PPG Place

If you've never been to the Wintergarden at PPG Place during December, you're missing out on a Pittsburgh staple. It's a free area that features a beautiful tree - surrounded by the seasonal arts and crafts of local school groups - and an array of "Santa" mannequins from cultures all around the world, carefully dressed and decorated to best reflect how that culture views Santa and celebrates the season. I admittedly use the word "Santa" loosely because some cultures don't have a Santa figure remotely resembling the one we know and love; the purpose of the display is to highlight different holiday traditions from around the globe - not just to talk about Santa himself. Because this is a glass building, the colors from the displays and holiday lights on the tree reflect and glow all around you; it adds to the festive atmosphere considerably. A Crazy Mocha ensures that you can warm up with a hot beverage and snack, perhaps if you stop in after ice skating at PPG. The decorations as a whole change a little bit year to year - this year there were no model trains, for example, which made me sad - but overall the place becomes a warm and beautiful escape from the Pittsburgh weather and holiday stress we all deal with. And the Santa mannequins always make an appearance no matter what. I admittedly don't know what this building is like sans Santa displays, but I do know that come the Christmas season I always visit this place at least once. It's a wonderful tribute to the many different ways people celebrate the season, and I appreciate seeing it every year - it's truly one of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit.

I loved visiting Wintergarden at PPG Place when I was there in December! There was ice-skating, decorations, and Santa Claus's from all over the world. There was even a place to buy hot chocolate and soft pretzels after you're done ice-skating. The ice-skating is monitored so you don't have to worry about a bunch of crazy fools out there! An absolutely wonderful experience in the heart of Pittsburgh. Forgot to mention all the wonderful gingerbread houses on display from local schools. They are so unique and have many different themes. This year they had a big Ben clock house, a Heinz Field house, and my favorite, the West Coast Christmas gingerbread house. A great place for everyone for a fun night out in the city!

On a cold day in downtown Pittsburgh the PPG Wintergarden is an oasis of beauty, entertainment and warmth during the Christmas season. A cup of coco or coffee are available at the shop in the Wintergarden to aid in taking off the chill. On my visit this week near noon, the Moon Area Girls Choir was entertaining a crowd with holiday songs. A massive display of The 15th Annual Gingerbread House exhibits every concept imaginable lines the walls and a floating island of houses lay beneath the multi story decorated tree. Around the room life-size St. Nicholas statues dressed in blue, and masterpiece quality paintings depict various countries rendition of Santa Clause. The display and exhibit runs until January 6th. The hours are Mon - Thur. 7am to 8pm. Friday 7am-10pm, Sat. 9am to 10pm, and Sun. 9am to 8pm.

I think this is such a beautiful place. The first thing I think is, this would make an awesome wedding reception venue. I don't work in the building, so I don't associate it with the every day hustle and bustle of business peeps eating lunch and cruising through here to rush to a meeting. I had the pleasure of attending an event here and it was a really great venue. It's almost like you're in a very fancy greenhouse. Except you're not there to look at the botanical setup. You're here to eat, and perhaps drink. Here's the thing brides-to-be... If you're looking at this venue the one issue might be that the bathrooms are only on the 7th floor. That kinda sucks. Could you imagine drunk guests making their way to the 7th floor? If they made it at all! But if that doesn't worry you, then I'd go for it! Now I think I'm going to look for more events going on here, because I know they happen... and I can enjoy the scenery a little bit more. Maybe I"ll even sneak into a wedding held here to live vicariously through a bride again... but I will not be catching the bouquet!

Nice location to meet family and friends for humongous cookies, hot chocolate & coffee, and view the gingerbread houses. This huge glass building space also doubles as a scenic place of warmth after ice skating just outside. Its crowded during the holidays obviously, but pretty organized w/ lines and courteous gestures while people mill around. There have to be more than 100 houses built by local school clubs, community orgs., etc and they all have unique and interesting features: vintage & modern candies, types of structures, movie characters, like to like levels of competition. Must see when da burgh!

The Winter garden is such a beautiful place. I've been here for a wedding and visit every year for the gingerbread house and Santa's of the world display. It's always worth it to stop in especially around Christmas time! Every year we go skating in the center of PPG and then stop in to the Winter garden. They host free yoga every Sunday in February as well! Really cool venue, we always enjoy coming in.

