Interesting info re hotel where Amtrak crew stays in Pittsburgh

[Steel City Don]

So on a previous thread it was mentioned about different hotels in my home City of Pittsburgh. So this brings up this interesting story I heard the other day. I work at a convenience store in downtown Pittsburgh and I wait on many Amtrak employees. One of the employees told me that they are changing their hotels due to bad treatment, such as bed bugs and brown water and just not happy with the setting. Well it got me thinking can you imagine being on the Capitol limited or the Pennsylvanian and getting bed bugs do this hotels bad housekeeping?! As for brown water it's been a problem occasionally at where I work at and in downtown.

The bad thing about them changing hotels is I won't be waiting on them anymore which is sad because there's some cool people that work for Amtrak .

I was just kind of shocked at how they are treated and the conditions they have to go through because of what Amtrak is paying this hotel, I mentioned this to one of my customers who works in the banquet hall part of the hotel and he said he's heard more stories about it too that I haven't even heard about.

So I have to commend Amtrak on getting these employees the hell out of that hotel and I wish you folks the best of luck!

 

[flitcraft]

Our luck might improve if we only knew which hotel this is...

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

It’s the same with airline crews. The contract rate hotels near airports can be less than ideal. I ended up in the ER at 2am with welts from bed bugs during a layover at a La Quinta. It’s not uncommon having these hotels bid 30-40 bucks a night to get the contract. Hence why its so hard for us to get the company to change hotels sometime.

Its plausible the bed bugs could get transferred from a overnight bag to the train and that would be an ordeal. The ER was accustomed to bed bug patients from local hotels and immediately put me in quarantine so as to not infect the ER.

 

[bratkinson]

Wow! Things have apparently changed since I spent 2004 and some of 2005 as the night auditor at the Radisson Hotel in Enfield CT. Night Auditor is a fancy name for front desk clerk that 'closes the books' for the day ended and sets everything up in the computer for the current day. I was quite aware that which hotels near the airport bid with each airline to get the best deal. Of course, the airlines want the price per room as low as possible, and invariably pick the lowest bidder.

I don't know how the Radisson got all the business, but we put up 4 or 5 crews each from 3 airlines, and 1 or 2 crews from a couple of regional airlines every night. Most nights, 80-90 rooms were filled. The rates the airlines paid per room was ridiculously low, roughly 30-40% of the regular overnight rate. Being a 12 minute ride to/from the airport, we provided 2 shuttle vans starting at 4AM so they could make their 6AMish departures. We also spoiled them rotten as we had set up a specific guest room as an air crew only 'lounge' with TV, sodas, coffee, tea, freshly cut fruit, pastry, and even Pop Tarts, all free to the crews. They loved it! As far as I know, we never had any problems with bed bugs or other insects, with the exception of 3 of our suites on the east side that must have had fly larvae in the walls and they hatched in the morning sun in early summer. Generally, those rooms stayed empty because of the prices. But every now and then I'd get a 'regular' guest or two complaining of flies in 1 or 2 of those rooms and I'd send maintenance up there to spray the rooms down before housekeeping made them up again.

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

Sounds about right. I remember the Hilton’s, Radisson’s, Marriott, etc with crew rooms, recliners, tv’s pool tables, snacks. I know a lot of that went away 2009-2010 with the major airline bankruptcies and the hotels getting stiffed out of a lot of $$$ with the bankruptcies. I’m sure some hotels still have “amenities” for crews but probably not like the 2004 timeframe.
What I’ve witnessed the last few years is less Hilton’s and Marriotts but more Hamptons, La Quintas and that level hotels on our schedules. We actually share some of those hotels with Amtrak crews as well.

 

[Steel City Don]

They have stayed at this hotel at least 5 years now. makes you wonder....

 

[Steel City Don]

Last I heard, no complaints with the new hotel which is closer to the station.

 

[Mailliw]

What is the new hotel?

 

[Dustyroad]

OMG. That was horrible treatment for the Amtrak employee's. Just think of the
bed-bugs that could have been brought onto the trains when they were
'' passengers '' on them.

