Social Circle Bar & Bistro

We stayed here for the cancelled Mariah Carey concert. When we got there to check in, the manager, Jim, was super nice and understanding. They were offering people a refund if they didn’t want to stay - which makes me feel bad that the hotel had to lose out on her cancellation. Everyone working was super nice. I loved this experience and want to stay here again.

Over priced, burger wasn’t great.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

Just needed a bite to eat after a long trip across the state. The pierogi? Simple, but well prepared and plated with style. Good price, and the bar selection was great, though I did not indulge. Would and will definitely stay there and eat/drink there. A lot of whiner reviews here, but I was duly impressed and I have stayed at two others in the neighborhood and this is the best of the bunch.

This place has the worst service I’ve ever seen

Literally the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. The hotel itself was nice, but the staff charged my card TWICE. It was a nightmare. My card was charged two days BEFORE I even arrived. THEN charged it again after putting the room on a whole other card!!!! Complete nightmare!!!!!! Never again.

Do yourself a favor and find another venue! Stopped in before a concert and waited forever to get two drinks. The food we ordered was overpriced & quite bland. Even the staff on several occasions stated the place is unorganized. Most companies would have additional staff on a night when there's an event. Not this place. I'll be sure and take my business elsewhere.

My girlfriend and I just had dinner here while staying at the hotel. Service was friendly, fast and very accommodating. We asked for a simple side salad with veggies and ranch (not on the menu) and they provided a delicious one for us. We also got the kielbasa sandwich and the corned beef burger which were fantastic, and even my side caeser salad was uniquely delicious. Might have to go back for the “French fry tasting”. ?

Very difficult to get service. Only had drinks there while i stayed at the hotel. Bartender was not attentive and the food menu was extremely limited. The place got very busy after the Penguins game to me it's an opportunity to rake in some serious business. I myself would attempt to upgrade the service and offer more food options to accommodate the hotel guests as well as sports fans.

Atmosphere: 2

Service: 2

Stopped in before Michael Buble concert. Limited menu and what was on the menu was not very appealing.

Waited forever to be waited on which wasn't terrible considering they were super busy and there were only 2 waitresses. Is what made it worse was the manager pulled both waitresses aside to reprimand them while we continued to wait. Finally ordered our food then it all came out in to go containers. We were shorted 2 items in our meals, fruit and toast. The waitress quickly got it for us but it was limp and colorless with no butter. The cooking staff and manager definitely failed these waitresses.

Beautiful looking hotel — but somewhat disappointing in a lot of ways. We had a 2 Queen suite with sofa bed. GOOD: Comfortable beds, nice rooms. Good bathroom. BAD: Sketchy location — would be somewhat dangerous to walk almost anywhere because of roadways and possibility of crime. Only thing going for it is being directly next to PPG Arena (if you were going to a game?). Advertised “hotel shuttle” will not take you further than 1 mile — not the 2 Mike’s advertised — which means all of downtown area is a no go. $20/night parking is in an open surface lot behind the hotel with no security and the parking gate is left completely open 24/7. No patrols, no security. Hotel pool and fitness center we were told were open 6am - 12 midnight with keycard — turns out 9am - 9pm. Large bar in lobby 100% closed down (even when other restaurants and bars in Pittsburgh are fully open). Front desk seemed manned by 1 staff person who was doing everything. Telephone to front desk rang unanswered. Few towels in bathroom took 2 hours to be delivered only after having to go back down a second time to ask again (because front desk never answered the phone). This place could be nice but right now it isn’t so good — and the “extras” aren’t there. Or at least they weren’t for us.

I had called the hotel the day before arrival to make sure our room could sleep two adults and two teenagers. Mario was so helpful and answered all our questions. I told him that I read other reviews about no hot water and he explained that during COVID the hotel often had just 5% occupancy which inhibits a hotel's mechanicals from working well. The hot water will not be constantly circulating and it could take a long time for the hot water to reach the fifth floor. That all made sense to me and we had no problems with hot water during our stay. Mario had upgraded us to the Tower Suite which had an awesome view of the city. The one drawback was that it was unusually cool that weekend and our room was cold at night no matter what we set the thermostat. Turns out that the tower suite is on the main ac system and cant be adjusted. The manager did bring a space heater which did help. Mario was always very accommodating and allowed our volleyball team to have a pizza celebration in the banquet room. Our room was clean and we were very happy with our stay. If you do park in their lot they do charge $20 per night but there is street parking across the street which is free after 6pm and on Sunday.

Hotel was what I expected, as it is a higher range budget hotel. Location is good, right next to the PPG center. Parking ($25 with tax) was a little pricy, and the gates are just open, it doesn't look like anyone checks it. You could park in the PPG arena lot across the street or even a few streets down, but downtown Pittsburgh can be a little scary as you get in the hood real quick. Other than that, the room and bathroom were clean (carpet and some of the walls were stained a little), so no complaints there. The service was friendly as well. The lobby is real nice if you want somewhere to hang out. Depending on why you are in Pittsburgh, you could find a nicer hotel (if you include the $25 parking cost) and better location. So just do your homework.

We checked into the hotel very late. The rug had dark red and brown stains all over it. The cushion on the bench had dark brown stains. The last guest left a half-used bottle of body wash in the shower along with some hair in the tub. The tissue box was almost empty with no additional tissues left to replace. Dresser drawers were not clean from the last guest. The rug needs to be replaced not cleaned. Cleaning was terrible, especially in these Covid times. Other hotels have taken additional precautions like sanitizing the TV remote but not here. I've stayed at several other hotels in my travels and you could smell that the room had been cleaned. Instead, this room smelled musty. I did alert the front desk manager before I left. Very disappointed and will stay elsewhere next visit.

My wife and I stayed here for a month while our daughter was undergoing rehab in UPMC Mercy five blocks away. The staff has been amazing, kind, and super helpful during a really difficult time. Please note in the midst of the pandemic, this is one of the few hotels open in downtown, and they're running on a skeleton staff (7 people now, compared to normal staff of 60 when the bar/restaurant is open and they're busier). But despite the minimal staff, here's what they did for us. Worked with us daily without charge when our daughter's discharge date from the other hospital changed several times and our move-in date kept changing. Gave us a very nice long-term "hospital rate" with extra perks that made staying here so long much more affordable. Gave us shuttle-on-request service back and forth to the hospital twice daily, responding quickly every time. Helped us with tech issues to make working remotely from the hotel room more practical during our extended stay. Coordinated periodic housekeeping services gracefully to fit our work and hospital schedule (note - had weekly housekeeping, which was fine - I clean my house and change the sheets on a weekly schedule at home, right?) Did extras to try to make our stay more convenient and pleasant. Mario, Mike, and Jim, the main desk staff, always responded cheerfully and helpfully to help us in whatever way they could, and it made the whole experience much easier. They were kind, often asking about how our daughter was doing, and often asking if there was more they could do for us. The room was nice, a larger-than-normal-room small suite with sleeping area, small sitting area, desk with comfortable chair, and refrigerator/microwave counter setup near the bathroom. Two TV's, with one having a hardwired audio/video panel to hook your computer up to and play through the TV if you wanted. Location looks like it's not ideal to walk to nightlife if that's what you wanted - it is next door to the PPG arena, has good off-street parking, has several pizza joints within a couple blocks, and is near to Mercy Hospital. The only con was they did have a hot water issue during part of our stay - you had to turn the water on five minutes before your shower, but then it was fine. Overall, it's a nice place to stay, and it's the staff that is the gem. I will look for Cambrias to stay in for future travels.