Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District

The pool

• 8th-floor rooftop pool
• Uniform ~5ft depth
• Old City skyline
• Memorial Day–Labor Day

Why it's on the list

The value entry, and honest about it — a uniform five-foot rooftop pool on the eighth floor in Old City, open Memorial Day to Labor Day and not a week longer. The view is more modest than the Center City decks, but it's a real swim in a walkable part of town.

The stay

The Wyndham is the budget, sightseeing-first choice — a straightforward hotel that doesn't pretend otherwise, with a modest rooftop pool and a location built for walking to the historic sites. Old City puts Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the cobblestone blocks right outside, which is the whole reason to stay here. At $$ it's the cheapest way onto a Philadelphia rooftop and the deck is high summer only — the pick if the history trip is the point and the pool is a bonus, not the reason.