I have stayed in this hotel multiple times. It is actually a very nice hotel. Without a doubt the best Holiday Inn Express I have been in. It sits right on the river across from Duquense University and the City of Pittsburgh. South Side is a night life area of Pittsburgh, lots of bars, restaurants, etc... There is a $9 parking charge for an outside lot that does not make much sense, and the hotel is pricier than most HI Inn Expresses the cheapest you can usually get in is $99.00. All in all though a good hotel in a good location. Free high speed internet LAN connection in the room.

Nice new clean hotel. Rooms are large and comfortable. During my first stay--and my first visit to Pittsburgh--I was unsure about the location. Carson St is a bit rough around the edges; I later learned that it was an historic presevation district and one of the most busy areas of Pittsburgh, filled with restaurants, shops, traffic and people! (The hotel is not directly on Carson St so there was no traffic noise in our room.) All our dinners that stay were within walking distance of the hotel and soon the area felt more comfortable and friendly!
The location is as close to downtown as you can get without actually being in downtown. We did not have that much need to be in downtown anyway, it turned out.
We had good maps of the city, so finding our way around was not too difficult although we did take a few unexpected "tours" here and there!
During our second stay we even got a good deal on a room with a Jacuzzi (on-line) and that was most enjoyable!
The breakfast is good (a lot of carb full selections though; we started eating a lot of the hard cooked eggs and oranges instead). The in-room coffee maker is convenient but the coffee is bad...just go downstairs and bring some up to the room, or use some you bought at a Warehouse District shop, like we did! Staff is courteous and professional. Our only hotel to stay in while in Pittsburgh!

We spent two nights here (July 20, 21) and were very pleased with this hotel. We had a great view of the river and city. We had a suite with two queen beds and a pullout sofa bed. This worked well since I was traveling with three adults and two children. It is located fairly close to Station Square but not within walking distance. Keep in mind that in addition to your room rates, you will be charged $9.00 per night for parking. The rooms include a microwave, refridgerator and free high speed internet. What else could you need from a hotel!!

The rooms were very clean and the staff friendly. However, sometimes we had difficulty contacting the front desk. A couple of times when we rang the front desk, no one ever answered. Upon walking to the front desk, we were always assisted by helpful and friendly staff. We used the laundry services here and after a couple of loads, the dryer stopped working. They not only refunded our money, but took our wet clothes to be dryed in the hotel dryers and then delivered them nice, dry and folded to our room.

If you are not familiar with downtown Pittsburgh, expect to have some difficulty getting around. We accidently crossed bridges to downtown Pittsburgh on accident. However, it wasnt too difficult to get turned around and back across the same bridge again.

While in Pittsburgh, we attended a Pirates baseball game. The new PNC Park is awesome!!! One of the nicest stadiums that I have been in. It also has a great view of the city. We parked in Station Square and rode the boat over to the stadium. This allowed us to avoid the traffic, see the city from the river at night and the kids loved it.

We also visited Kennywood amusement park. This older park is very, very nice. It has lots of rides for the entire family and plenty of shade from all of the large trees throughout the park. Our seven year old son loved the "Jackrabbit" and the "Racer". These are two old wooden coasters, but mild enough for a seven year to love it. I would definitely recommend a visit to Kennywood if you are in the area.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay in Pittsburgh and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone who is going to be in the area.

Shannon Jackson