Philadelphia, PA · Four-Star · ★★★★
The Notary Hotel
The 1925 City Hall Annex, beautifully restored. Marriott Autograph at its most architecturally serious — directly across from City Hall.
The 1925 City Hall Annex, beautifully restored. Marriott Autograph at its most architecturally serious — directly across from City Hall.
"The former City Hall Annex, beautifully restored. Marriott Autograph at its most architecturally serious — and you're a one-minute walk from the actual City Hall, which most boardrooms and most weddings will, sooner or later, have you needing."
The Notary Hotel occupies the 1925 City Hall Annex — the Beaux-Arts limestone building that once housed Philadelphia's notary public, marriage license bureau, and assorted municipal offices for nearly a century. The building itself is the reason to stay: a procession of marble-faced corridors, period ceilings, and the kind of solid brass doorframes that no contemporary developer would budget for. That the structure survived the deferred-maintenance era of municipal property and emerged as a serious hotel is itself an act of preservation worth supporting. The address — 21 N Juniper Street, in Center City — places guests one direct sightline from City Hall's tower.
The hotel opened in 2019 as a Marriott Autograph Collection property after a multi-year renovation that preserved the original public spaces while inserting 497 contemporary guestrooms behind the period façade. The lobby is the building's strongest room — original marble columns, period lighting, and a notary-themed motif handled with restraint rather than literalism. Rooms run on the larger end for the city, with Center City views from the upper floors that include City Hall's William Penn statue at eye level. Corner suites on the higher floors are the room category to request; standard kings facing south get morning light across the City Hall courtyard.
The Square 1682, the hotel's signature restaurant, takes its name from William Penn's original grid plan for Philadelphia and operates as a credible American brasserie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The room itself — high ceilings, large windows facing Juniper Street — is the main draw; the menu is reliable rather than destination-grade, but adequate for a working dinner without leaving the building. The bar is well-positioned for a quick martini before a downtown dinner reservation, and the breakfast operation handles business-traveler volume without the institutional feel of a typical conference hotel.
Amenities are calibrated for the four-star price point: a 24-hour fitness center, a small business lounge, and the kind of Marriott Bonvoy infrastructure that frequent travelers appreciate without thinking about it. There is no spa and no pool, which is honest at this price; guests seeking those amenities are better placed at the Four Seasons or Rittenhouse a few blocks west. What The Notary delivers instead is architectural seriousness, a genuine Center City address, and the operational competence of a Marriott behind the scenes. For business travelers booking on corporate rates, this combination is harder to replicate than it sounds.
The location is the practical case for the hotel. City Hall is directly across the street — a one-minute walk to court appearances, marriage license appointments, or municipal meetings. The Pennsylvania Convention Center is six blocks north. The financial district at Broad and Market is two blocks south. Suburban Station and Jefferson Station place Amtrak's 30th Street Station ten minutes by SEPTA. For a business or government-district stay in Philadelphia, no other four-star property is this directly central. The Notary is also the most architecturally honest hotel in the rank order — what you see is a 1925 civic building, restored with care.
The Notary's case for business travel is structural: City Hall directly across, the financial district two blocks south, the Convention Center six blocks north, and Amtrak via SEPTA in ten minutes. Rooms are on the larger side for the city, the desk works, and the WiFi is fast enough for video calls without the apologetic excuses of older properties. The Square 1682 handles working breakfasts and quick dinners without the need to leave the building. Marriott Bonvoy infrastructure means corporate booking and expense tools all behave as expected.
For couples marking an anniversary in Philadelphia, The Notary works best for those drawn to architectural history rather than five-star polish. A corner suite facing City Hall, dinner at a Center City destination restaurant followed by a nightcap in the period-restored lobby bar, and a leisurely breakfast at The Square 1682 the next morning — the romantic case is built around the building's bones rather than amenity stacks. Particularly strong for couples who originally married in Philadelphia, since the actual marriage license bureau used to be in this very building.
For solo travelers — particularly those visiting Philadelphia for an event, a court matter, or a quiet weekend of museums — The Notary is well-judged. Rooms are large enough to work in, the lobby and bar are comfortable spaces to read in alone without feeling out of place, and the location places the Reading Terminal Market, the Barnes Foundation, and Independence Mall within fifteen-minute walks. The hotel does not aspire to be a social property, which suits solo guests precisely. Booking a room with City Hall views is the small upgrade that converts a functional stay into a memorable one.
Rates checked May 2026. Price may vary by date.
The Notary places you across from City Hall and two blocks from the financial district. Start with the right address — and the rest of Center City is a short walk away.
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