My spouse and I stayed at the
Embassy Suites by Hilton Pittsburgh Downtown for two nights on a weekend in
late November 2016. We booked our stay on the Hilton HHonors website. Although
this was our first stay at this new hotel, it will not be our last!
The Embassy Suites by Hilton
Pittsburgh Downtown is located in the Henry W. Oliver Building, a 25-story
skyscraper completed in 1910. Mr. Oliver intended the building to
house the offices for his steel and coal operations as well as other local
businesses, but he also wanted it to add visual appeal to the city skyline.
Originally, Mellon Financial (bank) occupied part of this building; today, two
banks (Dollar Bank and Northwest Savings) occupy two corner storefronts (at least
one of which offers two ATM machines). In 1974, the Pittsburgh History and
Landmarks Foundation designated the building as a Historical Landmark. Outside,
a stone and terra
cotta facade covers the steel frame. Indoors, high ceilings in the lobby and public
areas add to the spacious feel; be sure to admire the ornate moldings, mail
chute system, elevator surrounds, and the bank’s original vault (regrettably,
the safe deposit boxes have been removed, but you can inspect the huge
impenetrable doors of the safe). In 2003, architects began to convert the top
10 floors of the building (15 to 25) into the Embassy Suites. Although the
Oliver Building has entrances on three sides (Smithfield, Sixth, and Oliver Streets),
hotel guests can only use the Smithfield Street entrance.
This downtown hotel occupies a
good location if you plan to attend a Pittsburgh sporting or cultural event.
You can walk (or ride the “T” train/subway system) to Point State Park, Fort
Pitt, PNC Park, Heinz Field, Carnegie Science Center, Consol Energy Center (now
called PPG Paints Arena), the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and places further afield like Station Square and the Rivers
Casino. Numerous restaurants, other hotels, and shops are within walking
distance of the hotel. A Rite Aid pharmacy is located on the opposite street
corner (although it is not open 24 hours), and other chain pharmacies and
convenience stores are nearby. A package store that sells beer is situated a
few blocks away (it remains open on weekend nights until 2:00 am), and a PA
state liquor store that sells wine and spirits is a few blocks away. Two
beautiful houses of worship, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and First Presbyterian
Church, are positioned behind the hotel. The hotel building lies across the
street from Mellon Square, a park that provides green space, seating, and
fountains. The park is actually located atop a city parking garage, although it
occupies a street-level elevation on several sides. The garage offers an
excellent value on weekend parking ($5 per day), but it is more expensive
during the workweek. (FYI: It is likely the same garage that the hotel valets
use.)
Because both the hotel and the commercial tenants use the
building’s street-level lobby, the clever architects created a “sky lobby”, whereby
the hotel lobby is on the top floor of the building rather than at ground level.
The hotel uses its own bank of about five elevators (which are express
elevators from the lobby and floor 2 to the top ten floors); the other building
tenants use a separate elevator bank (the “resident” elevators do not travel
higher than floor 14). The hotel lobby offers all guest amenities (with the
exception of the parking valets and the concierge, which are located in the
building lobby on the street level). Near the front desk is a 24-hour pantry
where you can purchase drinks, snacks, and forgotten items; a business center
with two computers and a printer is nearby. The fitness center and indoor pool
are located off the lobby; both facilities offer city and skyline views. The
fitness center contains several kinds of equipment, including treadmills, stair
climber, elliptical, recumbent bike, weights, as well as a TV, water fountain,
and small towels. The indoor pool features a handicapped lift, pool towels, and
seating choices including reclining lounge chairs, regular chairs and tables,
and a comfortable grouping of all-weather wicker-like cushioned furniture. The
many windows make the pool area light and bright. (The building is shaped
somewhat like a letter W, offering the maximum number of windows and light for
each room.)
The Embassy Suite’s two dining options are located
adjacent to the lobby. Elevation offers a complimentary cooked-to-order
breakfast in the morning and a two-hour cocktail reception in the evening.
Breakfast includes two buffet areas that contains eggs, potatoes, bacon,
sausage, French toast, bread pudding, oatmeal, made-to-order omelets, fruit,
pastries, and beverages. Snacks at the evening reception included raw
vegetables, dip, and pretzels. We only attended the evening reception [and the
breakfast] on the first night/day of our stay. Instead, we chose to dine
locally (and at our own expense) rather than use the hotel’s complimentary
offerings on our second night/day. The other dining option at the Embassy
Suites is Ollie’s Gastropub, a bar/lounge
that offers a light fare menu, extensive wine list, and handcrafted
cocktails.
The hotel offers 225 suites, with studio, one-bedroom,
and two-bedroom options. The separate living area of our one-bedroom suite
contained modern functional furniture, including an L-shaped sofa in the living
room that offered a reclining section that doubled as a single/twin sleeping
space, and the coffee table and C-table slides over the ottoman or sofa,
respectively. A large work desk with three chairs (two stationary and one
rolling) functions as a dining table for three guests. In the wet bar area, a
small sink, coffee station, and ice bucket sit atop the built-in unit, with a
mini-refrigerator (that you can adjust for temperature) and microwave inside. (Ice
and vending machines are available on most floors.) The bedroom contains a
second TV, dresser storage space, nightstands with regular lights, reading
lights built into the bed’s headboard, and a closet with an electronic safe,
iron, and ironing board. Our one-bedroom suite contained a large bathroom with
an oversize standing shower (but no bathtub) and a single sink/vanity area that
offered sufficient counter storage space. The hotel provides Giovanni Cosmetics
toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, soaps) and a non-wall-mounted hair-dryer.
The hotel does not offer bathrobes or slippers.
We enjoyed our stay at the
Embassy Suites by Hilton Pittsburgh Downtown. The hotel offers a great location
for our dining and sporting purposes, it offers reasonable weekend parking, and
spacious accommodations. As frequent visitors to Pittsburgh (several times per
year), it is our new favorite downtown hotel!
