Hotel Saint Louis, Autograph Collection — Hotel in St. Louis

As a special gift, I embarked on a road trip adventure from Atlanta to Nashville, then St. Louis, Missouri, and back to Nashville. Let me start by saying, I absolutely adore hotels! After hours of meticulous research, I found myself here, primarily because I have a soft spot for boutique hotels; they tend to offer a more intimate experience with keen attention to detail.

Our journey kicked off at JW Hotel Nashville, and oh boy, what an incredible start! I was thoroughly impressed and absolutely loved it. But then, we arrived at Hotel Saint Louis, Autograph Collection, and I couldn't help but let out a sigh. The young man who checked us in, despite being very friendly, seemed a bit too comfortable and maybe a tad tipsy, but hey, no big deal. On a brighter note, the elevators were stunning, and I was genuinely excited about the architecture.

So, we checked into the Junior Suite, and my anticipation was sky-high. However, I was taken aback, not by awe-inspiring luxury, but by the unmistakable scent of dust! The living room consisted of a sofa, TV, and a closet housing a mini-fridge. Unfortunately, the coffee table was not at its best, and the mini-fridge had seen cleaner days. As for the curtains, they needed a good wash.

Stepping into the bedroom, I was greeted by wrinkled pillows that looked as if someone had just vacated the bed. There was even hair in the bed, and to top it off, a noticeable bloodstain on the comforter. The windows were dusty, and the bathroom, well, it had handprints all over the place. The shower floor, once white, was now covered in hair, and the shower faucets weren't exactly sparkling. Even the toilet seat, both on top and beneath, had seen better days, and don't get me started on the grungy towels. I can't recall a time when I paid for such discomfort in my life.

I attempted to get some shut-eye, woke up determined to maintain a positive attitude, and headed to the hotel bar downstairs. There, I ordered some mimosas to enjoy in our room as we got ready for the day. Of course, I shared my concerns with the hotel staff, and they were genuinely apologetic and promised to rectify the situation. Fast forward to that evening when we returned to our room and, to my amusement, everything seemed eerily unchanged. Well, they did make the bed, but there were no fresh linens, and they did clean the toilet seat, but everything else remained exactly as we had left it before their "cleaning" session. Oh, and those champagne glasses from the morning? They hadn't budged an inch.

Now, I should mention that I'm incredibly passionate about hospitality and customer service. I scrutinize every detail not to complain but to appreciate the experience. After all, this is where I choose to spend my hard-earned money. I honestly can't remember the last time I had to don flip-flops in the shower, and I resorted to air-drying because the towels were, well, horrendous. I couldn't find comfort, and I had to give the bathroom a once-over before using it. Two days of discomfort after shelling out my money — it was quite an experience!

To top it off, the hotel staff maintained a somewhat frosty attitude for the rest of our stay, which, looking back, is kind of amusing. They seemed miffed at my insistence on what was promised. I mean, their website boldly claimed that they clean the rooms every day! Such lies, right? I had requested a late check-out but decided to leave early instead.

I have no doubt that this place had great potential when it first opened, but it appears that pride in their work has faded. It's as if everyone is merely going through the motions, and the neglect is palpable. On the bright side, St. Louis itself was okay, and we did enjoy some fantastic food there! By the time we returned to Nashville and checked into a spotlessly clean hotel room at BOBBY's, we couldn't help but chuckle (just a little) about my regrettable decision to book at Hotel Saint Louis,...

It should be known that it's possible I set my expectations way too high for this hotel, given it's a 4 star with fairly high reviews on Google. Starting with PROS: Hotel itself is beautiful! Loved the design, style and aesthetics as seen in the photos posted. A stunning location for a wedding. The room was pretty nice. In the bathroom, the bathtub is located within the shower and the shower offered multiple shower head options- hand held, stationary and options for different water pulses. The toilet included a bidet, which was difficult to operate at first as I couldn't find a power button (it's on the side) but I very much enjoyed and appreciated. (Warmed water, position, front/back, etc). The bathroom also had a TV built into the mirror. In the rest of the room, the hotel offers a record player along with a small assortment of records to play. It also included a small Keurig coffee maker, Marriott offers an app to download. In addition to the check-in feature, the best part about the app is the 'chat' option with the hotel staff for items like extra blankets or to ask questions. The Spa on-site is wonderful! Wide range of services such as hair, nails, makeup, massages, facials, etc, and the folks (Ashley and Sylvia) were extremely kind. Security. A room key is required to use the elevators and the parking garage across the street requires your ticket to re-enter to access your vehicle. Within walking distance to the Arch itself for an easy stroll over to snap a few pictures.

