The Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh

We stayed here for the downtown New Year’s Eve celebration. The service and staff was excellent and it was nice having our car in a heated garage. The view from our room was great.
The room was very nice and above average. Very clean and staff very responsive when we wanted extra blankets. But you can hear everything in the hall and adjacent rooms.
The breakfast was their downfall. We expected something special in keeping with the rest of our experience with the hote. My son got the buffet and couldn’t eat anything except the fruit. The bacon tasted like plastic, the eggs looked like they had been sitting for too long, and only the fruit tasted decent. For 18.95 I expected fresh and tasty food on the buffet. My wife got the belgian waffle and it was obviously a box mix with nothing special. I only had a bagel and coffee, and the total came to almost $ 50. I’ve had much, much better breakfasts at hotels costing a third the price. The waiter asked about the buffet and we told him that it was mostly inedible and he simply kept going as if we said nothing.
My advice is to skip the restaurant completely.

This Westin is conveniently located near the convention center, but the low relative rank amount of stars is deserved. I am in a hotel once or twice a month. This Westin is bottom tenth. The coffee maker is disgusting and smells. The beds are constantly short-​sheeted, mostly with poor effort. The phones and clocks are gross. I gave the management a heads up, and it was not fixed. Bottom line… They don’t care, so don’t frustrate yourself and risk the dirt. On the bright side, a woman on the elevator was insistent something bit her last night, and I seem to have dodged that bullet.

What a waste of money. I traveled home for a wedding and went out of my way for a luxury experience and booked a night at this Westin and I was very disappointed. This had already been the trip from hell, so I was too exhausted to complain when I checked out. I just wanted out of there. First off, at over $ 200/​night, can you not offer shower gel and/​or face wash? I didn’t pack toiletries, falsely relying on these items being provided in my room. Wrong. Next, the bed was so uncomfortable. Were those springs I felt in the mattress? Really? It was bumpy! And the sheets… They felt like cardboard. When I pulled the fitted sheet off the mattress to investigate what was so uncomfortable I found hairs matted to the mattress cover. Grrrross! I’m done with the Westin brand and someone seriously needs to contact me about getting my money back. Never again. Heavenly bed? Quite the opposite.

Per usual, Westin does a solid job. The rooms are spacious and comfortable with speedy service if you need a light bulb replaced (which we did). Check-​in /​check-​out were smooth and late check-​out was fuss free!
We had our dog with us and he enjoyed his stay since it was nice and quiet!
Only significant complaint is that you have to wait 5 minutes to get an elevator when the hotel is busy (which it usually is since it’s near the convention center).

2.75 stars. Mostly for The extremely Friendly staff AND The GREAT view From OUR Room On The 24^th Floor. The sheets seemed cleaned (and I didn’t see any bed bugs) but that was about the only clean thing. The light switches, crevices, phone, corners of shower/​tub were horrendously filthy. As other pictures have depicted, they are doing a terrible job cleaning. But maybe they’re not even trying! Maybe changing sheets is the extent of their effort. Parking is overpriced for a city like Pittsburgh and a 2 hour limit, for 4 $ each hour, is ridiculous in my opinion. Again this is Pittsburgh NOT Philly, DC, or NY. Breakfast options in the immediate area are almost nonexistent.

Wife and I love staying at the Westin when we are town for sporting events. Convenient to everything in town and a short walk over the Clemente Bridge to the Stadiums.
Just do not understand the complaints about the elevators or the shower head. You are not «stuck» using just a rain water shower head. You do have the option to switch to the regular shower head with the twist of the hand. Wow, is that hard to do?
The elevators do have a keypad system that tells you which elevator to use. The longest wait we had was about 15 seconds… and there was a convention going on next door at the convention center. And no, we did not «forget» which elevator to get on. Maybe the reviewer should be a bit less self absorbed, get his head away from his phone and pay attention to what’s going on around him. Not that difficult folks.
Now that I debunked those two non issues from a previous reviewer, I can tell you we enjoy the amenities the Westin has to offer. Nice friendly staff, excellent location, comfy rooms with a great view, and wonderful heavenly beds.
Oh, and lest I forget. The elevators are EASY to use and very functional, as is the shower, whether using the rain shower head OR the regular shower head if you prefer.

I was sooooo disappointed with this hotel. I’m not sure what they use to wash their sheets and towels but the sheets were so dry and harsh I could barely sleep. We asked the front desk about it. They offered to replace our sheets with «brand new ones» you can’t even tell the difference.
The AC barely works. Our room was stuffy and hit the entire time.
Bottom line: it was way too uncomfortable for costing as much as it did. I’ll never stay here again.

