Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

uwishunu.com, Philly’s new insider blog providing the real deal from real Philadelphians on eating, drinking, music, culture and more, is offering travelers a new way to stay overnight in the city. Thirteen hotels have signed up to offer the new hotel experience, called Philly Like A Local, now bookable on uwishunu.com, gophila.com or by calling the hotels directly. The package is part of uwishunu™ (“you wish you knew”), a two-year tourism initiative created by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) to promote the unconventional side of the city primarily through the power of new media and Web 2.0.

“uwishunu.com is working with area hotels to develop a collection of experiential hotel stays designed to appeal to travelers who like to experience the city as a local would,” said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, GPTMC. “The Philly Like A Local hotel stay enables us to entice a new audience to come and check out the new Philadelphia.”

Host Hotels:
Travelers looking to experience Philadelphia as if they live in the city can book a Philly Like A Local stay at:

• Chestnut Hill Hotel
• Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia
• Hilton Inn at Penn
• Holiday Inn Express
• Hyatt Regency Penn’s Landing
• Loews Philadelphia
• Morris House Hotel
• Park Hyatt at the Bellevue
• Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel
• Rittenhouse Hotel
• Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia
• Sofitel Hotel Philadelphia
• Westin Philadelphia

Package Amenities:
uwishunu.com’s one- or two-night Philly Like A Local hotel stay includes fun amenities to help travelers discover all they wish they knew about the city:

• Late, late check out (3:00 p.m.)
• uwishunu™ welcome kit and welcome note
  • Specially packaged uwishunu™-themed offers, including shopping incentives for Moletta Boutique, Matthew Izzo and Hello World; nightlife offers at 32, North Bowl and World Café Live; dining incentives for Cuba Libre, Loie, Marigold Kitchen and Xochitl; and drink discounts at Lucy’s Hat Shop, Noche and Red Sky
  • Eat. Shop. Philadelphia book, compliments of uwishunu.com
  • Tale of the City CD featuring Philly musicians, courtesy of uwishunu.com
  • uwishunu™ temporary tattoo collection
  • uwishunu™ notebook with tips on how to eat, shop and hang like a local, taken directly from the blog

Other Hotel Offers:
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB) and its travel partners are featuring a series of hotel package offers (that include flights) on sites such as: lastminute.com in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Ireland; Travelocity.com in the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Norway; Zuji.com in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore; STATravel.com; Deckchair.com; and OTC.com.

Together, the PCVB and GPTMC have created a new microsite set to launch April 4, 2007, at www.philly.uwishunu.com, which first engages site visitors with a series of Philadelphia pages featuring dining, shopping, culture and eating categories and then allows them to “comparison” shop for combined hotel and flight offers available at the sites listed above.

uwishunu™, created by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and funded by the City of Philadelphia, reveals the unconventional side of Philadelphia by providing an insider’s look at the city’s dining, drinking, nightlife, active pursuits and culture as shared by Philly-wise locals. For cool things to do in Philly from the people who really live there, visit uwishunu.com.

Contact(s):

• Caroline Bean, (215) 599-7433