The Priory Hotel — Hotel in Pittsburgh

I just returned today after a one night stat the Priory Hotel. After reading the reviews, I was a little concerned about the "sketchy" area others described. After arriving at the hotel, I had no fears. Pittsburgh is a city, and the hotel is located...in the city, so as one reviewer mentioned, you would want to take the same precautions you would take when traveling to any city.

Let me clear up a few misconceptions. Firstly, this hotel is literally a 12 minute walk from Heinz Field, no problem at all, and MUCH better than dealing with the parking crowds. If you and a friend are there for a concert or event, your fine. The only bad thing is the hotel's street is dimly lit. The parking lot is a little small, but it is free, another plus. There is a small supermarket as well as a gas station on the corner which is convenient. Two streets over are a few eateries, though mainly pub style. We did end up having a great burger at Peanutz, and there is a great ice cream place there as well.

Yes, there are towers across the street, but they are not "the projects". It is a for seniors and the disabled. It was a 90 degree day and there were so residents sitting in the shade under the pretty trees, it was not the projects, and those who were out waved and said Hello. There is a community center around the corner with an outside pool but it was closed over the weekend. Quite frankly after the 90 degree weather, that pool looked clean and pretty inviting! There was also a charity race going on in the neighborhood when we checked in. If it was a bad neighborhood, they wouldn't have held a run with a lot of kids and family in the park.

Now on to the hotel. This hotel was a converted monestary I believe. I loved the old wood paneling myself, and high ceilings, and most importantly, the rooms were clean. The bedframes are brass, if anybody cares. I didn't think the rooms were that small. For two people, one on the couch and one on the standard bed, we were fine. I would definitely call it charming, it is definitely unique from most hotels, but I liked it. The staff was top notch, friendly, and helpful. The hotel offers a free shuttle, and offered to shuttle us as close as possible to Heinz Field, and also offered to pick us up, which we declined since it was easier just to walk. Also a bonus, the free continental breakfast which included fresh pastries, fresh fruit, bagels, yogert, etc., I would say a step above the normal continental breakfast.

If I got back to Pittsburgh for a concert, I would definitely stay here again. It's a good price, good location, great service, free parking, free...

DO NOT STAY HERE! The best part of this hotel was the tucked away "bar." (about six seats) A very friendly bartender and the awesome evening front desk attendant, Logan, were amazing! Without those two, this place would be a 1 star.

Now to the laundry list. The air conditioner in the room is useless. We had it set to 59 degrees; I do not believe the room got below 75 degrees. When we complained to the front desk the next morning on our way out, they said that "they would try to fix it while we were out." Issue #2. When we returned from our day at the wedding we were in town for, imagine our surprise when their "fix" was to open all our windows. This could have been a solution had we #1 not been on the first floor, and #2, the windows had no screens! Our room windows open to the communal courtyard, so we might have just left the room's front door open as well. Anyone could have hopped through the window and made themselves home in our room. Issue #3 and #4. The open windows may not have been a huge concern had this "boutique" hotel been across the street from public housing. Not that this is a huge concern....until there was a poor woman stoned out of her mind, propped against the front awning, while one of her shoes had fallen off and lay 5 feet beside her. On top of that, using our new air conditioner (the open, screenless windows), the on-off switch was the delightful smell of cigarette smoke. We were also alerted by my 4-year-old that "it smells like smoke" in case our nose failed us. I was able to get over the horrible night's sleep, being awoken by the intermittent smell of smoke, by the exercise I was provided by killing mosquitoes in the morning. Finally, the final problem is the manager. He must have trained the daytime front desk attendant because he was just as useless and extremely rude when we complained in the morning (again) after being told to talk to the manager the day before. We were simply told, "I can't do anything for you." Poor businesses start with poor management. Promote Logan, fire the manager, and your guest experience will improve.

STAY...

Beautiful Victorian hotel with unique historic details and a hotel bar. I really appreciated that they had vegan options for breakfast, but I have two points about that: 1) there is an egg white frittata and morningstar bacon that are listed as vegan when they are actually vegetarian (morningstar bacon is made with eggs.) If someone didn't know, I could see how this could be confusing. Labeling the egg white frittata vegan confused me at first (I thought maybe it was made with the "just egg" vegan egg brand) but out of caution I did not order it and my partner did. When it arrived it appeared to be real egg. 2) I ordered a breakfast sandwich with vegan cheese and sausage. When it arrived it was one slice of cheese and one patty on two dry pieces of bread. More than one slice and one patty would have made it more substantial. Again, really appreciate there are options and an effort is being made, but you may want to clear up the menu labeling confusing for future guests with dietary restrictions and/or allergies. Other than that, the room was clean and the bed was very comfortable and firm. Our suite didn't come with a small fridge which is kind of odd but not a deal breaker. All the employees and bar attendants we met were very nice.

The only down true downside to this hotel is that there are a lot of "characters" about in the neighborhood. An example - we came back to the hotel in the evening and there was a guy across the street nodding out with his pants down and his butt out. I would not walk around the neighborhood after dark, or if you must, walk...