We travel to away Saints games and stayed here for the weekend. The hotel was very nice all around. Efficient, friendly staff and genuinely hospitable. The rooms were in good condition and well-​maintained.
So were looking forward to returning for a woodworking symposium at the Lawrence Convention Center.
I’d say lots was the same but some of the changes were irritating and so to be fair, the negatives first (ending on a high note).
For the game, a room. For this time, we had a King suite. 19^th floor. View okay but not great as advertised but hey, you’re not there to sit in the hotel all day, right? :-)
Well I had booked a corner suite but there was a bit of an issue with my profile on SPG and so they were «de-​feathering» the room and it was taking forever. So I said, another corner suite was fine. Except it wasn’t. It was a suite alright, but in the living area where one would expect a sofa, sitting area and TV, etc? There sat a 4 top dining table with a hole in the middle. Turns out that lots of business travelers like this arrangement for meetings and all the suites below the 11^th floor have this.
SO LOOK OUT before you book, people! :-)
But seriously it wasn’t a huge deal as they were more than happy to move me. And they did — to a complimentary upgrade King Suite that you could a tech startup in. Very spacious, with dual closets, very nice sitting area with couch and two comfy chairs, two huge picture windows about the size of patio sliders. A vanity area outside the (smallish) bathroom.
About that bathroom. A couple things bug me when I travel. One, is that some downtown hotels don’t have a fan/​vent in the bathroom, and so the mirror fogs up big time. Not a huge deal and I use the hair dryer so I can see, but really? can’t they do something?
The other thing is this: I hate rain shower heads. I’m an old dude, I like my water pressure, not a rain forest gently wafting over me. I want velocity! Hit me with that H20! And yes, I know that we need to conserve water, but I have a seriously great low flow shower head at home and it cost 20 bucks on Amazon. Sheesh!
Another gripe: There were exactly two places to recharge a device in the entire suite, and both were at a side table about 12 feet from the bed (and only halfway across the room)!
Now, between us we have 5 devices to charge including phones. I use mine for my alarm and like it right there. So really, can’t we have a retrofit so grown folk can charge their whatsits?
Finally, the elevators. What? How can that be an issue? Well, since our last visit, they installed a software/​hardware package that eliminates the buttons inside the elevator. Instead, there is a touch screen at each floor. One selects the destination, and the screen lights up with a large number telling you which elevator.
Which SUCKS. I’m sure they’re using some kind of load-​management software to optimize elevator use, and I’m sure that the goal is more efficient utilization and less latency. Well it ain’t makin’ it. You wait and wait and wait. Then sometimes — if you’re like me — you forget which elevator you were supposed to take.
I did find that, it seems that if you go press all the screens with your floor and perhaps those above, the software sensed increased demand and sent an elevator quicker. Hacking an elevator. Who’d a thought it?
Now to the good:
The staff were super friendly, warm and helpful. So when I asked, they found a power strip and a 25′ orange extension cord and I ran it over to the bed along the wall. Sort of the Clampetts come to city with my cord running all over the room. Nonetheless, we had power to our devices.
The room was otherwise nice and quiet. Did I mention that it was large?
The hotel restaurants are good. Penn Grille is more relaxed overall and Bill’s is more of a «joint» but the burgers are great, as are the nachos. The service in both is excellent and the staff are unfailingly friendly — really hospitable the way we mean it here in the south.
The hotel is attached to the Lawrence Convention Center, which was nice as it rained some each day. We made it to the various events high and dry.
I would say that the high point of the hotel is without question the attentiveness, courtesy and genuine friendliness of the hotel staff. Not that fake, I’m polite but really looking down on you courtesy that we’ve experienced at the Ritz in Chicago (which I reviewed last year).
In fact, if this hotel was sited next to the Ritz, and the price was the same, I’d choose the Westin, hands down. And given that the rooms were less than half that of the Ritz, that’s a good indicator of how well we were treated.
My wife tipped the housekeeping lady $ 300 because she was so nice. What else can I tell you? Stay there.
And Pittsburgh, you are an awesome town. Good people, beautiful views, and a good nightlife too.

