bennnie

A few of my friends and I would like to visit Falling Water in mid August. Can anyone make a recommendation as to where to look for hotels? We just need Holiday Inn type accommodations - clean and convenient. So far I've found Holiday Inn Express Mt. Pleasant. We can get a package on Travelocity for $317/pp for air/hotel/car. Just can't tell if this is too far from where we want to be but it seems to be the closest acceptable hotel that Travelocity is offering as part of a package.

Also would appreciate any recommendations for other activities to do while in the area. Nice hikes, good restaurants, maybe a trip into Pittsburgh.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

MrsJenn

We just returned from a trip to Fallingwater two weeks ago. We stayed in Pittsburgh. The drive was easy, and less than two hours.

You should also visit Kentuck Knob, another Frank Lloyd Wright house less than 10 minutes from Fallingwater.

If you are available for brunch on Sunday, definitely go to The Grand Concourse. They have a fabulous brunch. It is a beautiful old railroad terminal located at Station Square in Pittsburgh. From there you could also take the Monongahela Incline to see the fabulous view.

For dinner in Pittsburgh, I recommend Lidia's in the Strip District, The Original Fish Market, and Six Penn, both located downtown. All were excellent meals.

Sorry, I don't know of more things close to Fallingwater. It was extremely cold while we were there, so we didn't do any hiking, but I'm sure there are trails. Check out http://www.paconserve.org/index-fw1.asp for more information if you haven't already.

We had a fantastic trip, hope you do too!

kellyhayes

I live in the South Hills are of Pittsburgh, and we often take daytrips in the summer to Falling Water-the drive is 1hr to 1 1/2 hrs, so if you want a nice hotel I would recommend staying in the near vicinity of Pittsburgh, then driving to Falling Water. As far as hotel goes, you could mostly stick to your favorite chain, but stay away from "Pittsburgh East" and Monroeville areas-some hotels are questionable, and stay away from the north, as the drive is too far. When looking at hotels, the South Hills is your best bet, as it is the closest to the Laurel Highlands (falling water area) with many hotels. If money not a big problem, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is a 15 min drive from Falling Water on Rt. 40. Rates are $220-$450 a night. Staying in this area provides for easy access to Ohiopyle, Falling Water, etc.

erdockac

Hi:

The nicest nearby place to stay is Nemacolin Resort. Very nice, but pricey. Farmington PA is where Nemacolin is and there are a couple of B&Bs. Fallingwater is in a pretty rural area. Seven Springs and Hidden Valley are resorts that aren't too far away and have lots of amenities. If you are into camping or staying in a cabin try Ohiopyle State Park. google " Laurel Highlands" the tourism board has lots of information. Where will you be flying into?
Kristen

bennnie

Thank you all for the info. Very helpful. I appreciate the recommendations for the resorts but this trip has to be low cost if its to happen.

Kirsten - We are flying from Boston to Pittsburgh. I was hesitant to stay in Pittsburgh proper as I thought it was too far from where we wanted to be. I may reconsider this as there seems to be things in Pittsburgh that would appeal to all in the group.

Mrs. Jenn - thank you for the info on Kentuck Knob. We will add that to our itinerary.

kellyhayes - thanks for the tips on where to look for a chain. I did see lots of hotels for Monroeville and kind of sensed that it was a tad sketchy. The Holiday Inn Express in Mt. Pleasant claims to be in the Laurel Highlands. Is this close enough?

MrsJenn

If you are considering staying in Pittsburgh, you might consider using priceline to get your rooms. We had a friend traveling with us to visit Fallingwater. We got two rooms at the Renaissance Pittsburgh, downtown, 4 nights for only $62 a night each. It's a beautiful hotel! Also, we came back later in the week after visiting family in Ohio and got the Omni William Penn for $64, one room, one night. It was also a gorgeous place.
Priceline was very easy to use for Pittsburgh since the only 4 star hotels are all located downtown, so you know what you are going to get. I had never done this before, so I was very pleased. I researched on biddingfortravel.com before I placed a bid.
Enjoy!

bennnie

Mrs. Jenn - thanks again - that's great advice. Nobody loves a bargain more than me especially when it comes to travel.

cd

We also stayed in Pittsburgh when we went to Falling Water, had a very good time exploring that area. The Andy Warhol Museum is in Pittsburg if you are interested in his art. We also used Priceline and got a 4star for $60.00 I think it was a Marriot.

MrsJenn

Believe me, I love when I find a bargain. As a matter of fact, you should also check out airfarewatchdog.com This is where I found our round trip tickets on United from DFW to Pit for $98! I just checked for Boston and they have the same thing on Jet Blue...get it before it goes away!

bennnie

Mrs Jenn - tried for the $98 fare from Jet Blue but its not available on our dates. Bummer. But the good news is that I took your advice about bidding on Priceline and can get a 4 star in downtown Pittsburgh for $65/night. So thank you thank you thank you!

