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| - A fine sleeping option. It's cheaper than inside the downtown or university area of the city. But once there it's clear why. All the rivers in Pittsburgh split up and isolate sections of the city so this one while close as the crow flies, is a long way thru traffic-clogged streets.
Nevertheless it's a great cost-savings and I appreciate the option and am glad we took advantage of it. Just know it will take time with no alternative routes to get into Oakland.
Also know that Crowne Plaza plays games with their "free breakfast". Unlike most chain hotels these days that give everyone under their roof free breakfast, these folks sell rooms with/without breakfast and the cost of the "room" reflects this. You can purchase a room package with breakfast, which might still be worth your while or pocket-book, but requires specific attention and decision. When purchasing a room from this hotel via cheap online sites, the breakfast is not usually included. On their (IHC?) website it's necessary to explicitly opt-in, for a higher price, to the breakfast. Plus, they give out actual cards for it therefore, so observe upon checkin that they've given you enough cards; my checkin was light one (no problem in receiving the additional chit though after I pointed it out.
Another issue is finding the place. Those photos of it lit up all garishly turned out to be enormously helpful. Arriving from the city center I observed zero signs to the place. We drove a good 20 minutes in circles sometimes glimpsing that purple lit-up monolith, then losing it behind hills. It was incredibly frustrating! Golly, what would a sign or two hurt? Apparently you're supposed to look for "Howard Johnson" signs? Or was that "Holiday Inn"? I don't even remember but WTF - what's wrong with "Crowne Plaza"??? Really, really frustrating. And when we did finally blunder upon the place the lady at the front desk says: "everyone knows to look for...". Huh???
But the room was lovely. As mentioned the heater is very noisy, but very functional and having been forewarned by reviewers, we cranked it a bit before sleeping and set it very low at night. That worked.
The beds were comfortable, the shower fine and large-enough. There were ample little tubes of emoliants and fun things like that. There was even a "spa treatment" card of stuff on the bed, which a teenager liked a lot. There was a Keurig but no hot cocoa for it, sadly. We should travel with such cups! The pillows may have been down. The room was clean; walking barefoot didn't feel life-threatening. The room was a clever shape maximizing living space by minimizing the bathroom without making it unusable - though it was tiny for sure! There was a fridge and MW which was appreciated. A sitting chair in addition to the beds and desk would have been perfect, but I'm not complaining. It was a very nice room. There were bedside lamps that while impressively ugly, were very utilitarian with USB ports and electrical outlets in the base. Given that there wasn't a chair to sit and work in, these were very welcome. And an ihome charger/alarm clock too.
All in all an excellent stay in a nicely-renovated room in what clearly is not a new building but well-attended to in its age.
Breakfast was not a buffet for us as presumably there weren't many guests present close to Thanksgiving. There was sit-down service by a pleasant lady. Eggs and potatoes were far from the best-ever but were clearly fresh and just great for our needs. Fast, fine, "free". The breakfast parfait was tasty and pretty; a nice recommendation from the nice server.
A lovely stay; we would certainly return. Thank you!
If you're looking for dining options near the hotel you may be out-of-luck. It seems a very business/office-park neighborhood, but we didn't explore carefully.
WiFi was a little spotty in the room but free.
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