Stay on 6÷12÷15
Friendly front desk staff. When we arrived to our room the bathroom was dirty and there was hair all over the place (shower & floor). We went downstairs and asked for a new room. The front desk staff was apologetic about the situation and gave us a new room. Nice room with a great view of the city and PNC Park. Nice gym and okay pool. We really enjoyed the location. Walking distance to so many things! Would stay again

The beds where so uncomfortable that i slept on the floor and the wifi was not free the water was two dollars per bottle and the rooms where not that clean. As for the hotel attendents they used very good manners. The wlavators where the absalute stupidest thing ever and you also had to pay for tv and to use the refridgerator

This is a nice convention center perfect for big events and conferences. Its spread out so if your conference has workshops in just about all of the classrooms like mine did then be prepared to walk!
The garage is very pricey of course but what garage these days isnt. It can also be quite confusing on which end to park at and which elevator to take.
The location is ideal! With the Westin Hotel being the connecting hotel. However there are only 2 elevators to get you there which can be a cluster F! Plenty of restaurants within walking distance to the convention center. Kinds of pricey and comparable to our Over-​the-​Rhine area but not as nice! The view of the river is near is well which a great.
Overall not a bad place to hold an event.

I stood at this hotel during a short business trip. It was ok. It wasn’t super special. I only spent two nights here so I did t get to explore the hotel like I usually do. It is in the financial district of Pittsburgh. It sits about a 20 minute drive from south side Pittsburgh which is where we found a bunch of bars and restaurants.
This hotel was decent. It was pretty comfortable but they did not have free wifi which is an absolute bummer. I look forward to wifi so that I’m able to get work done, send emails, etc. during my stay. I didn’t get to interact with the staff too much since I was really in and out.

Elizabeth at the counter was extremely helpful, professional, & attentive. My
Fiancé took me me out for a night on the town, she directed me to the bathroom, in which time she asked my fiancé why we were there. He told her we were in the city to treat me to a night before he had to go out of town. She really took to heart why we were here, and gave him a room high up with a beautiful view to make our night complete. She had great salesmanship and service all the way around. Fed a shout out to the door guy, mark, very cool and helpful guy!

I’ve always loved this hotel. Lovely location right by the river, near enough to the sports venues for a pretty easy walk over the bridges.
Check in was pleasant as I’ve always experienced here, staff were all very friendly and helpful.
Rooms were clean but could use a bit of updating; finding a convenient outlet to charge my phone was a bit of a challenge.
One odd note, you must use your room key in order to turn the lights on in the room. There is a slot for that purpose just as you enter so, take my advice and get at least 2 room keys.
The restaurant attached to the hotel, a lovely, fine dining establishment called the Old Fishmarket, is slated to close at the end of October, 2014… in it’s place is going to be a restaurant called «Bill’s Burgers & Grill» I hear it is good, but we shall see next time I stay here.
There is the option of self-​parking or valet parking on site at the hotel.

I love the location of this hotel. While I didn’t stay at this hotel while there were any conventions the location of this place is great because it’s walking distance to some places on Penn and not too far from the strip district.
As far as parking goes you can park at the bus station right across the street and parking overnight is a steal compared to parking off Ft. Duquesne the last time we stayed at the Wyndham (formally Hilton) by the triangle.
While there is a fish restaurant in the Westin it didn’t get very good reviews so I avoided it. Being so close to the strip district you could walk if you wanted to at least to the western portions of it.
As all Starwood chains this hotel has big comfortable beds. Also every Westin I have been to has a bit of a modern feel to it. The room décor is never outdated and the property is well kept. As expected the room was very clean and it smelled very fresh as well.
For downtown Pittsburgh I like this location and this hotel over some of the others I’ve stayed at in downtown because of the location and the convenient and affordable parking as well as the comfortable rooms and bed.

I had great expectations that were sadly not met. For the price of the room, I was expecting a LOT more for my buck, maybe I was just too optimistic. I will say the whole hotel was clean and didn’t have any unsanitary conditions. But it just seemed outdate for the top price paid, it could use a spruce up. Our room was ready before posted check-​in time and when we got to the room there were no problems. The wi-​fi was free and the tv channel selections were pretty good. I would say this is an average hotel for amenities with a high price tag.
Usually when you pay top tier rates, I usually expect the service staff to be very friendly, didn’t get that here, I think I had one of the service staff actually talk to me unsolicited. I would not revisit The Westin Convention Center.
My wife would probably give it 4 star just for the shower head, it was pretty amazing, but when that is the highlight, I don’t think there is value here.

