Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park — Hotel in St. Louis

This review is based solely on my experience and personal opinion.

This was my first time at this specific DRURY hotel and I stayed from the 8/23/21 thru the 8/26/21.

This is a Business trip kind of hotel, DEFINITELY NOT a Tourist/family/kids friendly place.

ROOM: Pros= Rooms were clean and neat, old style furniture and Décor but still pleasant. some of the Furniture was worn and damaged but overall in good condition. My room had two queen beds and they were NOT very firm. you have MANY pillows to choose from, and they have different level of softness. Enough lighting and well placed. Work desk with table lamp and office chair, very nice. The restroom and the shower were super clean and new and I do love the basic beauty product dispenser that they placed in the shower, so that you do not have to worry about shampoo, body wash and conditioner. there is a closet with hangers, a Hairdryer, an iron and a ironing board. The room is also equipped with Microwave, Refrigerator (very small though) and a fairly big TV. Cons= The cleaning service could be better, you always have to specify what do you want them to clean. Also, they do not put plastic bags in your room's trash bins so depending on the trash they can get nasty and dirty. NO complementary water in the room.

FOOD: They serve Buffet BREAKFAST and Buffet Dinner. Breakfast is good and you have many choices, although a lack of dairy products. DINNER is COMPLEMENTARY, simple but good. Nothing fancy or high end. COFFEE and Tea available 24/7. They give you a "BOOZE CARD" if you stay more than 3 days and every night from 5:30pm to 7pm you get 3 FREE alcoholic drinks.

STAFF: while I was there ALL the Staff were VERY NICE and friendly, especially the Kitchen staff.

STAFF ISSUE: I gave them a call after I left coz I needed a PDF copy of my invoice. the first time they literally hang up on me and the second time she was super passive aggressive and rude!

FACILITY: Plenty of FREE onsite parking available. The Breakfast sitting area is quite big, but the Buffett room is very small, max 8 people at a time. They have a lounging area, pretty nice, but unfortunately is right at the entrance and new arrivals have to cross your way to go to their room, so not relaxing at all. No other communal areas besides those two. The rooms layout is a NIGHTMARE! before you find the room you get lost at least a couple of times and your kids would probably get lost even more. quite a few times I had to help elderlies find their way back to the room. They have ONE LAUNDRY room ONLY and it's all the way down to the ground floor, next to the Gym. There is a Restaurant in the same building but it was always closed

CLEANLINESS: Overall it's pretty clean and neat.

POOL: they have 3 pools, one for kids/Jacuzzi and two for adults (one inside and one outside) the pool areas are always clean and neat, they always have plenty of bath towels available, there are tables and chairs to relax and bring your drink and outside you can find some beach chairs too. pretty cool. Water was clean. THE POOL CLOSES at 10PM!

FITNESS CENTER: Pros= The room is fairly big and it was empty most of the time. the room was always clean and neat. They have a small weights station, one bicycle only and quite a few treadmills. Cons= If you go late at night, you might not find clean towels available. not many clean towels available anyway and they are small in size. The water out of that fountain tastes bad.

PETS: pet friendly? I don't know, I haven't seen any pets.

LOCATION: Pros= 10 minutes away from downtown St. Louis and close to most of the main city attractions. right in front of the hotel is a Circle K gas station (very convenient). Close to the Children's hospitals too. Cons= The area around the hotel can be sketchy if you walk out after 10pm.

ATM: they do have an ATM machine if you need cash and they have a small room with VENDING MACHINES and lose products. You can find all sort of snacks, food and beverage. They also have a small BUSINESS CENTER.

CONCLUSIONS: would I go back? for...

