Philadelphia Marathon Weekend 2026 Hotels With the Steelers at the Linc That Sunday
By Matt Spaulding · October 31, 2026
Photo: 颐园居, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saturday 21 November, the night before the marathon, is the night to find. On 31 October, five of the 28 hotels we read sold it alone: The Westin Philadelphia, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, W Philadelphia, Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center and Sheraton Philadelphia University City Hotel. The other 23 refused it, including all ten hotels on Hilton's booking engine.
The marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. Sunday, and the organizer says you must pick up your bib Friday or Saturday. The expo at the Pennsylvania Convention Center runs Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The organizer says schedules can change. There's no race-day pickup and nothing is mailed, though someone else can collect a bib with a government photo ID or the confirmation email. The half is 7:00 a.m. Saturday and its bib is Friday only, so if you're running it, Friday is your night.
We asked each of the 28 for two adults in one room on its own booking screen, Saturday 21 November alone, on 31 October 2026. At 14 of the 23 refusals we followed up with Hilton's price calendar or a Friday to Sunday stay. The Saturday a week earlier, 14 November, sold at the Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City and the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, so those two refusals are about this weekend. A refusal means that night wasn't for sale on that screen on 31 October. The hotel may not be full, and a refused search shows you none of its fees. Rooms open up and sell every day.
We didn't search the hotel's own screen for race weekend at five hotels: Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia Penn's Landing and The Study at University City.
Five sold Saturday alone, and one is a 12-minute walk from Checkpoint 1
The start line is on the 2200 block of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and checkpoints open at 5:00 a.m. Walk times are OpenStreetMap foot routes on a normal day, to Checkpoint 1 at the southwest corner of 22nd and the Parkway and to the expo at 12th and Arch. They know nothing about race closures. Closest of the five to the checkpoint is the Four Seasons, 12 minutes, with the expo 16 away. The Westin runs 17 and 14, and the W 22 and 10. Closest to the expo is the Marriott Downtown at 3 minutes, though the checkpoint is 23. The Sheraton University City is the long walk both ways, 33 and 44.
We searched Friday alone at three of the five, and all three sold it. We didn't try Friday at the Four Seasons or the Sheraton University City. None of the five is listed under the organizer's bus routes further down, and we don't know whether guests of other hotels can board. None showed a hotel fee when we read its booking screen on 29 October, for 17 November (18 November at the Westin).
Saturday with Friday added, and the Hilton calendars
The Rittenhouse sold Friday to Sunday. For Saturday its screen said it cannot accept arrivals on 21 November. As read for 17 November, its $35 Destination Fee is inside the per-night price the booking screen shows, with $5.73 tax on top ($40.73 a night). The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia sold Friday to Sunday and listed Saturday alone as sold out. Of seven Friday to Sunday searches that returned an answer, only those two sold. If you want Saturday at either one, the only stay we found came with Friday attached.
Hilton's calendar marked Saturday 21 sold out at the Hilton Garden Inn, Home2 Suites Convention Center, Hampton Inn Center City, DoubleTree Center City, Canopy Center City and Motto Rittenhouse Square. At the first four, Friday 20 was sold out too, and Sunday 22 had rooms. Canopy and Motto had rooms both Friday and Sunday.
The Convention Center's events page also lists the NCTE Annual Convention there from 19 to 22 November, and Visit Philly counts 8,800 room nights for it. Any of these refusals could be that convention's.
Last day for the official block: Tuesday 3 November
Maritz is the official housing provider, and its housing website's last day is Tuesday 3 November, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The organizer's own page prints Wednesday, but 3 November is a Tuesday. Most reservations must cover at least two nights, Friday and Saturday both. Book less and the site says Housing will contact you, and you can lose the room.
On 31 October we searched it for Friday 20 to Monday 23 November, one room, one guest. It listed five hotels: the Wyndham Historic District, Cambria Hotel & Suites Philadelphia, Homewood Suites by Hilton University City, Hyatt Centric and the Sheraton Downtown. The site says group availability is limited and more rooms may appear. The block still listed the Sheraton Downtown on the morning marriott.com refused it for Saturday alone and for Friday to Sunday, though our block search ran Friday to Monday, a different stay. We can't see what the block holds.
The site prints 0.6 miles from the race start line for the Wyndham Historic District. Our route from the Wyndham to Checkpoint 1 runs about 1.8 miles, 39 minutes on foot.
The organizer's buses to the start
The buses run Saturday and Sunday. The first leaves at 5:00 a.m. and the last at 6:00 a.m., about every 10 to 15 minutes or as they fill. Runners get priority. Miss the last bus and getting to the start is on you. The page doesn't say whether the buses cost anything.
Route A boards at Broad and Arch, under a minute from the Aloft Philadelphia Downtown. Routes A and B both board in Center City East, where the expo is. Route B stops at 13th and Filbert, 3 minutes from Home2 Suites and 4 from the Hilton Garden Inn, with the Hampton Inn and Canopy at 5. Route C's corner is Broad and Locust, 1 minute from the DoubleTree, with the Ritz-Carlton 5 away and Club Quarters Hotel, Rittenhouse Square 9. Route D stops at 1800 Market. That's 2 minutes from Motto, 4 from Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square, 7 from The Windsor Suites and 10 from the Sheraton Downtown. The organizer also lists the Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown on A, Loews on B, Cambria and Hyatt Centric on C, and Sonesta on D.
Walking to the start from Logan Square
The Logan Philadelphia, Curio Collection by Hilton is 10 minutes from Checkpoint 1 on a normal day, the closest of the hotels we read. It refused Saturday. Its calendar page didn't load, so Friday is unknown. The Four Seasons, which did sell Saturday, is 12. The Sheraton Downtown and the Windsor Suites are 13, and both refused Saturday alone and Friday to Sunday.
Runners show a bib and carry clear bags, and the organizer says the start will not be delayed for lines at security. None of our walks includes a checkpoint queue.
Last year's street closures
The City's 2026 closure list wasn't posted on 31 October. The 2025 release was dated 14 November and 2024's was 18 November, so look for it in mid-November.
Last year the 2000 to 2400 blocks of the Parkway closed at 2 a.m. both days, and the Parkway from 16th to 20th at 6 a.m. Saturday's 6 a.m. closures also took JFK Boulevard from Juniper to 17th, Market from 6th to 16th, Chestnut from 5th to 8th and Walnut from 12th to 34th. Sunday's took Walnut from Broad to 34th and Chestnut from 6th to 15th. Most streets were back by 2 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, later around Eakins Oval and the Parkway.
Last year's Saturday closure on Market covered the Marriott Downtown at 1201 Market, and Sunday's on Chestnut covered the W at 1439 Chestnut. The Windsor Suites, at 1700 on the Parkway, sat inside the 16th to 20th stretch both days.
The Steelers at the Linc that Sunday
The Eagles host the Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday 22 November, 4:25 p.m. on CBS, per the team's schedule on 29 October. The NFL can flex it into Sunday Night Football, so the time can move. If you're staying for it, Sunday night had rooms on all six Hilton calendars that loaded, but all six had Saturday sold out, and we didn't search Sunday at the five that sold Saturday. Our Eagles home game hotels guide covers the ride to NRG station.
