Where to stay in Philly for a game weekend

If the game is the reason you're coming and you need three bedrooms, start with Spacious 3BR/3BA | Sleeps 7 | 10 Min to Stadium in South Philly. It's the only three-bedroom in our Philadelphia portfolio that sits in the stadium's own neighborhood, it sleeps seven across a king, a queen, a full and a sofa bed, and it gives every bedroom a bathroom of its own. On a morning when six or seven people need to shower before a one o'clock kickoff, that last detail decides more than the view does.

Everything else here is about whether you actually want to be in South Philly, or whether you'd rather sleep in the middle of the city and travel out for a few hours.

South Philly if the game is the whole trip

Philadelphia did something no other American city of its size managed: it put the football stadium, the ballpark and the arena on the same few blocks, down at the bottom of Broad Street. Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park and the Wells Fargo Center share one patch of asphalt in the far south of the city. You can see three teams in a weekend without ever crossing a bridge.

That's the argument for staying down there, and the South Philly house makes it well. The listing puts the Stadium District about ten minutes away. The home spans multiple levels, which matters more than it sounds: the group that wants to stay up watching the late game and the group that wants to sleep aren't stacked on top of each other. The kitchen is set up for people who'd rather eat at home than pay stadium prices twice in a day, with a full-size fridge, an oven, a dishwasher and a coffee machine, and there's a long dining table next to it. Washer and dryer live in the basement, yours alone. Someone thought to leave a clothes steamer, which tells you what kind of guest books this house: the jersey comes out of the bag creased, and nobody wants to wear it that way.

The trade is real and worth naming: South Philly in the 19145 is a residential neighborhood of row houses, not a nightlife district. Center City's restaurants and the historic blocks are an easy run north, but they're a run, not a walk.

Center City if the game is one afternoon of a longer weekend

Plenty of people flying in for a Sixers game don't want to spend the other forty hours in a quiet residential pocket. If that's you, sleep near Rittenhouse Square and treat the stadium as an outing. Broad Street runs straight from the center of the city down to the venues, and the subway beneath it is how most locals get to a game.

Two three-bedrooms sit in that part of town, and they're built for different groups.

Top Location! 3BR Designer Home in Rittenhouse Sq sleeps six in two queens and a king, with a garden and a dedicated workspace for whoever is half-working through the trip. The listing counts five minutes on foot to Rittenhouse Square, about ten to Reading Terminal Market, seven to City Hall and LOVE Park, and a short ride over to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. That's the version of Philadelphia most visitors picture, and from this door you walk into it. Coffee at La Colombe or Elixr in the morning, brunch at Parc or Middle Child, and the Schuylkill River Trail when someone in the group wants to run off the cheesesteak.

Ramblei near Rittenhouse Sq | 3BR - Unit A&B on Delancey Street solves a different problem. It isn't one apartment: it's two connected units in the same building, joined by a common hallway. A one-bedroom on the ground floor has its own living room, bath and kitchenette; a two-bedroom upstairs has the full kitchen, the second living room and the laundry. Six people total, two sitting rooms, and a door between the halves. If you're two couples plus a set of parents, or a group where someone goes to bed at ten and someone else gets back from the arena at midnight, that layout is worth more than any amenity on the list.

University City, and the case for a quiet street

Across the Schuylkill, University City trades the center-of-everything feeling for residential calm and quick access back into town. Parisian 3BR Stay | Near Penn, Drexel & Dining is a recent French-inspired renovation with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and room for seven, on a quiet street a few minutes' walk from UPenn and Drexel. The listing puts the University of Pennsylvania campus five minutes away on foot, Drexel seven, Franklin Field around twelve, and the Schuylkill River Trail about ten.

It earns its place on this page for two kinds of trip. One is the mixed weekend, where the pro game is Saturday and someone in the group has a kid at Penn or a hospital appointment at CHOP. The other is the group that wants dinner to be a short walk rather than a cab: Han Dynasty, White Dog Café, Distrito and Sabrina's are all in the neighborhood, and Dock Street Brewery handles the beer-and-pizza end of the evening.

Be honest with yourself about the distance, though. This is the furthest of the four from the stadiums, and on a day when the whole city is heading south at the same hour, that costs you time.

When three bedrooms isn't actually the number

Groups book a three-bedroom and then discover they're eight. Two of our three-bedrooms already stretch to seven, and a third goes further: Spacious 3BR Oasis w/ Patio & Arcade Fun in Philly sleeps nine, with a private patio and a mini-arcade that keeps teenagers occupied through the hours nobody has tickets for.

If the party has quietly grown past nine, stop looking at three-bedrooms. Elegant French Retreat • Dual Kitchen • Sleep 11 in University City puts eleven people in five bedrooms with five bathrooms and two full kitchens, one on the first floor and one on the lower level. Two kitchens sounds like excess until you've watched eleven people try to make breakfast before a noon game.

And for a group that's really a crowd, the 8-Bedroom House near SJU & CHOP takes fifteen with street parking out front.

Picking between them

• You're here for the game and little else. South Philly, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, seven people. The bathroom count is the reason.
• The game is one item on a city weekend. Rittenhouse Square. Reading Terminal Market, City Hall and Independence National Historical Park are all within reach on foot or a short ride, and Broad Street takes you south when it's time.
• Your group needs two separate zones. The Delancey Street pair of connected units, with a kitchen and a living room on each side.
• You want a quiet street and good dinners. University City, with Penn and Drexel a few minutes' walk away.
• You're more than seven. Go to the patio-and-arcade three-bedroom for nine, or the five-bedroom with the two kitchens for eleven.

Every one of these is a fully furnished apartment, styled and stocked before you arrive, cleaned professionally, with fast WiFi and someone reachable at any hour if the lock plays up at one in the morning after a night game. Availability and listing details change, so check your dates on the property page before you commit, especially for a weekend when three teams are at home.