I love Phipps! It is always super beautiful with lots of great plants. I never see any gross or dead plants laying around, so the workers are clearly on top of keeping the place clean and nice. During the summer it is very hot but they have a few misting stations, and an area where they have ice cold water and those little cone shaped paper cups at the entrance which is a nice touch. Their outdoor areas are lacking compared to indoor, but it is a conservatory and I prefer seeing the jungle of plants inside anyways. I like how it's very easy to see the whole place without any doubling back - just keep going to the right and you'll see everything. The only problem with following this common path is that the last section is always very short because it's not as large and some of the rooms you just step in and look at because there's nowhere to walk, so it can be rather anticlimactic. If you're a student at CMU definitely try to come here a few times while you're a student, it's right by campus and free, and gives you a nice beautiful walk if you have the time to relax and de-stress.