Philadelphia-Kozin

[Brenda333]

We will be seeing Dr. Kozin on June 10th. Where is the best place to stay, and see things? Anyone else have an appointment that day?
Brenda

[admin]

The Ronald McDonald houses in that area are awesome, completely free except for a $5 key fee, and public transit accessible. Call Shriners to ask their help in finding a placement in one of those houses.

Best to you....

[BIGJAVSMOM]

Hi Brenda- Our appointment got rescheduled for June 29 because of strept throat. But I am from the area. I suggest staying in New Jersey. Minutes away from Philly but a lot cheaper. One great hotel is the Four Points Sheraton on Rt. 70 in Cherry Hill. There are many modes of public transportation to get you to and from the hospital. Sesame Place is close. Aquarium is in Camden and of course the zoo. Hope this helps a little. Good luck with everything.
Marlyn

[Tanya in NY]

You should look at the thread listed below. It has lots of places listed where you can stay and things to do.


http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... read=11324

We stayed at the Holiday Inn listed below. We asked for the Shriner's rate and got $82 plus tax per night. The room was great. We got a king sized bed and a pull-out sofa bed in our room which easily worked for us all. The room was clean, roomy, and the staff was very helpful. There's a TGIFriday's right next to the parking lot. There's also a Denny's next to the parking lot. (Hint, go early to Denny's as it gets busy quickly.) There's even a restaurant in the hotel lobby that was okay in my opinion. There's an indoor pool (we didn't have time to check it out though). And here's a great plus...free parking unlike many other places. It's right at a busy intersection, but I felt very safe in this area, compared to others. It's not in downtown, and it is only about 15 minutes away from Shriner's by car (very easy to get there, too). We used mapquest.com for directions and they were quite accurate for driving. If you are coming to town by plane, I saw a van shuttle labeled for the airport in the parking lot, so there must be shuttle service from the airport, too.

We are planning on using this hotel again in the future. We've stayed at a couple hotels and B&B's in the past, but for the price and convenience of location and parking, this is definitely a great place to stay!

Good luck with your appointment with Dr. Kozin. Know that he is a very kind and knowledgable doctor. Best wishes.

Tanya in NY

Holiday Inn Philadelphia City Line
4100 Presidential Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131
Phone: (215) 477-0200 ? Fax: (215) 473-5510
Toll Free: (800) 642-8982

[admin]

This bpi family website has some helpful information. Just click on Shriners page.

http://www.franklinfamilybpi.com/

The house in Camden is much nicer than the Philly house and they have a free shuttle if you don't have or rent a car. It is a blast for the kids and we really enjoyed staying there. It isn't in the safest neighborhood, but they don't have any issues and have a security system, locked gate parking, etc. There is a great aquarium there as well and you should be able to get free passes from the Ronald McDonald House. Sometimes the house is full or it is reserved for kids having surgery or post-surgery appointments, so there may not be openings. I would look into it.

Hope you have a good appointment. Dr. Kozin is excellent and highly respected.

[katep]

Actually the Ronald McDonald house requests $15 a night donation, but sometimes Shriners pays the bill.

We liked the Ronald McDonald house, but you really get the most benefit if you are there for an extended stay (like a week). That way, you get to know people and get into the whole groove of the house It's sort of like a campout, with communal dinners, etc. But I don't think it would be that great for just an overnight visit. It isn't really that convenient and the drive across the bridge is a B****H! It's also in a scary part of town and you have to drive through a scary part of town to get there. We really enjoyed the Holiday Inn at City Line, where we stayed when Joshua had his surgery. It's a nice area, has restaurants within walking distance, and the drive to the hospital is really pleasant. We'll be staying there again June 28th for Joshua's followup appt on the 29th.

Kate

[Jenny]

We just came back from Philly and had a very good visit with Dr. Kozin. I don't have any info about hotels since we stayed with friends. On parking, you want to be careful since Shriner's parking is right in the middle of the building between 2 very small yellow Shriner's flags. The entrance is kind of like a hotel drive-through entrance. We missed for the first time and had to drive around to get back to Broad street.

Good luck!

Jenny

[katep]

Oh, Jenny! You are so right!

"Ok baby, turn right up there."
"Honey, turn there."
"Turn right here!"
"What happened? I said TURN!?!"
"Umm, that was it back there..."

Urgh. The U-turn to get back and try it all again was even worse!

Kate

[Joann in PA]

Hi Brenda! Our son, Joey, has an appointment on June 10th with Dr. Kozin. Maybe we'll see you in the waiting room! ~~Joann

[admin]

we were in Philly in may we stayed at holiday inn
it is better to take a cab & request to get there the quick way shriners is great place in a not so wonderful location & kind of difficult to find once u find it is so great & comforting
michelle in tampa