I just spent a fabulous weekend with two girlfriends in St Louis and we had a MARVELOUS stay at the Drury Inn – Forest Park! They have superb staff, large and comfortable rooms, a great breakfast and kickback buffet, and a perfect location for our needs. The great service started when I contacted Lisa in central reservations for Drury. Turns out they offer several discount options, and we received a great rate on our suite! The marvelous service continued when we were on our way in, ahead of schedule, and I called the hotel to see if it was possible for our room to be ready at 2 pm rather than 3 pm. Kathryn Minnefield took my call at the front desk and said that, while the room wasn’t ready yet, she would talk with housekeeping and see if they could have it ready for us. Sure enough, when Kathryn checked us in, Rosa in housekeeping had gone over and above and our room was ready! Plus, when I reserved the room, I mentioned we were celebrating a birthday—and they gave us a birthday gift bag on check-in! We had a spacious two-room suite which slept three women comfortably (one in each of the queen beds and one in the sofa bed). It was very clean, with plenty of room to spread out and space to gather when the sofa bed was tucked away. The beds were very comfortable—even the sofa bed. It was nice to have an iron and ironing board available, too. The carpeting was soft and looked new, as did the tile in the bathroom and kitchen area (although the pattern made us think there were post-it notes on the floor). Although there was minimal overhead lighting, there were plenty of other lighting options, and the room did not feel dark. The only challenge we noticed during our stay was the temperature control; it was hard to regulate for both rooms, and although there was a vent connecting the two rooms, it was controlled by a loud fan and therefore not suitable for use at night. We would have appreciated some in-room instructions on the climate control system. There were no blankets in the room, but we did get extra blankets on request for the second night. It was odd that there was no vent in the bathroom, and it would have been nice to have one suitcase stand available. The hotel itself has a very nice layout. We liked having the ice machine nearby, and having a staircase right across the hall from our room as an alternative to the elevator. We loved having an underground enclosed parking garage with direct access to the hotel. It was easy to get to the pool, hot tub and fitness center. The dining area was great; there was a lot of available seating, and no waiting for a table when we came down to breakfast. High and low seating options made for better accessibility. The food was in a separate room from the seating area, which made for good traffic patterns. Breakfast was plentiful and tasty, with hot and cold foods, cereals, make-your-own waffles, fresh fruit, coffees, teas, juices, and milk. The coffee and tea station was always available. We did not eat at the kickback buffet but it looked like a great spread, and it was nice to have the free drink options. Many kudos to the AMAZING staff! The folks in the breakfast room, at the front desk, and in housekeeping all provided exemplary service and we really appreciate them. Special thanks to Kathryn, Rosa, and Julius! The hotel was in a fabulous location for our needs on this trip! We walked to Forest Park Zoo (1.5 miles away) and were right next to The Hill (a 5-minute drive) where we ate dinner one night. It was an easy, short drive to downtown sites. The neighborhood did not feel unsafe despite being close to downtown. It was convenient to gas stations, and interstate access (both I-44 and I-64). We all agreed that we will DEFINITELY return to the Drury Inn at Forest Park on our next trip to St Louis, and we thank them for a...

Last night's family adventure took us to our first-ever Drury Inn experience in Forest Park, St. Louis. Armed with positive online reviews and three tired travelers (myself, wife, and our 8-year-old), we pulled up around midnight to find... an empty front desk. After a few minutes of wondering if we'd accidentally checked into a ghost hotel, staff appeared and got us sorted.||The location couldn't be more convenient - right off the highway, which made our late arrival much easier than expected for this quick overnight trip. And here's where the night took a turn for the awesome: surprise suite upgrade! Sometimes the hotel gods smile down on weary parents who just want enough space to spread out.||The room was genuinely impressive in terms of space - a separate living area when you walk in, plus a bedroom spacious enough for our king bed and our daughter's twin mattress setup. Nothing fancy, mind you, but totally functional and exactly what a family needs after a long day of travel. Our daughter crashed hard and slept until after 10, so she basically experienced the room with her eyes closed - but hey, that's what comfortable beds are for!||The bathroom had a couple of quirks that kept things interesting. There was a small leak around the toilet base that created its own little water feature, and the bathtub seemed to think draining was more of a suggestion than a requirement. We discovered these aquatic adventures during our stay and let the concierge know at checkout - she dutifully noted everything for maintenance, so hopefully future guests won't need to practice their water navigation skills.||Breakfast was the real MVP of this stay. Open 6:30-9:30 with a proper spread: waffle station complete with Drury-branded iron (nice touch!), plus all the classics - biscuits and gravy, home fries, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, pastries, and cereal. The coffee was actually good, which as any parent knows, is basically a necessity for survival.||Bottom line: Would I actively seek out Drury for a quick overnight like this? Probably not - it's a bit pricier than other highway options. But if you're doing a longer stay and can take advantage of their happy hour offerings, the value equation changes completely.||All in all, solid experience for a quick in-and-out trip with just enough character to make...