Our trip to the USA this autumn was designed around the aim to see our old friends who had left Watford in the early 1970s, yet remained in touch over the years through visits to their families and subsequent funerals. So we designed a route, which would see us tick a few boxes such as the Guggenheim Museum, Boston, Niagara Falls, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Amish country.

The latter leg was aimed at meeting our friends from North Carolina halfway. We had proposed Atlantic City, of which we had taken a cursory note back in 2010. Pete and Marilyn were game for this but when he came up with the suggestion of 170 dollar hotels near the Boardwalk, I blanched. We do not have the sort of budget that enables us to travel round the USA for a month, staying in such hotels. While we debated this back and forth by email, the happy suggestion was made that instead of spending four nights in Atlantic City we spend three nights in Philadelphia and three near the Boardwalk. We had not planned to visit Philly, but as they were flying to that airport, it seemed logical to spend at least one night there.

How fortunate we were for Philadelphia proved to be a delight even if the hotel we booked proved to be a disaster. Flagged up as one of a chain of America’s Best Value Inn, it was appalling. We have spent over 100 hotel nights in the USA, paying anything from 45 dollars to 120, but mostly averaging around 70 dollars. We know from experience you can book a clean, functional room, more often than not with a fridge, television and the makings for coffee, for around 70 dollars.

We had decided to reach Philadelphia the night before our friends flew in. We were ahead of schedule but we were unable to book in at America’s Best Value because most hotels were fully booked that night. The reason for this was the Pope’s visit to Philly, which ended late on the Sunday afternoon, just as we arrived.

Fortunately our Garmin, Hilary, was able to steer us round the sealed-off streets and we reached the more expensive hotel, Days Inn (another chain) at 75 dollars a night. Our room, which we had booked the night before, was very well appointed but we packed the next morning and headed out to the airport, having first dropped our luggage off at the Best Value Inn where we had booked to stay three nights.

Returning later with our friends, Pete explained he had picked this hotel because of its proximity to an Indian restaurant, which was next door.

We met up for a lunchtime curry after being allocated our rooms, by which time we had decided we could not stay at the Best Value longer than one night because it was appalling. The hotel complex is quite large and our first clue that perhaps this was not the ideal place to stay, was the presence of a police car and a police officer, parked alongside a two-storey row of hotel rooms. The second clue was the state of the outside stairwell as we lugged our cases up to our allotted room. Clearly it had not been swept in weeks.

Clue number three was provided when we saw a number of teenaged and young children either slumped down in the corridors or playing generally around the complex. These were not tourists but, we suspected, people on welfare. Our room was basically clean but not overly so.

Pete and Marilyn had a downstairs room and when we called they were aghast. Their toilet had the usual sanitation paper wrapped around it, informing them it had been cleaned and sanitised but, upon lifting the seat, they found it ingrained with grime. It had not been cleaned in weeks. A hotel employee came and cleaned it, but without apology. We made our decision to leave at the earliest possible juncture and, on my way out, I spotted a phalanx of cobwebs hanging down from their ceiling. That too had developed unhindered for a few weeks at least.

We decided to adopt a pragmatic approach so Pete and I set off for reception and spun the story that our friends had moved on to Atlantic City, so we too had to cancel and move on. They agreed to cancel – we suspected the very helpful receptionist knew just why we could not stay too long – and the next morning we arrived at the Days Inn motel, which we could recommend and where Marilyn expressed the view that it was perfect for their needs and, although five dollars more, breakfast was included.

It was a salutary lesson for upon looking on Trip Advisor, we discovered almost everyone claimed the Best Value was atrocious: described by one as the roach hotel. Normally we check, but as our friends found the hotel, we mistakenly thought they had checked and vice versa.

We loaded up Hilary with our choice of destination across the river in Philadelphia, opting for the Betsy Ross house being in the heart of the city. Incidentally, she may or may not have made the first Stars and Stripes, for which she is famous. We found a car park opposite the house, next door to the Hop On, Hop Off bus terminal and we were soon heading round the city.

We liked it immediately. It has far more open space and architecturally interesting buildings than Boston, yet despite a population of 1.5 million we found it easy to drive around and one evening, we headed out from the centre during the rush hour and thought it refreshingly civilised.

By the time we had completed a guided circuit of the town it was time for lunch and we headed for a special restaurant that is renowned for the Philadelphia steak cheese sandwich, which is one of the specialities of the region and with good reason, it is highly rated. I noted on some menus we were informed certain dishes were drizzled with Monterey Jack, which had my mind working overtime. It transpires it is an American semi-hard cheese, usually white, but the Yanks do like to add liberal doses of cheese to so many of their dishes.

I have mentioned often, in previous articles on our Stateside experiences, how the concept of steak, chips, tomatoes and mushrooms is regarded as only laying down the basis of your order. There are so many options you can add to it, which to our tastes, obscure the actually quality of meat, mushrooms and tomatoes. When you just repeat the basic order without frills, they leave you with a look that suggests you are either mental or some kind of dietary freak. On the other hand, they could be disappointed you are not adding costs to your order, so boosting their tip.