Pittsburgh: Hilton Garden Inn (September 2016)

My spouse and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh Downtown for two nights on a weekend in early September 2016. We reserved our room online using the Hilton website. Hilton sent us an email the day before our stay telling us that we could check in electronically, so we selected our accommodation from a group of available rooms. When we arrived at the hotel, we did not need to provide our credit card for incidental charges because we had done so during the online e-check-in process.

This downtown hotel is located in the Tower Two-Sixty building near Market Square, which contains many bars and restaurants (including Pizzaiolo Primo, Wingharts, Primanti Brothers, Poros, NOLA on the Square, Perle Lounge, Yard Gastropub, Sienna Sulla Piazza, Moe’s, Subway, Original Oyster House, Diamond Market Bar and Grille, Chipotle, Cherries Diner). A CVS pharmacy is located directly across street (although it is not open 24 hours), and other CVS locations and a 7-11 convenience store are nearby. A package store that sells beer is located around the corner and remains open on weekend nights until 2:00 am, and a PA state liquor store that sells wine and spirits is about two blocks away. Numerous restaurants, hotels, and shops are within walking distance. You can also walk to Point State Park, Fort Pitt, PNC Park, Heinz Field, Consol Energy Center (now called PPG Paints Arena), and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The hotel is close to the Wood Street and Gateway Center stops for the “T” train/subway system, which will take you further afield to Station Square, the Rivers Casino, and beyond. Currently, construction is occurring on some of the streets surrounding the hotel, and other one-way roads further complicate vehicular arrival.

The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Pittsburgh opened in March 2016. Hotel amenities include two restaurants/bars (Revel located on the street level, and Roost located on the second floor), a business center (with three computers and a printer), a small shop/pantry (that sells drinks, snacks, and limited sundry items), and event/meeting rooms. Covered self-parking with in/out privileges costs $30 per night. (The rate is competitive with other downtown hotels; however, you can sometimes save a few dollars on weekend parking by using a Pittsburgh public parking garage.) A complimentary hotel van shuttles guests within a 3-mile radius. The hotel employs a key card system in its elevators, whereby your card only works to access your own floor and the public floors such as the lobby and the second floor (in order to access the fitness center and Roost restaurant). Although we appreciate this safety feature, we saw a few frustrated guests who had difficulty understanding the system.

The hotel offers 190+ total rooms, in the categories of two queens, king, corner king, junior suite, and 1-bedroom suite (which has two bathrooms). We booked a junior suite (the room numbers of which all end with the number 17), which occupy floors three through ten and face the Monongahela River. (Some tall buildings are located between the hotel and the river, so your view might be obstructed, as it was even from our ninth floor room.)

Our junior suite comprised three areas, with “hardwood” laminate flooring running throughout. The cavernous living room contained a small sleeper sofa (perhaps a double size, but not a queen size), comfortable chair, coffee table, side table, and TV stand; the living area was large enough to hold additional furniture such as a small table and chairs, an additional comfy chair, or a larger sleeper sofa. The bedroom was slightly crowded with the king-size bed (with a nightstand on either side) and the long piece of furniture that was a combination dresser/desk/TV stand; colorful patterned carpeting affixed to the laminate floor was positioned beneath the bed. The bathroom, closet, and hospitality center that held a microwave, Keurig coffee maker, and a small refrigerator (larger than the cube size, temperature-adjustable) were located in a hallway between the two rooms. Note that the junior suite does not contain a door between the bedroom and hallway/living room, even though the room could be configured to have a door. Our room contained a bathtub-size glass-walled shower (but no bathtub) and a large vanity with lots of counter/storage space. The hotel provides complimentary Neutrogena toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion). Our closet did not contain an in-room electronic safe; however, it did offer an iron and ironing board. Our junior suite contained a separate heating/cooling unit in each room, and although they worked tremendously well (it was a scorchingly hot weekend), the units were noisy, and the part in the bedroom was positioned close to the bed.

We enjoyed our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh Downtown, and we appreciate the extra room that the junior suite provided. We will stay here again!