We stayed at a cheap hotel. Holiday Inn Express. They have breakfast. The room was clean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! The Oaklander is sold out but it looks great! We will probably book the courtyard

Good location but hotel was not good

Disagree. Rooms were redone a year ago. We stayed there for family weekend this past fall and were happy with the room, 2 comfortable queen beds with new mattresses, nice bathroom. Lobby is huge. What are you looking for in a hotel?

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! I wish we had this information for all of our college visits! I booked the Courtyard and have penciled in the porch for breakfast. (Sadly the Oaklander isn’t available with our schedule, but I’ll keep checking back just in case.)

The Porch is great (FYI, after stopping there for our college visit, we ended graduation weekend with lunch there before heading home). If you're going on a weekend d be sure to get there early, because when they run out of the cinnamon buns, they are out. Definitely a favorite memory for our Pitt kid

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was there a few weeks ago. There is a Springhill Suites in an area about 5 miles from Pitt called Bakery Square. It's a cool place with a Panera and other places like Trader Joes and Target within walking distance.

Its where 5th Avenue intersects Penn Avenue near Chatham U.

Bakery Square is great (love Alta Via Pizzeria) but as you accurately noted, it is a few miles from Pitt, unlike some of the other suggestions that are walkable. So if someone has an affinity for Springhill Suites it is fine, but probably better to be closer if possible.

Bakery Square is in a gentrified area closer to where young college graduates live and where CMU kids get apartments (Shadyside). There will not be a lot of Pitt culture there.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! The Oaklander is sold out but it looks great! We will probably book the courtyard

Good location but hotel was not good

Anonymous wrote:I was there a few weeks ago. There is a Springhill Suites in an area about 5 miles from Pitt called Bakery Square. It's a cool place with a Panera and other places like Trader Joes and Target within walking distance.

Its where 5th Avenue intersects Penn Avenue near Chatham U.

Bakery Square is great (love Alta Via Pizzeria) but as you accurately noted, it is a few miles from Pitt, unlike some of the other suggestions that are walkable. So if someone has an affinity for Springhill Suites it is fine, but probably better to be closer if possible.

I was there a few weeks ago. There is a Springhill Suites in an area about 5 miles from Pitt called Bakery Square. It's a cool place with a Panera and other places like Trader Joes and Target within walking distance.

Its where 5th Avenue intersects Penn Avenue near Chatham U.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! I wish we had this information for all of our college visits! I booked the Courtyard and have penciled in the porch for breakfast. (Sadly the Oaklander isn’t available with our schedule, but I’ll keep checking back just in case.)

I've been to the Porch several times for lunch. Good food, right in the middle of everything, nice atmosphere.

Pamela's is nearby and is traditional diner food (in a good way) so great for breakfast - excellent pancakes, eggs, etc. But the Porch is probably a nicer atmosphere. Your call. Both are good options.

You are there to visit the school and should focus 99% of your attention on that. But if you are a baseball fan, very close to the Porch is the old wall from Forbes Field where the Pirates played many years ago - it is a 2 minute walk. I believe home plate from the old stadium is in the middle of the library, so takes a little more time to find. If you don't care about baseball, ignore this.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on Forbes. The hotel is a little older, but it was fine and very convenient to walk.

Thanks everyone! I wish we had this information for all of our college visits! I booked the Courtyard and have penciled in the porch for breakfast. (Sadly the Oaklander isn’t available with our schedule, but I’ll keep checking back just in case.)

I can’t remember the Hotel we stayed at but definitely do one that’s walking distance. As a visitor you don’t have much time to see the city and staying walking distance allows you to view the area at different times of the day.


I hope you are considering going to their Blue and Gold Day. They do a great job.

No to the Hampton location isn’t great
Do the the courtyard

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I think the Hampton's at the far edge of campus near McGee Women's and Bates Street and Point Park Playhouse?

That's a little less central. And a little grittier. Realistically a lot of college students live down that way but as a petite female student, I did not walk down that way alone at night in the 1980s. It's not so much dangerous at night as kind of isolated and unattractive streetscape. We all used to go to movies and theater at the Playhouse and walk from central Oakland while on dates or with groups of friends.

What I'm trying to say is that you'd be swapping vibes for waffles.

You could reposition your car from hotel to a central Oakland parking garage for the day and that would make walking back there a non-issue. That Hampton is just more for medical system guests in my opinion.

(OP here) Thanks! We have waffles at home, so would definitely prefer the area where our older child can get a feel for campus.

PP was generally right but it isn't a horrible walk. Depends on what you are used to and when you are planning on walking. Closer is ideal but if you can save significant $$$ for being there, it is fine. I live in NYC so would be 100% fine being there as I don't mind walking and slightly less nice neighborhoods. Others might feel differently and that is very understandable. I would not stay there with the intention of moving your car - you are literally driving probably half a mile.

Original PP about the walk...yes, it's not a very long walk...maybe 15-20 mins or so? It's just an ugly neighborhood near the highway compared to being right across the street from the Cathedral.

The pictures on Google show the Hampton Inn surrounds quite accurately:
https://www.google.com/travel/hotels/entity/CgsI2tfjm__Fqc-VARAB/lightbox/CAISFlR1UGRFOTZIb2VrRE5rX2xQZzBLdEE

I love Hampton for the waffles, I really do. And it may be a pain to make up for not having free breakfast for 4. But the location across from the Cathedral makes more of a good impression. I spent most of my campus time in the nice parts of campus and my dorm on Lothrop street. Only went to the area where the Hampton is to go to the movies and as it turns out, that old theater has been knocked down.

People on here recommend the Porch at Schenley near the Cathedral. I haven't eaten there. But it's a quick walk and looked atmospheric from the outside.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-porch-at-schenley-pittsburgh

Oaklander all the way. I loved being able to look out the window and see what was going on in the streets below. Ended up helping my dd make the decision that city life was not for her. But it is expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. I think the Hampton's at the far edge of campus near McGee Women's and Bates Street and Point Park Playhouse?

That's a little less central. And a little grittier. Realistically a lot of college students live down that way bit as a petite female student, I did not walk down that way alone at night in the 1980s. It's not so much dangerous at night as kind of isolated and unattractive streetscape. We all used to go to movies and theater at the Playhouse and walk from central Oakland while on dates or with groups of friends.

What I'm trying to say is that you'd be swapping vibes for waffles.

You could reposition your car from hotel to a central Oakland parking garage for the day and that would make walking back there a non-issue. That Hampton is just more for medical system guests in my opinion.

(OP here) Thanks! We have waffles at home, so would definitely prefer the area where our older child can get a feel for campus.

PP was generally right but it isn't a horrible walk. Depends on what you are used to and when you are planning on walking. Closer is ideal but if you can save significant $$$ for being there, it is fine. I live in NYC so would be 100% fine being there as I don't mind walking and slightly less nice neighborhoods. Others might feel differently and that is very understandable. I would not stay there with the intention of moving your car - you are literally driving probably half a mile.