, "lesson learned". What I didn't know was that the facilities were the least of this hotel's problems.

On Wednesday of the next week, as I reviewed the finances associated with my stay, I realized that while the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia had been paid, The initial check-in hold and a dining charge hold remained pending on my credit card. The two charges totaled the $1100+ amount that the hotel had been paid. I contacted my credit card company and was told that the vendor - Kimpton - was the only entity that could fix the problem. They refuse to do so. Justin Monaco, Assistant Director of Accounting for the hotel, after initially asking for my credit card number and offering to call my credit card company "for" me (I refused) indicated that I needed to just "wait out" the 30 days until the charges will be released by my credit card company. Since Monday (July 24), he has consistently ignored not only my calls and emails, he has also refused to contact IHG Corporate, who have tried at least three times to address the formal complaint that I lodged. Two representatives have said that both he, and the hotel, have just not returned their calls. The $1100+ holds remain pending almost two weeks since I checked out, despite the hotel acknowledging that the bill has been paid in full.

This hotel is not customer forward in most of the ways that count. The line staff (housekeeping, concierge, wait staff, bartenders, etc.) were great; however, the rest is "problematic". I am considering...