I stayed at this hotel for three nights with my best friend. Our nightly rate was $129.16. We were assigned room 502.
The room was PERFECT. Clean, one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in, excellent shower, and excellent working AC unit. Room had a mini fridge, but no safe. If I was rating this hotel solely on the room, it would be a five.
The location also met our needs. It is about a 20 minute walk to the University of Pittsburgh and a short uber/lyft ride to all of the major spots in Pittsburgh.
Areas of improvement needed:
$15.00 per night for parking....boo!
Lazy housekeeping staff. Housekeeping never cleaned our room the first night. We did NOT have the "privacy hangar" on the door and we were gone from 9:30 AM until 8:00 PM. No knock before 9:30 AM. No excuse. They are also not very friendly when you encounter them in the hallway.
Lazy breakfast staff member. While I appreciate the fact that breakfast is included in the nightly rate, this Hampton Inn's breakfast was far below the standards of most others. Our first morning eating breakfast, they were out of almost everything. There was no proactive behavior on the part of the breakfast staff member. For example, she would see a customer looking at an empty bagel tray and say, "oh honey did you want a bagel?" LOL! How about replenish the missing items? She was also engaged in dialogue with another staff member. At one point, a guest asked that other staff member to replenish something and she said, "I do not work in this area, ask her." LOL! Then why are you here talking with her? Don't you see this area is very busy and she needs to work?
Customer service at the front desk needs to be improved. Nobody is rude, per say, but they are not welcoming either. For example, sometimes they would say hello, but without a smile. You never got the feeling that any staff member was trained on basic hospitality standards. You enter the hotel and they are either on their phone or just stare at you without saying anything. This all became very clear when I was checking out. The person who assisted me was the guest services manager. His behavior was VERY transactional. Are you checking out? What room number? Do you want your receipt printed or emailed? No smile. No eye contact. No how was your stay. No have a nice day. Nothing. Again, not necessarily rude, but not welcoming either.
If this hotel improved their customer service by following simple and basic customer service rules of etiquette, it would be a five!