Do not miss the Wintergarden during the Christmas season! If you manage to leave without a smile, you truly are a Grinch. During the Christmas season, the Wintergarden is transformed into a winter wonderland! The center features a giant, beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Around the Christmas tree is a model train (actually, multiple trains like an Amtrak and CSX train). There were also hundreds of gingerbread houses made by local schools, scout troops, chefs and general citizens. The creativity was amazing. Everything from traditional Christmas themed houses to Halloween, Disney themes and everything in between. Some of my favorites were Fallingwater and the Pirate Parrot in gingerbread! Impressive and creative. Surrounding the perimeter of the room were Santas from around the world. It was great to read about the Santa Claus traditions from places like Poland, Germany, Italy and China. There were paintings and life size Santas from each country represented. The fact that the Crazy Mocha coffee shop was open inside and they had several areas for seating was an added nice touch. I had such a good time, I think I may go for another visit before the display ends.

This is a beautiful fixture in Downtown, Pittsburgh. I love it very much and I am so pleased that it can convert from a water fall in the warmer months and a skating rink in the winter. I affectionately review to this space as the PPG Plaza and I think it would be a nice location to take out-of time friends and family.

My family made a trip to the Winter Garden on Christmas day to see the Santa and Gingerbread House displays. We had a great time reading about the different Santa traditions from around the world and checking out all of the awesome Gingerbread Houses submitted into the annual contest by schools, organizations, and families from all over the Pittsburgh area. We really had a nice time. Let me set the scene. You walk into a winter wonderland but the room is heated! Tall Santa mannequins are placed around the room dressed in traditional Santa or Christmas traditions from places like Ireland, China, Haiti, Russia, and several other places. In between the santas there are colorful, creative Gingerbread houses. There were houses with every theme you could think of. Some were clearly made by small children, while others look like they were put together by professionals. Each one is different and unique. As you look at the Christmas tree in the middle of the room, you see trains chugging around the tree and weaving their ways through the central Gingerbread neighborhood. Visiting the space is free, but there is a mailbox to drop in donations. It is open on Christmas Day, and I believe on New Years Day and Thanksgiving day. You can also step outside and take a whirl on the ice skating rink...or giggle at the children who can't seem to keep their feet under them during what is obviously their first try on ice skates. The only beef I've got is how one issue was resolved...or not resolved. While we were visiting, one large cockroach walked across the floor. I get it. There are doors that open directly to the outside, and inside there are a couple hundred gingerbread houses adorned with candy and icing and all sorts of goodies that the cockroaches surely consider to be their Christmas feast. Luckily, we only saw one. It's bound to happen due to the nature of the display and the fact that it is downtown. When we brought it to the attention of the woman working the display at the time, she told us, "If you kill it, you have to clean it up." She basically refused to remove the pest. I'm sorry, but if you are working somewhere with the public, you have to take responsibility for pests in the space. Also, if you are working a space that has a Christmas display, no matter how miserable you are, you need to at the very least fake a cheery disposition. It comes with the territory. Instead of using a broom and dustpan to dispose of the large bug, she gave sass and had a bad attitude...and let the bug continue to roam the floor! We were on our way out when we spotted it, so we didn't have to stick around to see if anymore would find their way out of the houses and on to the floor. The only two things that would push this to a "five star" review is to spray the houses and rest of the building with an ample amount of bug spray to ensure they don't come out to terrify guests, and to make sure the employees who work the space can at least FAKE a smile...cause this girl was all out of Christmas Cheer.

I've been to the Wintergarden at PPG Place during an annual charity wine-tasting for two years running now, and I think it's one of the prettiest event spaces in the city. The lighting is ambient and the room is beautifully laid out, which makes you forget that you're essentially in a glorified office building in the middle of less than aesthetically pleasing downtown Pittsburgh. The PPG security staff have only ever been exceptionally helpful and friendly during my two times there, particularly with regards to directions and using the elevator to get to the restrooms on the 12th floor. In light of my positive experiences here, I'll gladly come back to take a look at the lights and decor and watch the ice skaters during the next holiday season.