PA Pittsburgh Holiday Inn Select University Center

[CrazyOne]

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/sl/1/en/hotel/PITSP/

I didn't make a lot of use of this hotel in just one last-minute night here in my own town (late night at work), but it does seem solid enough. Location is good if you need to be near Pitt or CMU. It's basically on Fifth Ave across from the Cathedral of Learning, but there's a building in the way of it fronting onto that main street. Instead it's sandwiched between the two side streets and can be entered from either side. If you are driving, and it is evening or a weekend when you arrive, try to find a meter. I had no trouble late on a weeknight getting a meter spot. Enforcement is only from 8am-6pm and I think Mon-Sat. And it's 4-hour limit and only 50 cents per hour, wow! Even around here that's cheap. Not too convenient for a long stay, but that's not too bad as meters go. There is a garage with in and out privileges that costs something like 17 bucks.

You could walk a few blocks to Craig Street where there are some restaurant, coffee and bar choices. But there's nothing immediately surrounding this place but parking lots and university buildings. There would be plenty of bus transport right out on Fifth Ave. It's safe to walk around the area even at night.

Hotel lobby gave me the impression of at least a facelift sometime in the past few years. Front desk staff were friendly. Elevators slow for a shortish building and late at night (almost midnight). Note entire hotel is non-smoking.

Room on 2nd floor was fine. Had two double beds, table with two chairs, long low dresser. No desk, just the table. 25" tube TV was on the dresser. Lighting was pretty good in the room, sometimes too bright (be careful what you wish for, yeah?) with fluorescents. A/C unit was especially noisy I thought even compared to others of its type. Overall, not a particularly updated room compared to some modern designs I've seen. Furniture is still old, etc. But, the beds had nice updated linens with duvets, so they did get the message on that part at least. Internet is free here. I thought on the hotel site it said wireless would work in the rooms, but I didn't find anything. I hooked up my AirPort Express to the wired connection and was on my way with little trouble. :-) I did see a guy in the morning using the wireless in the lobby.

Bath was laid out funny, maybe because this room was at the end of the hall. It gave slightly less floor space, perhaps, than usual. But it worked fine and was clean. Granite top, curved shower curtain rod and massaging shower head were featured. The lighting in here was not nearly as good; the layout created dark corners especially in the shower. Again, it seemed like minor updates probably were done here sometime, but not a major renovation.

I didn't make use of any other services there (restaurant, fitness, etc). I happened to walk by the self-serve business center room on the mezzanine level. Couple of computers in there and a printer I think. The hotel was clean, in a good location, friendly, free internet in a 3* ;-) basic but more than adequate. All in all, a good value I thought for a $54 last-minute bid. It would be nice if it had more modern furniture in the room, but I can think of a lot worse things I've seen in a 3* "upgrade" before. This one is pretty decent.