When I rate hotels, I have a number of criteria:
Front Desk/Service
Room Details
Housekeeping
Valet
Overall Experience
My stay at the Hotel Monaco was good overall but having stayed in a number of 'boutique' hotels and non-boutique hotels; I have to say that I am preferring non-boutique hotels as a rule.
The location of the Hotel Monaco is great - right in downtown Pittsburgh, and couldn't be any better. Upon arriving, the valet service and check-in was excellent.
Now for the particulars:
Front Desk/Service - excellent throughout, very responsive, helpful, friendly and professional. I also had a delightful and very sweet hand-delivered note and bowl of fresh fruit within 15 - 20 minutes of getting into my room. Ms. Chen and crew were excellent. 5 Stars
Room Details - I had a corner King Spa Room and so the room was spacious and well-lit, comfortable and very quiet. An added bonus was that it pitch-black at night with the lights off and drapes drawn and again, VERY quiet - so great for sleeping. The décor was a bit rococo and not to my taste but it is what it is. A friend who saw the room mentioned that it looked like a "Korean Love Hotel" in décor and I can't disagree but many like the décor so that's that. The seating, bed and desk were very comfortable and there was the option for hi-speed Wi-Fi as well as a minibar with snacks. My favorite space was the 'spa' soaking tub and shower area. Loved it.
Housekeeping - My room was very clean and I was happy with the level of cleanliness upon arrival. That said, I was there two nights and on my first day; I left the room at 9:00 am and returned at 3:30 pm to find that my bed had not been made and that is below my expectations for a 'boutique' or any hotel. Someone took the time to refill the very pricey mini bar snacks I had the night before which was great but a couple of minutes to make my bed would have gotten a 5 star but the apparent lack of housekeeping drops it to 3 stars for me.
Valet - generally responsive and there is an ability to text for vehicle retrieval with the caveat that they need 30 minutes to retrieve your vehicle. 50% of the time, they had it within the 30 minute window; and 50% of the time they did not. Unfortunately, one of the times when they took over an hour to get my car was when I needed to get to dinner at the Grand Concourse less than a mile away. The tardiness of the valet service made me about 30 minutes late for my reservation so that was not good.
Overall Experience - my overall experience was good and based on the location, front desk staff and the room; I would likely stay here again. I also like that it is a pet friendly hotel.
One of my pet peeves - and this is no reflection on the hotel and does not play into the review rating - is that you need to tap your room key in the elevator to get to your room. Very inconvenient to receive visitors and in general to get to your room.