MrsJenn

Yea! So glad I could help!
I was so proud of myself planning that trip. I couldn't believe the deals I got.

bennnie

We still are in the planning stage so I thought I would ask a few more questions now that we have a better sense of what we want to do. We have no idea how far apart these venues are so we haven't considered travel time. We will have 2.5 days.

So far on our agenda are the following:
Laurel Highlands
Fallingwater - 1 hr tour
Kentuck Knob - 1 hr tour
Ohiopyle State Park - for either hiking or bike riding - maybe 2 hours.
Johnstown Flood National Park (maybe)or
Flight 93 site (maybe)

Pittsburgh
Phipps Conservatory - Chihuly exhibit
Incline ride
Point Park
Carnegie Museum of Art and Pittsburgh Glass Center.

Any suggestions are how to organize our time? What other things should we add? We want to make this trip a combination of cultural and physical activities. We like history, art, hiking, biking, antiques - not so much shopping, spas and not looking for a lot of downtime.

SusieQQ

<Johnstown Flood National Park>

If you go to Johnstown, know that there are two Flood museums, one run by the National Park Service at the site of the dam and another in downtown Johnstown. There is also a steep inlined plane to ride and in Grandview Cemetery the Flood unknowns plot.
Here's a site with Johnstown attractions:
http://www.visitjohnstownpa.com/attractions.php

swaymock

Bennie, you agenda looks a little ambitious to me. While the stated tour times for each house is one hour, the getting ready to start and wrapping up parts are going to extend your visit. The websites advise you to allow an hour for each. The two homes are nearly 1/2 hour apart from each other as well. Checking mapquest, I find that Johnstown is 75 miles from Fallingwater/Ohiopyle - and that's not on a 4-lane highway.

Here is a website to buy tickets in advance for the homes tour: http://www.wpconline.org/fw-tours-fw-kk.asp

As for Pittsburgh, the Phipps conservatory is really nice - I'm looking forward to seeing the Chihuly exhibit also. The Phipps is open evenings just for that exhibit.

Also, the inclines run at night and IMHO the view is even nicer than in the daytime.

There is also a National Aviary here http://www.aviary.org/ and the Andy Warhol museum if that interests you: http://www.warhol.org/

Everything you have planned in the city itself is relatively close together (by car).

SusieQQ

I just realized that you are doing this in 2.5 days...with that time I would do either the Laurel Highlands OR Pittsburgh, not both. That is not enough time to do both areas.

MrsJenn

I would plan for at least 2 hours at Fallingwater. It's a beautiful area around the house and you may wish to walk around a bit to see different views of the home. Or, if you're an architect and a huge Wright fan like my husband, you may be there all day like we were! One hour is plenty for Kentuck Knob. I also suggest buying your tickets before you arrive. Try to get the first in-depth tour of Fallingwater. Then you should have time for your other activities afterward.
A family member told us there isn't much to see at the Flight 93 site. They are planning to build a memorial, but for now, there isn't much other than a plaque.
Point Park was closed and under construction while we were there in April. Hopefully it will be complete by the time you arrive. If not, you will not have gone out of your way as it is near everything you plan to visit.
I'd also suggest the Incline at night, it's beautiful. We felt The Duquesne Incline had the best view of the confluence. It's just down the street from the Monongahela Incline.
You'll have time to do most of what you want in the Laural Highlands and Pittsburgh. We did!
Enjoy!

bennnie

Thanks again for the responses. You've all been so helpful. An earlier poster (MrsJenn) stated that Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater were 10 minutes apart, is that not correct? Kentuck Knob's website says its 7 miles from FallingWater.

If we were to limit ourselves to Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob and Ohiopyle could we see all of that in one long day?

mrwunrfl

If you stay in downtown (dahntahn) Pittsburgh then you will have to pay for parking.

Ohiopyle also has/had tubing and rafting is available in the area.

It is a stretch to say that Mt Pleasant is in the Laurel Highlands, but it is not far. It is rolling hills in the area, farmland.

If you are in the Nemacolin neighborhood then you could make a stop at Fort Necessity National Battlefield. It is not a long stop and might be the only French & Indian War site you ever see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Necessity

bennnie

Hi Mrsjenn - we posted at the same time. Thanks for the info about the Flight 93 site. Perhaps we'll wait on that. And your other info is very helpful, so thanks again

mrwunrfl (love your name) - one of the group mentioned that battlefield. Sounds interesting. And depending on the size of the group that makes the trip we are considering whitewater rafting. If we do the rafting then we'll probably stick to the Laurel Highlands and skip Pittsburgh.


When my husband learned that I was planning to go to Pittsburgh he assumed it was for business. But when I told him I was going with friends and for 3 days he laughed and said we couldn't possibly find enough to do to fill 3 days. Now we have so much we want to see we may have to make 2 trips.

MrsJenn

bennnie,
Yes, the two houses are close to each other. I don't think it took more than 10 minutes to get there.