SkiAdcock

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...s-grand-hotel/

"Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel will celebrate its reopening in grand style when it officially completes a $30 million renovation and brand change at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 18, 2015. The hotel at 800 Washington Ave. will bear the company's flagship brand, Marriott Hotels and Resorts.

Marriott St. Louis Grand will continue to be the official hotel of many conventions and hosts up to 400,000 travelers a year. To better serve these guests, the renovations, which began in November 2014, include a new Greatroom and pantry, technology upgrades, additional meeting spaces, modern guest rooms, an updated concierge lounge, opening of Zenia Bar & Grille, and an upgraded fitness center.

With respect to the historic value of the property, Marriott will maintain the iconic Crystal and Statler ballrooms of the original 1917 Statler Hotel to provide space for scalable meeting rooms and sophisticated wedding and event venues."

Hotel website:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...s-grand-hotel/

Category 6.

Website says the exec lounge is closed on weekends and holidays. Since it's just opening I'll wait a few days before finding out what the brekkie situation is on the weekend.

Cheers.

Armani

Thanks for the update. What was this hotel's brand previously? I'm trying to recall the exact location and property.

MSPeconomist

Is it part of the historic train station complex? I'm guessing that the 800 number in the street address means about eight blocks from the river and hence not one of the hotels near the arch, but I can't recall which street is Washington.

SkiAdcock

Used to be the St. Louis Renaissance Grand. Post-renovation it's been rebranded. Since it's now a new brand, thought it would be good to start a new property specific thread.

Cheers.

Carpboy823

Is this the same hotel from the other thread about a conversion to a Courtyard? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...courtyard.html

Carpboy823

Took a look and saw that the two hotels were across the street from each other. That must have been pretty confusing when both were branded as Renaissance!

SkiAdcock

No.

Cheers.

ohmark

Owners probably desperately hoping that re-branding from Ren to Marriott will work to get people to forget the frequently horrendous reviews this property got fairly consistently over the years since it was opened as a Renaissance. Here's our thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...r-reviews.html

ohmark

I'm sure there are others, but the only other property I know of that's reflagged from Ren to Marriott is the Sydney Harbour Circular Quay Marriott.

SkiAdcock

Well they're new owners & since they've poured some $$ into the renovation & it's a re-brand I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Part of the reason I created this thread is so that it wouldn't get stuck w/ the Ren's old baggage (pun intended!). We'll see how it goes after it switches/settles in. Look forward to future trip reports.

Cheers.

ohmark

Be interesting to know how much, if anything, the new owners "poured" into the renovation as opposed to tax breaks, subsidies, etc. I'm sure the Marriott will be better than the sub-standard Renaissance, but then it would be difficult to be worse.

MSPeconomist

In the other direction, I know a Courtyard that became a Renaissance, apparently without any major renovations or other changes: Minneapolis at the Depot.

Carpboy823

Not to get too off-topic, but that property is just about to undergo some big renovations/additions. They just tore out the water park between the Ren and the RI, and they are adding a floor to the Ren side of the hotel. I would imagine that renovations to the existing hotel rooms (and possibly amenities/restaurants) would be in order as well.

SkiAdcock

I'd rather the topic stay on actual experiences/trip reports vs rehashing an old property (which deserved its reputation). No need to rehash old and fling mud at new property.

It may end up being better/it may end up being not. We don' t know yet. But harping on the old when there is a new makes no sense. It sounds like you want it to be crappy.

Whenever I hear x $$ on renovations of any property worldwide of any brand, that to me is the amount spent on 're property itself. Tax credits are separate issues.

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

Exec lounge:

Open: Monday-Thursday 6:00am - 10:00pm;
Friday 6:00am - 12:00pm;
Sunday 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Closed: Weekends, Closed Friday Evening until Sunday Afternoon, Closed Holidays

I called the property & they said that breakfast vouchers are given for cold brekkie in the restaurant & the charge to upgrade to hot is $6.

I'll update the exec lounge sticky.

Cheers.