Vacation in Pittsburgh? (Dallas, Spring Hill, Howard: rent, hotels, home)

[portyhead24]

Hi everyone! I'm visiting a friend the beginning of June. He lives with his roomies near where 18th and Josephine intersect so I have to questions:

Is this area walkable including walkable to downtown?

Does anyone have any recommendations for cheaper hotels in that area, like $100 a night or less (if that's even doable)?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

[nuwaver88]

There are only two hotels in that area within a ten minute walk. There is the Holday Inn Express on 10th Street South Side and there is the newly opened Spring Hill Suites at South Side Works. Each has rooms starting at $150.00 per night and that is for weekdays. I know that sounds high for what I call "Interstate" hotels, but you have to understand that this is a vibrant area in the heart of the city. Apparently they are getting this rate at these limited service hotels or the rates would be lower. You could probably stay at a more upscale hotel Downtown for less via Hotwire. It would then be about a seven or eight dollar cab ride to your friends house. As for the walkability of the South Side? Yes it is a very dense and walkable neighborhood. The main thorofare is East Carson Street. There are countless bars, restaurants and shops on East Carson, where you will be only a few blocks away on Josephine. You may also want to try hotels in Oakland, which is right across the river from South Side, and is where the University of Pittsburgh is located.

[Goodjules]

Check hotwire for cheap hotel deals. I got the downtown Hilton in Chicago for $88 a night. Nice hotel with killer views and central to everything. Got an ok deal for Pittsburgh, but there was some convention or sports event when i was going so the deals weren't as good. Never hurts to check.

[portyhead24]

Awesome suggestions! Thank y'all so much! I didn't even think about using taxi services. Maybe between that and walking I could come out cheaper than renting a car for the week. I thought about driving but it'd be about a 20 hour drive each way from Dallas and the money I'd spend in gas would be about equivalent to a plane ticket. If anyone else has any ideas please do not hesitate to chime in

[Love2Golf09]

I would say that it is walkable, but I wouldn't advise on doing it. I would guess that it's close to 3 miles from downtown. As others have mentioned, you're aren't far from Carson St, which has a lot of bus stops and there are buses that go down 18th st. to Carrick, so it wouldn't be hard to stay at a hotel downtown and take the bus to your friend's place. Josephine is only about 5 blocks to Carson St, which has a lot of bars, clubs, and restaurants. You can meet a lot of easy women there. Also, remember that this area is on a decent size hill, so walking to Carson st from Josephine will be a breeze, but walking the 5 blocks back up the big hill while drunk will be a different story. There will be plenty of taxis on Carson that will take you back home and charge you a pretty penny for doing so. I would advise against renting a car. If you stay downtown, the hotel will charge you to valet park your car. If you park it at your friends you will have to parallel park it on a tight street. Not fun. As far as pricing goes, you would have to find a good dea online to get a hotel downtown for under $150. Most hotels in Oakland are around $150 and you might be able to find a deal to get them close to $100. A lot of these hotels also have free shuttle service that will take you to the South Side and downtown for free. Plus, there are some buses that go from Oakland to Carson st, so Oakland might be a good place to look. If you do rent a car, I'd suggest looking into Greentree. They have a lot of hotels for around $80-$100 and are very close to downtown and the south side.

[Bong477]

Hotwire and priceline are excellent suggestions, unless its a weekend with a home steelers game or a convention, its pretty easy to get under 100/night for a nice hotel. Taxis are doable in Pittsburgh, but they aren't all over the place like in some other cities and you may need to call one to pick you up depending on where you are. Get your friend to drive you if you can

You could in theory walk to downtown from the southside but its a little far and not a great idea. Unless you have a reason to go downtown (theater, sports, not much else) there's more to do in the city neighborhoods (like the Southside, where you friend lives). Downtown is the baseball & football stadiums, theaters, convention center, and a bunch of office buildings. That's slowly changing and it may not be that way forever, but certainly will still be the case when you visit.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Bong477

Taxis are doable in Pittsburgh, but they aren't all over the place like in some other cities and you may need to call one to pick you up

And then it might be two hours before they come. Seriously.

[BrianTH]

The walk to Downtown from the Holiday Inn Express isn't bad (over the 10th Street Bridge and through the tunnel).

By the way, every time questions like this come up I think once again that we really need some budget/tourist-class hotels in the central part of the city.

[greg42]

The central part of any city is never going to have a really tourist class place. Sometimes you get closer to tourist brands, like that Holiday Inn Express, but the rates will be significantly more than the typical interstate-side rates.

Getting sub-$100 center city rooms from normal channels is not typical for almost any city of this size. I get them on Priceline regularly, not knowing which hotel I'll get, of course. Dead of winter is another good time for cheap rooms in cold-weather cities. ;-)

[BrianTH]

I'm not looking for $40/night, but I think a selection of places around $100/night is realistic.

By the way, just to name one random city I know a little about, in downtown Chicago there is a Red Roof Inn and a Howard Johnson. So it isn't unheard of.