YOWIE Hotel

Philadelphia design retailer YOWIE expanded its South Street shop into a 15-room hotel in 2023, filling a building in Queen Village that had never operated as a hotel before. Nearly everything in the rooms, from art to furnishings, can be bought on the spot.

The place

YOWIE occupies a building on South Street in Queen Village, just south of Philadelphia's historic core, above the ground-floor design shop and café that share its name.

The concept

Founder Shannon Maldonado expanded her design retail concept, YOWIE, into a small hotel that opened in 2023 — the first hotel use of the building, converted from a design boutique rather than a former hotel. Rooms are individually decorated with local artwork, curated books and handmade objects, and the retail-hospitality hybrid means most of what furnishes a room can be purchased on the way out, an unusual but consistent design premise for a boutique property this size.

Dining & wellness

The ground-floor café, Forin, serves locally sourced breakfast and lunch through the day; rooms are stocked with Malin + Goetz bath products, and select suites add full kitchens.