urbanSTL

newstl2020 wrote: ↑

Jan 11, 2019

I have yet to make a visit inside, but from the exterior it appears as though this has been a fantastic rehab. Extremely excited to see this one back in use.

This was a few days after they opened up.


I can't wait till the Railway Exchange and Chemical Buildings are rehabbed and reopened. This hotel brought additional foot traffic to the sidewalk and the other two buildings will add to it.

Apologies for the event promotion here but if you're looking for a good excuse to see this, Landmarks Association's Urbanites group is doing a free happy hour and tour on Wednesday, Jan 16th at 6:00 pm. Not sure what the tour will entail but we'll start with a happy hour and do some form of a talk/tour from hotel management. If you'd like to have dinner at Union 30 afterwards, you can call them and add your name to our reservation. I haven't called yet but I imagine they'll have some kind of "Urbanites" list started.

newstl2020 wrote: ↑

Jan 11, 2019

R.I.P. 4-eva, Century Building.

Every time I see that f*cking garage I wanna gouge my eyes out with a screwdriver.

HEC - Schankman’s St. Louis: Hotel Saint Louis Brings New Ideas to a Famous Old Building

https://hecmedia.org/posts/schankmans-s ... -building/

Heck of a loving write up, but it really is special to see that building back in business.

Good stuff. I stayed at one of the Gill's hotels up in Davenport last year, and it was a unique experience (and dog friendly!). I'm sure visitors to this place will have fond memories as well. Unique hotels with local flavor are just so much more enjoyable than the big chains.

The Hotel itself seems world class.  I ventured to Form one evening, though, and was underwhelmed.  The entire thing is caged in glass with a couple of fold out windows, and no balcony.

Seems like a completely missed opportunity as I was super excited to see a new rooftop bar open in Downtown.  Not to be a debbie downer.. but.. you had to do ONE thing.

bwcrow1s wrote: I ventured to Form one evening, though, and was underwhelmed.  The entire thing is caged in glass with a couple of fold out windows, and no balcony. Seems like a completely missed opportunity as I was super excited to see a new rooftop bar open in Downtown.  Not to be a debbie downer.. but.. you had to do ONE thing.

I understand your point but they did pattern it after the original rooftop structure. Not sure if that eliminated the possibility of a terrace or not. 

^Possibly, but I would counter the open air pool deck directly across from the bar invalidates that thesis.

newstl2020 wrote: ^Possibly, but I would counter the open air pool deck directly across from the bar invalidates that thesis.

My point being that they couldn't put a terrace between the rooftop structure and the Olive St facade. The only space left for an adjacent public terrace would have been facing the Railway Exchange building or around the elevators. 

I was also very underwhelmed by the "rooftop" bar. I have attended a couple of corporate events there. The space itself is nice, but the acoustics are absolutely terrible, probably because of the metal cage. If there is someone speaking a bit louder on the other side of the room, I can barely hear what the person next to me is saying.

The hotel makes a popular frequent flier blog:

https://onemileatatime.com/news/marriot ... ility-fee/

A FlyerTalk user noticed that Hotel Saint Louis, a Marriott Autograph Collection property, has added a new fee for hotel stays. Specifically, the hotel is charging a $4.99 nightly “sustainability fee.” This fee isn’t referenced when rates are initially displayed, but rather it’s just added at the end of the booking process, as part of the all-in price