Where • 614 Pressley Street, Pittsburgh

More info • 1-412-231-3338; thepriory.com

I like hotel chains, which are a welcome sight when you're on an interstate or in a strange place and you need some place on short notice. The chains generally imply a guarantee, a comforting modicum of cleanliness and efficiency. That said, I avoid them when I can.

I prefer to stay in hotels like The Priory, a 130-year-old old monk's quarters in the Deutschtown neighborhood of Pittsburgh's North Side.

Call them boutique hotels, or bed-and-breakfasts, if you'd like. I find their history interesting and their character charming.

The setup • Built in 1888, the location served as a Benedictine monastery until 1981, when the state of Pennsylvania proposed demolishing it, as well as the adjacent St. Mary's Catholic Church, to make room for a new highway.

Local preservationists — including John Graf and family — persuaded the state to reroute the road and saved the church and monastery. In 1986, Graf remodeled the structure into a 25-room hotel and earlier this year expanded it to 42 rooms. The Grafs also have renovated the old church and have turned it into the Grand Hall banquet facility.

My room • My room reflected its roots, with its long and narrow footprint calling to mind its beginning as a dorm room for a monk. That said, it was completely updated with a small bathroom and one of the more comfortable beds I've slept on while traveling.

The extras • The complimentary breakfast was continental (they call it "expanded" continental) and does serve a breakfast meat along with the pastries and cereals. There is a small bar off the lobby, and it operates from 5 to 11 p.m., pouring only the more expensive liquors and creating a cozy happy hours of sorts, usually attend by four to six people.

The staff was unfailingly polite and appropriately informal. In other words, they were nice folks.

Pricing • The Priory is about six-tenths of a mile from PNC Park. The rate was $160 a night.