Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis — Hotel in St. Louis

My wife and I came for a brief visit last week. The staff all were friendly, and welcoming. The restaurant food and bar was excellent (we ate and drank at the restaurant several times during our stay). The lobby, room, pool deck, and spa were gorgeous and impeccably maintained. We thoroughly enjoyed a pool day in a cabana, which featured fun cocktails, delicious food, attentive service, and a very relaxing tranquil atmosphere. Just the unwind we needed! The room itself was spacious and had an amazing view of the Arch. However, we noted several shortcomings during our stay, in details large and small. Some of these notes may seem bizarrely nitpicky, but after staying at 13 different Four Seasons properties, we have had our expectations calibrated accordingly:

1. The low-flow toilet in our room used so little water per flush that it did not complete the flush process reliably. I chose to use the more robust toilets in the lobby rather than risk having to interrupt our stay with plumbing problems.
2. The shower took an inordinate amount of time to set to a comfortable temperature. The delay between adjusting the setting and the resulting change in temperature of the water, combined with a tiny window between "scalding" and "chilly" meant that most shower time was spent in frustration, standing to one side and fiddling with the setting.
3. We were surprised (and eventually dismayed) to find the Four Seasons shares the building with a truly low-class casino. The Horseshoe casino is joined to the hotel like a malformed parasitic twin, offering a joyless grim atmosphere, parsimonious drinks, and foul smoky air to all comers.
4. The Gordon Ramsey restaurant is objectively a good restaurant, providing delicious food with consistent friendly service in an elegant atmosphere with a great view of the Arch. This does not in my opinion outweigh the fact its namesake became famous by normalizing the occurrence of screaming, profane, abusive tirades in the workplace and otherwise promoting the decline of civility and kindness. The decision by the owners of the St Louis Four Seasons to partner with the Gordon Ramsey brand and the Horseshoe casino is a major dilution of the Four Seasons reputation for tranquil elegance and service.
5. The coffee cups in the restaurant look nice but cannot be held with one hand without pressing a knuckle against the scalding hot cup, defeating the purpose of the little handle thingy entirely.
6. The chairs in the restaurant were comfortable and attractive but way too heavy and difficult to move, making it very awkward to pull into the table or push the chair out to leave.
7. The morning we left there were no doormen apparent as our Uber arrived and I was forced to load my own luggage into the car (quelle horreur, I know, but I don't pay to stay at Four Seasons properties to wrangle my own bags on vacation).
8. There was no welcome amenity in our room on arrival or at any other time.
9. The room's amenities included a Nespresso type coffeemaker and a hotpot so I could boil my own water for tea, but the tea in the room was Twinings, a startlingly down-market decision, especially when the complimentary tea offered in the lobby each morning was a different, nicer, brand.
10. The morning before we arrived I received a text message from the hotel management soliciting me to upgrade my reservation to any of the higher room grades available, for a special discount. However when I arrived to check in and asked after the free upgrade that should be offered because I booked through the Amex Fine Hotels program, I was told there were no upgrades available. Though I understand that these Fine Hotel upgrades are offered at the discretion of the hotel, this refusal after the very long and detailed message offering me upgrades if I paid for them smacks of bad faith on the part of hotel management. Also we found the solicitation message itself deeply tacky. In conclusion, a pleasant stay at a lovely property, but guests used to Four Seasons standards should adjust their...

We stayed one night and had an okay experience compared to other Four Seasons we’ve stayed at in the past.

Tips: For parking, you can valet for $45/night or there is free parking in the ramp connected to the hotel.

For transportation anywhere around St. Louis, I highly recommend using the Bird or Lime scooters. You can download an app and rent the scooters by the minute or buy a ride pass for even cheaper. They are everywhere so you can go to the closest one to start then leave them wherever you want. They saved a ton of money in parking and were fun to ride.

Pros: Most of the staff are amazing and really make the experience. For front door and valet service, Ryan was extremely helpful and can strike up a conversation with anyone. He remembered our kids names every time we came in and out of the hotel and gave us a bunch of tips for the area. Ryan is top notch... everyone should be more like Ryan!

At the front desk, Abdula checked us in and out. He gave us an in-room movie night pass for the kids, let us into the spa/pool while we were waiting on our room and was super helpful anytime we had questions.

Room service was quick (about 30 minutes) and the food was fantastic. I believe it was around $100 for 4 people which I didn’t think was bad for having food delivered to the room.

