After wrapping up our time in New York, we decided to drive to Pittsburgh our first night. Since our route approached from the east, we preferred a location on the east side of Pittsburgh. The Doubletree Pittsburgh – Monroeville Convention Center offered a spacious “corner king” room at a reasonable $151 for the night. Overall it was a decent hotel, if a bit far out of the city itself.
Note: this post is part of my trip report series about our summer road trip to New York. Click here for the introductory post and trip report index.
Doubletree by Hilton Pittsburgh – Monroeville Convention Center
- 101 Mall Boulevard, Monroeville, PA
- Website: https://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/pennsylvania/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-pittsburgh-monroeville-convention-center-PITMRDT/index.html
- Features: free outdoor parking, on-site restaurant, indoor pool, fitness center, business center
Location: adjacent to the Monroeville Mall and connected to the Monroeville Convention Center. The mall is just off William Penn Highway, about 13 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh (31 miles from the airport). When coming from William Penn Highway, take the mall exit. Then, at the mall access road, turn left, then left again at the hotel entrance.
The drive from the airport takes about 35 minutes without traffic. However, Pittsburgh traffic is surprisingly bad. It can easily take double that during rush hour. The ride downtown, meanwhile, takes 20-40 minutes. In other words, the location probably doesn’t make sense unless you have business on the east side of town.
Date of Visit: Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Check-In and Common Areas
We arrived around 8 pm to find a quiet lobby area. From the parking lot, you enter into a spacious foyer with a large telescreen featuring hotel event information. Conveniently, elevators are located immediately in front – quite nice if you’re heavy on road trip baggage.
Behind the screen is a small sculpture.
Head left for a small seating/waiting area. The decor here could use a refresh. I remember thinking, it looks a lot like the typical mall hotel from the 90s.
Continue straight, and next to the restaurant is the indoor pool. The pool looked quite nice; certainly a useful feature for a mid-range hotel.
Meanwhile, head right for the front desk. The friendly clerk thanked us for our loyalty and confirmed our preferred “MyWay” benefits. Within a few minutes, we had our keys and breakfast vouchers.
Guest Rooms
Our room, a “King Corner Room” was on the 9th floor. The rather nondescript corridors certainly don’t say very much…
The room itself is fairly large, with the bathroom directly in front of the door, and the room to the right. This room type includes one king bed, plus a separate sofa. Both nightstands include plugs on the lamp bases.
The bed faces a large flat-screen TV, with a coffee maker to the left.
To the left of the coffee maker is the desk, which also includes additional power outlets. While the room might not be the most modern, it does include plenty of plugs to charge devices.
Finally, in the back of the room, next to the sofa, is a sitting area in front of a large window.
Unfortunately, the view out the window isn’t great, overlooking the roof the convention center.
The bathroom is small, though it does have a good-sized sink counter. It has a standard shower-tub counter with a fixed showerhead. This hotel provides Crabtree & Evelyn products, which are quite good quality.
Helpfully, there is also a separate sink outside the bathroom. I actually wish more hotels would install these. They come in handy when you have a bunch of baby stuff to wash.
Overall, the room isn’t overly exciting, but functional, and we appreciated the extra space. For the modest buy-up over a regular room ($15 over a standard king), I thought it offered good value.
Breakfast/”Share” Restaurant
Hilton Golds receive complimentary breakfast for themselves plus one guest. Although Golds technically only receive “continental” breakfast, as I’ve typically found at Hiltons, the hotel provides access to the full buffet. Certainly much better than the pitiful offering Kevin encountered at the Westin Los Cabos.
There is a good selection of cereals, breads, fruits, yogurt, etc. if you prefer to keep things simple.
However, the buffet also includes a few hot items. I recall potatoes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Again, not the fanciest selection, but certainly a bonus for those expecting only a continental breakfast.
You can also enjoy some waffle maker greatness.
The restaurant space itself, called “Share”, offers plenty of seating and a decent bar. After breakfast, Share offers small, tapas-like plates for lunch and dinner. We left long before lunch, so I can’t comment on the menu.
If I had one complaint, it’s that the service at breakfast was slow. We had to flag someone down for coffee and water refills, for example. I find that a common issue at hotel breakfast buffets, though.
General Location
As mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this hotel’s location if your business is downtown or the west side of Pittsburgh. Traffic makes it a lengthy drive, especially around rush hour. However, the hotel is quite convenient to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, just 2.5 miles to the east. In addition, the mall and surrounding area features no shortage of restaurants, from fast food to fancy. That makes it a good option for Turnpike travelers passing through, who want the convenience of the city but don’t want to to go all the way downtown.
If you do have time to head downtown, make a visit to the Mount Washington area across the Monongahela River. Enjoy the historic architecture and skyline views before heading out of town.
Overall Thoughts
This is a pretty standard mid-range chain hotel, though the oversized room offered good value for our needs. And really, “value” is the play here. Prices generally run $20-50/night cheaper than downtown, and that’s ignoring parking. That’s a compelling enough price point for leisure travelers to at least consider staying here, even if it’s a little out of the way.
