Summer of 2011 I liked this place, especially the convenience of the executive club lounge and the basement parking garage. So for a trip to important meeting I prepaid 3 nights here in January 2012 confident I would enjoy it again. I was wrong. They say in their current descriptions that they’re undergoing some renovations, but they also say: "During this time the hotel will operate as normal with no disruption, maintaining all services to our guests."
Checking in I asked the desk clerk about the executive club lounge breakfast: “Well, you would have that except for the fact that the whole floor is under renovation, so we have no executive club lounge at this time.” No offer of anything to replace it. Then he handed me the parking pass and explained that I’d be parking across the street in the medical center garage. I asked about the basement garage and was told that it was given over to the construction crew, and except for the occasional large vehicle everyone was parking in the medical center garage. What he didn’t say was that during the week you’re competing with medical center people for parking spots, and depending on the time of day there’s a lot of traffic. Then you have to walk through the garage and outside to get to the hotel . $20 a night for that? Excessive!
Breakfast Friday morning: “Is the buffet set up?” “No, we only do that when we’re busiest.” “What about this weekend?” “Oh no, this is really our slow time, no buffet any day.” Breakfast off the menu was far more expensive than nearby restaurants and coffee shops. Also they have the bogus approach of arriving at your table with a coffee pot in one hand and an orange juice pitcher in the other and asking “coffee and orange juice?” as if it’s part of the breakfast. Be sure to ask what they charge for each!
Saturday morning (day of important midday meeting) pounding and crashing began above my head shortly after 8. Desk told me there's no way of predicting where the construction will be on any given day or at any time, because the construction company is on a very tight schedule, so they’re working long hours. Good news, though, they probably won’t work on Sunday. This was all said pleasantly, with a smile, but with no apology, offer to adjust rates or anything like that…it’s just a fact of life.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the end: around midnight I had to call the desk and ask them how much noise I would be expected to tolerate from several adjacent rooms, which I believe housed Pitt University football recruits. They said they would do something about it. When I called the second time I was told that my second complaint meant that if there was a third call the noisy bunch would get kicked out. Things did quiet down then, but it was close to 1 AM already. And guess what? The construction noise started once again, Sunday morning, at 8!
Unlike most hotels in their price range today, Holiday Inn University Center does not have wi-fi service in its rooms…only in the lobby. There is an ethernet connection in every room, but if more than one person needs to be online one of them must go to the lobby. Also I experienced problems with cell phone reception in the room, probably due to the framework of the building, which may be part of the reason there’s no wi-fi. Finally, I had a huge problem trying to print from one of the computers in the business center – the second worked okay.
I wanted to keep liking the Holiday Inn University Center…but this was the worst stay I’ve had in a long time, and it was unique in that there was no apology or offer to adjust anything. Indeed, at checkout the desk clerk did not bother to even ask “And how was your stay?” I can only assume he’s gotten sick of people telling him. Next time I think I’ll try the nearby Hilton Garden Inn that used to be the Wyndham. I believe their remodel is finished, and they have valet parking in the building.
- Holiday Inn Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Holiday Inn