Anytime you need something, the staff is right on top of it. When our shower drain backed up, the engineers (maintenance) were up to our room right away to get it taken care of then had housekeeping cleaned up the entire bathroom. Things will break that they can’t prevent but they handled it right away and couldn’t have handled it any better. That’s all you can ask for!

Cons: The location is a little outside of the main attractions and gets pretty sketchy at night but it’s still not too far from anything.

Food and drinks are extremely expensive at the pool. Cocktails were $20-$35 each. I expect higher prices at a nice hotel and the pool but that was a little outrageous so we never ordered anything there.

The only and main complaints I have are with the spa. The hotel check in time is 4:00pm and the spa closes at 5:30pm. By the time you get checked in, bags to the room and down to the spa, there is very little time to enjoy it. This seemed like a very early time to close. They do open at 8:30am and check out is at 12:00pm but again, by the time you wake up, get breakfast, get the room packed up and to the spa, there is very little time to actually enjoy it.

The other spa complaint I have is that they don’t allow children. When we booked the room by calling Four Seasons, they specifically told us that children are allowed in the spa as long as they are accompanied by an adult. When we went in, we were stopped at the door and told that children are not allowed and only one of the adults would be able to go in at a time so the other parent can watch kids at the pool. A couple people checked but no one was able to give a straight answer of whether kids are allowed or not. We have never had this issue at other Four Seasons or other spas so we were very disappointed with this.

Lastly, after being kicked out of the spa, we went to the pool. It was unseasonably cold for July (72 degrees) and the pool was cold. Conveniently, the spa was undergoing maintenance at the same time. We ended up spending very little time at the pool since it was cold and the hot tub was down.

Overall, the hotel is very nice and most of the staff were extremely nice/helpful. I was very less than impressed with the spa staff or availability of use. We have stayed at several Four Seasons in the past with absolutely no issues so I cannot suggest staying at the St. Louis one again if you have children. For the price, I suggest staying at other hotels that are more...

Stayed at the hotel over the weekend. Subpar experience!

We have stayed at different Four Seasons. Compared to other Four Seasons, our stay was just meh. Bad from the start, shall I say?

Don't get me wrong! The hard product is superb. Can I say that the room is spacious and has the best view in town? Can't be more satisfied with the arch view we get. The room is spacious. However, the bathroom smelled like someone smoked in the room before.

Parking 3/5 Let me back off and start over with arrival. We drove ourselves on a road trip and ended up in the parking garage of the casino next door. It was a darn zoo - free though so okay, I'll take it.

Location - 3/5 I am torn with this. As I mentioned, the room view was fantastic but connected to a chaotic casino is a big no no. I wonder what does Four Seasons management think when the associate themselves with this casino. The clientele does not match with what FS positions themselves to be.

Check-ins 2/5 We booked our room with FHR with noon guaranteed check in. We arrived at 3 pm and was informed that we got upgraded to higher floor. What sounds great turns out to be a long waiting game. We were told the room was not ready for our use and the receptionist sent us to the 8th floor for cocktail. Mind you, no apology and cocktail/ snack was offered - very different from our experience with other FS. We just waited and waited. Also was told we will received a text when the room is ready. One hour go by and I came down to check, the lady told me that I can't check in until 4pm?! I informed her about my early check in privilege. 5 minutes later, I got the key to the room. If I didn't check, will I be left waiting for another hour?

Food and Bev experience 2/5 This 2 star is not for the quality of the food. The food is AMAZING - french toast, salmon bagel - lovely! But the 2 stars are for poor quality and speed. While waiting for the room, we came to grab a cocktail and a snack. It took 45 MINUTES to make ONE empenadas for $8. How is that even possible? Did they roll the flour from scratch? Just crazy. Breakfast the next morning is fine.

Spa 5/5 The spa is saving grace. While it was hard to be connected to the spa front desk, the actual service was wonderful. From the techniques, the service that masseuses provided us in a couple suite was impeccable.

Pet-friendly 5/5 Your furry friend will love it here. Our dog received so much love - from the doorman to hotel staffs. If you come to St Louis with your pups, you can perhaps check this out.

Overall, it was meh. Would I stay here again? If I have to come to St Louis for work, yeah. But I wouldn't spend $400 to be here with this kind of service - though the spa...