 

[Steve4031]

In Carbondale the crews now use the Home2Suites. The hotel is across the street from the station. I used the same hotel on my trip Memorial Day weekend. I checked in at the same time as one of crew members.

 

[TrackWalker]

I used to read the safety issues that BNSF employees would report (mainly train crews.)

One that caught my eye was that trains crews were complaining about a certain hotel that they stayed at in Wenatchee where they would layover until their next trip. Their complaint?


The trains blowing their horns at the nearby crossing were keeping them awake.

 

[Steel City Don]

The hotel they were at was the Wyndham.

The new one they are at now is by the Amtrak station, I can't remember which one it is..

 

[PaTrainFan]

The hotel they were at was the Wyndham.

The new one they are at now is by the Amtrak station, I can't remember which one it is..

Drury.

 

[joelkfla]

Drury.

Walking distance from station, very high guest ratings, free breakfast, and free light supper. I'm planning to stay there on my Pittsburgh jaunt.

 

[Steel City Don]

Walking distance from station, very high guest ratings, free breakfast, and free light supper. I'm planning to stay there on my Pittsburgh jaunt.

That's why I thought, but I didn't want to say it and not be right. The last I heard from a friend of mine who's friends with an usher on the capital limited they were very happy there

 

[Devil's Advocate]

In an era where almost anyone can carry lethal weaponry and any minor dispute can lead to bloodshed this topic feels like an invasive overstep to me. I bump into flight crews all the time but I never feel like broadcasting that information because they already deal with enough insanity as it is. It's been decades since I worked in a public facing position but even back then I was glad my downtime whereabouts were unknown and unavailable to those who might ask. What do y'all think?

 

[PaTrainFan]

In an era where almost anyone can carry lethal weaponry and any minor dispute can lead to bloodshed this topic feels like an invasive overstep to me. I bump into flight crews all the time but I never feel like broadcasting that information because they already deal with enough insanity as it is. It's been decades since I worked in a public facing position but even back then I was glad my downtime whereabouts were unknown and unavailable to those who might ask. What do y'all think?

Yes, actually, you are probably right about that. It wouldn't have harmed the discussion by not disclosing. Apologies.

 

[joelkfla]

In an era where almost anyone can carry lethal weaponry and any minor dispute can lead to bloodshed this topic feels like an invasive overstep to me. I bump into flight crews all the time but I never feel like broadcasting that information because they already deal with enough insanity as it is. It's been decades since I worked in a public facing position but even back then I was glad my downtime whereabouts were unknown and unavailable to those who might ask. What do y'all think?

IMO, someone would have to be waaaay off the rails to track down and go after an Amtrak crew member. The likelihood of them trying to find a crewmember in a busy hotel seems infinitesimal. If it were giving out home addresses, I would agree.

 

[railiner]

My former airline, used different crew hotels in the same city, usually depending on whether the crew was on a so-called "short layover" or a "long layover".
The short layover's were usually at an airport located hotel, and the long ones were at a downtown hotel. This was nice for the crews, giving them some time to shop and sightsee, if they were so inclined.

*

Many years ago, I had a part time job as a courtesy van driver for a suburban Denver motel. We won the contract to transport BN train crews between the 31st Street Yard, and the motel, which was about 11 miles away. We also would shuttle them on request between the motel and a nearby shopping mall. This was after Amtrak took over the Zephyr T&E crews in the 80's. I got to carry some of the McCook based crews that used to carry me on the CZ...

 

[Cal]

Its plausible the bed bugs could get transferred from a overnight bag to the train and that would be an ordeal. The ER was accustomed to bed bug patients from local hotels and immediately put me in quarantine so as to not infect the ER.

friend of mine has experienced bed bugs on Amtrak one confirmed time (on the SWC) and another suspected time (they had them directly after an Amtrak trip).

 

[Steel City Don]

The one reason why they told me this is to warn people about it, first of all, and there would go some of our business because they weren't the only train crew that was leaving that hotel. And I have spoken to other people that have been at that hotel and said the same thing about it

But bed bugs can travel also, so who knows!