After looking at the hotel online I was excited, the pictures looked new and very nice. I was in town attending a conference at the convention center so along with how great everything looked, you couldn’t beat the location.
However, I had the absolute worst hotel experience at the Pittsburgh Westin. I am a Starwood Preferred Guest member and up until now have had great experiences, but this one was so bad it really makes me question the integrity of the brand and I am hesitant to stay at another Starwood establishment.
Even tonight as I try to log into my SPG to see if my points for being «conservative» with the room were updated, I can’t logon to the site as «The system is temporarily unavailable.» I should also note I have photographs of everything, because I couldn’t believe how bad the stay was.
1. The terrible experience happened before I even arrived. When I googled the hotel, accusations of bed bugs appeared on both
and
— and the hotel had yet to take the time to respond. A simple detail that if someone was paying attention they would be able to resolve.
2. I arrived at the hotel after a 7+ hour drive only to find out that the bathroom in my hotel room was broken. After two calls to Guest Services, about 30 minutes later a maintenance man came by, and it took him about 15 minutes to fix it. So a total of 45 minutes before I could use the rest room after arriving. I had suggested to Guest Services on the second call that they move me to a new room and it was awkwardly laughed off.
3. After using the restroom (finally!) I noticed the tub was dirty and there was mold on the top of the shower by the rod and on top and inside the mini-​fridge. The mold was «new» so it could have easily been wiped off and taken care of if the room was being properly clean and attention to detail was paid. The fact that the hotel lacked the ability for such simple house keeping was surprising.
4. The paint in various places of the room was chipping and some of the furniture, most notably the side table were knicked and scratched badly.
5. Because of the bed bug reviews, I stripped the sheets to look for evidence. I did not find any, but did become aware of many brown and black tar stains on the sheets that were tucked in to the mattress.
6. I begrudgingly ordered room service because of how late it was by the time I got settled. I ordered the Turkey BLT with lemon aioli and arugula salad. Instead I got cold, what-​seemed-​like-​day-​old deli meat, burnt bacon with a thin, thin layer of mayo, not aioli. The arugula salad did not have 1 piece of arugula — it was mixed greens with shredded carrots instead. When you read the description and look at what I actually received, it is very, very disappointing.
7. The coffee pot in my room leaked all off, wetting the sugar, napkins, etc.
8. They charged the wrong credit card after both myself and my office manager telling several different people which card to charge. I had booked the room on a corporate card, and my office manager had believed she straightened everything out at the front desk that they were to charge the card on file because I would not have the corporate card with me. The first thing I was asked by the front desk was for a credit card. After I explained the situation to the front desk, they insisted that the card on file would be charged and they just needed my card for «incidentals» — after back and fourth I gave in and gave them my card, assured it would not be charged. Then when I checked out two days later, I once again confirmed that they would charge the card on file and they still charged the wrong one. Fast forward to the following week when I notice the charges, I called the billing department and someone has still yet to return my call. I am being charged interest on this card for their mistake.
This was an absolute terrible experience and I am very disappointed at the Westin and Starwood Hotels for their obvious lack of pride and detail with this hotel.

Still little to no improvement.
Now they’ve removed fitted bed sheets and just use a single sheet on top of the mattress.
Still stuck with a messed up environmental system that requires a card (any card will do) to keep it going.
Bathroom vents looked like an example of how not to clean your duct work. Dust caked, disgusting. Not recommended for travelers with allergies or severe asthma.
Only saving grace was their rain showerhead which can switch over to a hand held shower wand. Different than the traditional Westin Heavenly dual head, but still good.
Sorta makes sense seeing all the people posting that they scored this property on Priceline. A shame because in other cities the Westin franchise is a name usually associated with higher end properties.

We are packing now, were here for an academic conference on new guidelines being implemented throughout the states.
The beds at the Westin are very comfy, as are the pillows.
I thought it was a nice stay.
***Wifi is $ 15.95 a day**** This is highly annoying. This is not per room it is per computer. My husband paid the fee and the network only connected his computer. When he is away at the conference, I have no access to wifi.
The television seems to also go black several times during programs.

Great location, central to many Pittsburgh locations. I must say though, I’m glad that I’ve always stayed here on someone else’s dime. It’s not cheap. The parking is pretty pricey, around $ 20 a day. If you’re looking to save a few bucks I believe you can park around the corner at the Greyhound Bus Terminal for about $ 14 a day (?).
Beds are super cozy. I’m a huge fan of their toiletry line — white tea aloe! Also a big fan of the fact that their in-​room coffee is starbucks (see photo!). Thank god. The front desk staff seem very helpful, but I have not really had many interactions aside from the check in & out processes.
Connected to the convention center if you’re traveling for an event there — can be convenient in the winter months since there’s no need to walk outside.
The gym seems amazing. They now have a program where they’ll even lend you workout clothing (there may be a small fee?) and shoes! If you’re traveling by plan and have limited packing space this could be a life saver!
One thing that really burns me is the internet. It’s «free» but when you log in, you’ll see there are actually 4 or 5 different options. I have a feeling that if you’re not paying you’re getting lower bandwidth. Annoying. Would do 3.5 stars if I could.