Now for the CONS: As mentioned earlier, Marriott offers a phone app to use. The app has positives but it mentioned being able to use a mobile key. I couldn't get it to work for the life of me and still required I stop by the front desk (also for using the elevator) When we arrived, we were given a key at the front desk but mixed up the keys and the room. They originally gave us a room at the end of the halls, the room with some actual views. The key didn't work and after getting back to the lobby, we were informed we actually had a different room. I know mistakes happen but the room we ended up with had a view directly into the elevator lobby, so we had to keep our curtains shut for privacy. The veiled curtain didn't offer enough coverage. Also as mentioned earlier, the room key is required to use the elevators. If you're planning on ordering food outside of the hotel, be prepared to throw on pants and head downstairs. We opted for the room with breakfast included. This works out to be an allowance of $20 per person per morning. Which, doesn't sound bad at all but once you see the menu prices, its a bit tight. The breakfast sandwich we got was awesome but the rest of the food was mediocre. The flavored Greek yogurt with granola came as plain Greek yogurt and nothing else. *The hotel did refund is the yogurt. Also, we ordered the food to our room to cut down on Covid exposure and the food didn't come with eating utensils. The second morning we tried to order but the phone line to order was constantly busy so we didn't get breakfast the second day. Would've been awesome to be able to order through the app. When booking on Marriott's website, it offers the ability to request extra pillows and blankets ahead of arrival. Not only were the extra items I requested not in the room when we arrived but the robes included with the room were also not provided. Thankfully their app made it easy to request these. Though there's a parking garage directly across the street, it's not included with the room. I knew about this ahead of time but it seemed a tad bit ridiculous it wasn't already included.

In the end, it wasn't a terrible experience, the hotel just didn't quite meet expectations I set in my head...

I travel for business and my stay here was the worst hospitality experience I've ever had. I'll preface the below by saying: a) Read the reviews - this is in a completely desolate area of St. Louis, abandoned buildings all around, you will not feel safe in this area etc b) St. Louis isn't my home city & traveled there.||||• I booked a general/King room on 7/18 for a corporate rate of: $179.00||• Two days before arrival we looked on the Marriott app (using a MEMBER rate as often they are cheaper); I was shown a rate of: $215.00||• Upon arrival on 8/9 we just had completed our reservation when the attendant said I had to show a "corporate card" to get the rate that was booked. No one has a corporate card in our company (outside of C-Suite) and I showed our company badge; this apparently was not good enough||• I was told that they could give me their best rate which was $450 (as they were sold out for the evening). The woman I was working with just walked away to tend to another call & we stood there for 5 minutes.||• The attendant told us that the city of St. Louis was completely sold out & there was nothing at all they could do. We looked throughout the city (various apps etc) and there wasn't a room within 20 minutes of the area we were in. I asked said attendant "can you please do something, anything?" One would think they could offer a comped dinner, free drinks etc. They offered us nothing and were steadfast that this is all they could do.||• Upon coming into our room, we figured out they upgraded us to a larger room than what was originally booked. Once in the room, I got a call from the woman saying "You need to come down immediately your card was declined!". I called my cc company and it was simply a fraud hold that was removed. Upon me calling the front desk, she said to "hold for a minute while I rerun this". After waiting on hold for ten minutes, I finally just hung up the phone.||• The following morning, I received our folio and the charge was $545||• I contacted Marriott corporate to file a complaint and was told the general manager of the property would contact me. After a back-and-forth exchange with her where I ultimately told her everything that happened and that I knew she could right this wrong, actual management who (I'd assume?) is trained in hospitality thought this was completely normal/and how you handle a situation like this with a Marriott member.||||So to summarize: a) We weren't given the rate I originally booked; ultimately I was charged $366 than original booking & $330 more than I saw on their very app two days earlier. 100% taking advantage of travelers who have no other option by charging them rates for a similar hotel you don't even see in a city like New York b) We were offered ZERO resolution - nothing! We were told there's nothing they could do and we were ultimately out of luck, traveling to a foreign city from home c) The rate they told us originally, I was overcharged. d) I was moved to a larger room, charged for the larger room and not told they were doing so.||||I'm certain management here will respond with "this is our policy and you were charged our "best available rate". We had zero options, they literally gave us zero options/hospitality... nothing! I provided enough credentials to get the rate I actually did book. Book at your own risk - this is a 100% scam in a horrible area of the city (look at some of the videos/photos of the surrounding area - if desolate, abandoned buildings with nothing else around it is your thing... book!) & they will 100% take advantage of travelers coming from a foreign city in whatever way they can - you've...