I believe I reviewed this hotel last year, but I thought I would update. In fairness, I don't care for this brand, I would way rather stay at the Hampton Inn down the street and enjoy free breakfast, but this is the host hotel for convention center events so I keep coming back. I agree with the fact that front desk/valet/concierge service is very friendly, just mostly totally unnecessary for me. The sweetest man ever brought up my packages from storage for me, I wish I could remember his name to thank him on here as he was very kind and helpful.
The towel smell....it is awful. I smelled it on all of the linens. I think what is it is vinegar?? I am telling myself that it has to do with environmentally friendly cleaning detergent, but I am totally guessing on that. It really smells awful for the first night, but it gets a bit better after that (a very small bit). I do appreciate the green initiatives, like our lights only working with the room key and getting rewarded for not having the room cleaned, but WOW the linens stink.
I also had the previous guest's shaving leftovers hanging out behind my sink. But overall, things were very comfortable and mostly clean. This is convenient for the convention center and several restaurants, it's just not for me.

Stayed here on business. The hotel is nice and the location in handy to walk to other downtown sights and close to the river. The lobby is a bit dated/modern, but feels more high end and the property is clean and well kept. Rooms are basic and nice. We had a view of the river and other high-rises which was nice. The convention center is attached to this hotel and the hotel staff would not let us use their bell cart to haul or display material over to the convention center, so that was kind of a bummer. In the end it was fine but the walk to the convention center is kind of long with heavy boxes.

Pittsburgh was a surprisingly fun city to visit and had a lot to do. Much more than I expected. We were there the weekend before Thanksgiving when they light the bridges and all the Christmas decorations, there was also a huge fireworks show and it was really amazing. I was blown away by the crowd that came down to celebrate, very fun.

We went to the Westin for my birthday, Groundhog Day and what a treat! No big crowds, only a few people in the pool and hot tub. It was snowing a good bit but it went very well. A good time of the year to go. We got a great rate on Hotwire and got an upgtrade to boot!

Before I arrived I read a lot of the reviews here and I have to say they were pretty much right on...
First the staff...most are very helpful and nice...especially the folks that work OUTSIDE in front and the shuttle drivers.
During a week's stay, I had the room cleaned once. Westin has a neat offer that if you refuse room service, they give you a $5 food voucher. I like that and think more hotels should offer something similar. The one day I did have my room 'cleaned', it was not really cleaned. The beds were made and the towels (more on those shortly) were replaced, but nothing else really touched. The tiny tiny ice bucket (no fridge in room) was still full of water and I did not get any more soap or shampoo. I had to go to the concierge for more.
Oh, I went down to the front desk to ask for a mini fridge. Was told 'no problem'. I am still waiting for it.
The towels. WOW. I read a review where they said the towels smelled like bug spray. I don't know what they were talking about because I think they smelled worse. They smell horrendous. I ended up spraying my cologne on them the night before I used them just to get the stench out. Thankfully, the sheets and comforters don't smell like the towels or I would have bailed. They need to go to Costco and get a case of Bounce Sheets.
The beds are nice and the comforter is the heaviest blanket on any planet. It ended up on the floor most of the time.
One of the waitresses in the breakfast restaurant needs to rethink her career. If you don't like to wait on customers, stop showing up for work.
I also agree with some of the reviewers that said the rooms could use some updating. They look like 1980's style. And please, it's 2013--rooms should have mini-fridges.
With so many other choices in Pittsburgh, I will look elsewhere next time.