The Latham

This 139-room boutique hotel occupies a busy corner in the heart of the Walnut Street shopping district, and is surrounded by many of the best shops, restaurants, and bars in the city. Also amid the downtown shopping district, it is popular with business travelers as well as vacationers.

All the standard hotel amenities are provided in comfortable rooms decked out in pretty, if not entirely authentic, Victorian furnishings. A friendly doorman dressed in traditional British horseback-riding attire creates an air of European sophistication.

With doubles starting at $149, this is a good deal for the prime location.