abk

I actually mean all of St Louis. I guess if you had to be downtown the Four Seasons might be the better option but if you don't need to be (and for me if you don't need to be downtown there is no reason to be there) then it is clearly the Ritz. IMHO downtown has very little to offer and what it does have is outweighed by it's crime stats.

hi55us

Great, thanks for the recommendation. I was debating between the Four Seasons and the RC. the RC was substantially less and I could get the club level for even less than the FS, so that's why I was leaning towards the Ritz. Plus with Amex FHR I get a $100 property credit that I was planning on using for the restaurant. Plus the Ritz looks a lot closer to the airport and we like going to Forest Park which looks to be possibly walking distance or a short drive away.

abk

For what you are talking about, the Ritz is much better located. Forest Park is a lot closer to the Ritz than downtown but not really close enough to walk. If you can get the club level and FHR benefits then that's a no brainer. If you want some restaurant recommendations feel free to pm me. My wife was just reading over my shoulder and commented "who would want to be downtown".

ALARISstl

The Four Seasons is nice and it is connected to a casino but the only good reason to be downtown is if your going to a Cardinals game. Crime is definitely a concern, especially after the sun goes down. No worries in Clayton.

BillBurn

Quick trip report. Stayed 4 nights last week. Close to 100% occupancy on the weekend and pretty lively in the restaurant and common areas. Club Lounge is open and functioning pretty much normally. Gym is open too. There is an indoor mask mandate on the property when not eating/drinking although masks are optional when working out. Hard product (room, bedding/towels, HVAC) all in pretty good shape.

Only issue with the stay was housekeeping which appears overwhelmed/understaffed. You have to request for your room to be cleaned intra-stay and even then the cleaning is more like a refresh. Turn-down service was also not consistently offered.

Overall a good stay given the circumstances.

abk

Living in St Louis I can tell you there is a major staffing shortage in this area so I wouldn't necessarily blame the hotel. Were you able to eat in the new Italian restaurant. Right now they are booked 4 months out for non guests.

BillBurn

We did not eat at the new Don Alfresco restaurant but I do not doubt they are sold out because just walking by it seemed full all the time and especially so on the weekend.

From what I could tell housekeeping is doing its best. They seemed short staffed and also seemed to have a number of new team members so the hotel is doing its best, just wanted to manage people's expectations as there clearly is a ways to go before they are back up to brand standards.

ORDAAFlyer296

This is by far my favorite property in St. Louis, and I've stayed at most of them. IMO, it beats the Westin, Hotel Saint Louis, and even the Four Seasons (which is nice, but the Four Seasons is in an awful location). I'm here probably 4 times a year on average, and the staff consistently welcomes me back by name. The hard product is nice, but the staff really is what makes this property special. The GM is a long-time Ritz-Carlton veteran, and it's clear to me that she runs a tight ship.

Also, the Cigar Club (the only one in any Marriott flagged property in North America, I believe?) is an awesome spot. It's fairly hidden away, and if you didn't look for it you'd probably miss it (which I'd imagine is a good thing for those who don't like cigar smoke, which is undetectable outside of the Cigar Club's room). All in all, one of my favorite Marriott properties in the midwest.

platbrownguy

I've stayed here twice in the past 6 months for one night each, and I think my overall impression is "I guess this is fine for St. Louis."

Both times, my requests for Your24 were denied (once for 11am check-in, once for 6pm check-in/check-out -- quite modest IMO), and I'm hovering around 25 grants out of my last 30 Your24 requests overall (the other denials were tougher asks, like 6am check-in or 8pm check-in/check-out).

Both times, no noticeable upgrade (standard-seeming room, small balcony, low floor). First stay I received an amenity of what appeared to be a small "gooey butter cake"; second time I got a plate with two apples, a pear, 2 strawberries, and some grapes. (What adults eat grapes? Like, seriously?) No beverages with the welcome note/snack.

First stay, I ate the sushi at the bar and it was decent. Second stay, I used the 10% off voucher (received as an Amb, not sure if Plat/Tit get it too) for the Italian restaurant. The restaurant was beautiful but the service was slow (and I was one of two people in there at 9pm) and the food was uninspired. Probably the worst "fancy octopus dish" I've had in years.

First stay, no one was at the door to help me get my stuff in. Second stay, a doorman was there. But on the way out, I called down to ask if they could print a doc for me, the agent said yes and gave me her email address (I said thanks, emailed it, and said I'd pick it up when I checked out in 20 minutes). When I went downstairs 25 minutes later, there was a long line at the front desk (at 9 a.m., who knows why) so I asked the bellman if he could snag the doc for me. He looked super annoyed that I asked him (I said, there's a line, she said she'd print it, and I don't have time to spare -- not to mention my hands were full of work stuff, along with my luggage), but he went back there and of course no one had printed it. Total fail when I was in a time-crunch.

My corporate rate is low (under $300). So it's not a big premium to pay over some of the other joints in town. So I kind of view the experience in light of that, because the room was at least quiet and comfortable. But I was pretty intrigued by the "Central West End" neighborhood (I drove over there to get a haircut in the barbershop in the Chase hotel -- seems like I'd enjoy that hotel's bar but the hotel itself seems dumpy). Anyhow, there's an AC hotel in that neighborhood that I might try if I can get a non-adjoining room (seems like it has noise problems). Maybe the AC is a better value proposition for me.

I stayed at the Four Seasons for a night after my second stay at the Ritz, and the Four Seasons has a great hard product including a wonderful hot tub outside, but the service was laughably bad. The GM there at least called me to offer a free night next time I'm in town because of the repeated comical service issues that I wrote up in their survey (including my inability to share feedback while I was there because no one would ever answer the phone), so I'll give them another shot too at some point.

But overall my takeaway of St. Louis hotels is that they just aren't great, so I guess the Ritz is fine on a sub-$300 corp rate.