Special Program / The 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference

2018 Hotel & Transportation Information

Hotels

Official Conference Hotel

Stay within a short walk from the conference venue. This year's conference is being held on Point Park University's downtown Pittsburgh campus. The official conference hotel is the Omni William Penn Hotel.

Omni William Penn Hotel 
Official CNFWC Hotel
$169/night (if booked before April 24)
Other room sizes are also available at a discounted price.
530 William Penn Place
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

This offer is available only until 5 pm EST on April 24, 2018* Rooms may be booked online here. 
If you experience difficulty with online booking, please call the hotel directly: 412-281-7100.
*Requests received after 5 PM will be accepted based on availability. 


Please follow the links below for more information about:


Other Conference Area Hotels

These four hotels are also within walking distance of the conference venue.

Rates below do not include 14% hotel tax. As always, you may find lower rates on sites such as hotels.com, Airbnb, Room Key, Priceline, Expedia, Kayak, etc. 

Downtown Hotels

Distrikt Hotel // Pittsburgh
$169/night*
0.2 miles from conference venue
453 Boulevard of the Allies
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 339-1870
Website

*This pricing is available first come, first served. Rates at Distrikt Hotel will return to market rate on April 30, 2018.

Fairmont Pittsburgh
$382/night
0.3 miles from conference venue
510 Market Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 773-8800
Website

Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown
$233/night
0.4 miles from conference venue
600 Commonwealth Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 391-4600
Website

Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel
$259/night
0.5 miles from conference venue
107 6th Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 562-1200
Website

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown
$239/night
0.5 miles from conference venue
1 Bigelow Square
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 281-5800
Website

Airbnb

Not seeing a hotel that suits your needs? Airbnb allows you to rent out a unique space for short or extended periods of time. Choose from hundreds of properties and experience the city as a local would. Or, search for a more unique experience that can't be found anywhere else.


Transportation

The Greyhound, Amtrak, and Megabus stations are all located in downtown Pittsburgh within a few blocks from each other and from the conference venue. 

If you're arriving by air, there are four ways to get from Pittsburgh International Airport to the conference venue and/or downtown hotels:

Cab/Uber/Lyft

Cabs can be found at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The cost to travel from the airport to the downtown area is approximately $40.

Uber and Lyft services are available to and from the airport and all parts of the city; costs vary depending on time of day and other factors.

SuperShuttle

SuperShuttle can be scheduled in advance or booked upon arrival at the baggage claim area of the Pittsburgh International Airport, in the rental car area, behind the elevators by Door 4. Service from the airport to the downtown area is about $27 one way.

Reservations can be made online or call 800-258-3826.

Bus

Pittsburgh Port Authority Transportation (PAT) provides bus service to and from the airport every 30 minutes on the 28X Airport Flyer. The trip from the airport to downtown Pittsburgh takes about 40 minutes. Passengers are responsible for handling their bags when getting on and off the vehicle. The attached link will take you to a PDF of the 28X schedule. The stop closest to the conference venue is Downtown-Liberty Avenue at Wood Street. To find which stop is closest to your hotel, visit the Pittsburgh Port Authority website here and enter your destination into the Trip Planner.

Fare for Port Authority buses costs $2.75 per trip. Exact change is required. You can also purchase a reloadable Connect Card at the Pittsburgh International Airport (and other locations) and use that to pay for fare during your stay in the city. The Connect Card will allow you to travel at the discounted rate of $2.50 per trip, with the option of transferring routes for only $1. If you decide to pay with cash during your stay in the city, transfers are not available for purchase with cash. Tipping the bus driver is not permitted.

The best option for finding bus schedules is through Google Maps or by downloading a transit app on a smartphone or tablet. Schedules are not posted at bus stops but can be found via Google Maps or through the Port Authority website. Real-time bus arrival/departure information can be found using the Port Authority's True Time site.

You can purchase a Connect Card at the Port Authority Service Center located in downtown Pittsburgh at 534 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, at Giant Eagle locations in the greater Allegheny County area (check locations here), or at numerous other independent retailers (check retailers here). 

Car Rental

The Pittsburgh airport has several car rental counters. Click here for a list of phone numbers for available providers.

General transportation within the city

Port Authority's light rail system (locally known as the T), buses, and transit through Uber/Lyft services are the primary public transportation options in Pittsburgh.

Once you're in the city, Port Authority's light rail system will allow you to travel around downtown Pittsburgh via underground rails. You can also use the light rail system to travel outside of the city to several local stadiums (PNC Park, Heinz Field), restaurants (Burgatory, Southern Tier), concert venues (Stage AE), museums (Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory MuseumCarnegie Science Center) and the South Hills Village shopping mall. To view a map of the T stations and two routes offered, click on this link.

Cabs are also an option but note that unless you are leaving from the airport or a hotel, cabs in Pittsburgh must be scheduled in advance and cannot usually be hailed on the street.

Checker Cab (412) 664-5600
People's Cab (412) 441-3200
Yellow Cab (412) 321-8100

Getting around by bike

Pittsburgh is a fairly bike-friendly city. It's hilly and many of the roads are narrow, but there are a number of dedicated bike lanes throughout the city. BikePGH offers an incredibly useful (and FREE) map of all the bike routes in and around Pittsburgh. Additionally, Pittsburgh Bike Share has HealthyRide bike rental stations available in most parts of the city. 

Parking

Metered street parking is available around the city but is often limited to two-hour increments. Parking rules and regulations are strictly enforced. Street parking is free in most parts of the city after 6:00 PM.

The Third Avenue Garage and the Wood-Allies Garage are the closest parking garages to the conference venue. Visit this website to view all of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority garages (rates included) that are located downtown, most of which are in walking distance of the conference center.

ParkPGH is a very useful application available on the iPhone, the web, text messaging and a call-in service. It supplies real-time information about parking availability in all garages in the Cultural District of downtown Pittsburgh, calculating the number of available spaces every 30 seconds.

You can also download the Go Mobile Pittsburgh app to add time to your meter from anywhere in the city.

For information about parking in downtown Pittsburgh. Click this link.


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Questions? Contact our Events Manager, Hannah Waltz, at [email protected].


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