Being one of the oldest municipalities in the U.S. and the largest city in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is rich with history and culture. Visitors find the city easy to navigate with its grid street design. Many enjoy exploring Philadelphia’s wealth of public art, its historic buildings, and its important museums. Not surprisingly, the city offers great accommodation for every type of traveler, whether it’s for business or pleasure or both. Our editorial team decided to list the top ten contractors behind the City of Brotherly Love’s hotels. We selected them based on awards, work history, recent projects, and the hotel experience that they can offer.
H&H Construction
1042 Columbia Avenue, Sinking Spring, PA 19608
H&H Construction is prepared to handle many kinds of projects within the hospitality industry. It specializes in quality and detailed building construction. It also offers design/build services whether single or multi-building and it can handle the complications and rigorous processes of multi-million dollar projects. H&H construction is further equipped with construction management, pre-construction, budgeting, and development. After reviewing its excellent record of successful projects, you’ll agree that the firm is reliable in terms of time and budget efficiency.
H&H is a member of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. The firm has many impressive projects in the greater Philadelphia metro area. These include suites, plazas, country clubs, and inns. Featured here is one of its projects, the Fairfield Inn in Allentown. The inn features 114 hotel rooms with detail-oriented design and construction.
Murphy Quigley Company
333 East City Ave., Two Bala Plaza Suite 404, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
The Murphy Quigley Company has contributed greatly to the landscape of Philadelphia. The firm has built numerous historic structures within the city, including the Drake Hotel. This 375-foot-tall luxury hotel was built in 1928. The Art Deco Style hotel has Spanish Baroque terra cotta ornamentation inspired by Sir Francis Drake. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and remains one of the firm’s most iconic projects.
The company’s gallery bears witness to how Murphy Quigley Company has evolved from its humble beginnings as a small contracting business in 1899 to the construction management and general contractor giant it is today. Since the beginning, the company has remained committed to good service and attention to detail. A perfect example is this historic restoration of John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove which was first built in 1762. With the company’s extensive interior and exterior refurbishment, the project was recognized by The Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia in 2018.
Domus Construction
101 Limekiln Pike, Glenside, PA 19038
Domus Construction has a huge array of projects. The firm works on schools, commercial buildings, historic restoration, multi-unit residential, and hospitality projects. It is also known for its restaurant projects in Philadelphia that feature themed-dining. The Parc Restaurant and Bistro & Café, which reflects an authentic 1940s-style French bistro experience, is a good example. Aside from building quality projects, the firm also commits to diversity by working towards affordable housing. The firm adheres to sustainability by following the LEED and Passive House Standard.
One of the major hotel projects of Domus Construction is the Le Meridien Hotel. This 1912 Revival-style building won the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award in 2010 and the Grand Jury Award for Historic Preservation the year after. Aside from 202 new hotel rooms, the firm also worked on its 90-seat restaurant, 40-seat bar and lounge, and a central atrium that has a 75-foot ceiling and skylight.
Hunter Roberts Construction Group
1717 Arch Street, 34th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103
Some firms take time to build their name, but Hunter Roberts Construction is a quick study. In February 2005, Jim Mckenna and 11 of his colleagues founded the company. With carefully selected experts in design and construction, Hunter Roberts Construction Group expanded and opened new offices before the year ended. In 2006, it earned prestigious awards for its excellent projects such as the American Society of Interior Award and Best Historical Restoration Project. Other awards of the firm include Best Adaptive Reuse Project for its 23rd Street Condominiums project, a Building of Americas Award, and a Top 10 Contractor of the Year ranking by ENR New York.
The company proved its resilience by surviving the recession and continues to find new ways to excel every year. One of its hotel projects is the elegant Surrey Hotel. Hunter Roberts provided construction management, worked on new infrastructure, and installed a supplementary backup generator and a cooling tower.
High Construction Company
1853 William Penn Way, Lancaster, PA 17601
Even after the building is done, hotels will need a builder once in a while. High Construction Company can help whether they wish to enter a new market, increase revenues, reinvent a brand, or provide a better experience to guests. That is because aside from new construction, the firm specializes in renovations, additions, retrofits, and feasibility studies.
In its 85 years of operations, High Construction Company has worked on more than 45 hotel projects. It has mastered various types of hotels such as business, suite, extended-stay, and resort hotels. The company currently covers Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia. Interested clients can check the firm’s brochure and its many impressive projects, including this Residence Inn – Lancaster.
Wohlsen Construction
1200 W. Swedesford Road Suite 130 Berwyn, PA 19312
Many firms last for decades, but Wohlsen Construction has been standing strong for more than a century. A teenager in 1877, Herman Wohlsen moved from Germany to Pennsylvania and applied his skills in carpentry. He founded his own company in 1890, banking on his excellent work ethic and his eye for the details.
His legacy continues as the company has maintained its work ethics reputation through its President and CEO Gary Langmuir. Gary is a recipient of the Lancaster Samaritan Counseling Center’s Ethics in Business Award. The award is based on the principles of integrity, fairness, justice, stewardship, and transparency.
Wohlsen Construction maintains a team-oriented approach, collaborating its way to successful projects. A great example of its work is this adaptive reuse and expansion of the existing Wilbur Chocolate Factory, which includes a boutique hotel and shell space for 26 high-end condominiums.
Clemens Construction Company Inc.
The Drexel Building 1433 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19102
This Philadelphia-based firm is an expert in the ground-up construction of hospitality projects, including hotels. With its vast experience, Clemens Construction Company can work through the many challenges of hotel construction. The firm is also adept at working in occupied spaces. Through proper scheduling, it can avoid major disruptions to hotel operations and their guests.
A perfect example of a Clemens Construction Company project is this chic Hyatt Centric Hotel in Chancellor Street. The space was previously a structured parking garage with ground-floor retail. It took a year and a half of thorough preconstruction planning for this project. The new building is now a 13-story full-service hotel that also features a 220-car capacity parking garage and 7,500-square-feet of ground-floor retail.
INTECH Construction
3020 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104
One of the largest construction companies in Philadelphia, INTECH Construction offers pre-construction, construction management, design/build, and renovations & interiors. For more than 30 years, the company has completed projects in more than ten sectors. It also has concrete commitments that adhere to its values—safety, quality & excellence, diversity, community, and sustainability.
INTECH Construction’s portfolio features impressive hospitality projects. One of its most impressive pieces is the Hotel Palomar, previously the iconic Architects Building. The challenge was to restore the 1930 historic building, especially its façade. The firm had to work around the tight urban site. Regardless, the new luxury boutique hotel features 20 floors of guest rooms. The first two floors are dedicated to a restaurant and reception spaces; the top two floors consist of meeting rooms and a ballroom. The hotel is recognized as a LEED Gold structure.
