Who Knows Downtown St. Louis? Trying to find hotel close to Hyatt
 

Hi there. I have to attend a conference that's being held at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis downtown. I'm underwriting this vs a client paying for it, and the conv rate at Hyatt is pretty high, so I'm looking at close alternatives to stay.

In looking at Marriott & Hilton websites, the following hotels appear to be close to the Hyatt & are less expensive: Renaissance, Marriott, Courtyard, Hampton Inn Union Station, Hampton Inn Arch, Embassy Suites.

How close are any of the hotels above to the Hyatt? Please don't just say close; I'm trying to get an idea of walking distance/time and would like to book the closest.

Thanks!



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Sharon

Until a resident or person more familiar answers, here's a bit of preliminary information:

The Hyatt is inside the restored Union Station complex.

The Marriott, where I've stayed before, is much closer to the Mississippi River. In fact, if you were to exit the Hyatt and Union Station and walk east on Market Street (towards the River) you'd walk right to the door of the Marriott (which itself is across the street from Busch Stadium). From memory, I'd guesstimate the distance at about a mile.

The Embassy Suites is farther away than the Marriott, as it is located in the riverfront Laclede's Landing shopping and entertainment area. Not sure about the Renaissance, and I believe there's also a recently opened Westin somewhere in the DT area).

Hopefully a residents will respond and offer advice on whether the Metrolink light rail system might be useful in getting from the Hyatt to the other alternative hotels.


http://www.slfp.com/CityScapes.html


[This message has been edited by Non-NonRev (edited 09-26-2003).]

If memory serves me right, there is a Dreary or is that Drury Inn just across the street from Union Station and the Hyatt.

The Drury Inn Union Station is the closest to Union Station (apart from the Hyatt which is *in* Union Station). It is just to the side, across the street from the train shed.

Now another tactic for your stay might be to stay at the Westin by Busch Stadium or the Sheraton St. Louis City Center and then use the light-rail train ("MetroLink") to and from Union Station.

Many conventions include a pass good for the duration of the meetings.

http://www.metrostlouis.org/MetroLink/stationlist.asp

There's a Hampton Inn Union Station, which implies it's close to Union Station? Anyone know how far? It's $50/night cheaper than conv rate, so if it's close I might book that. Besides saving $$, I'm trying to keep my points in either a Hilton or Marriott.

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Sharon

Hi - if you check the map that is linked above, it has tan-colored "interactive hot-spot labels" that show the names of many the hotels when you place your mouse pointer over them.

The Hampton is the square that is between 22nd and 23rd street (2211 Market, below the Hyatt on the map). Notice that the Drury is also very near to the Station complex.

Also, I notice that some of the tan squares are NOT hot spots. For example, the square across the street from the Hampton Inn is actually the Courtyard St. Louis Downtown (2340 Market).

The big full-service Marriott is that big tan sqare to the left of Busch Stadium on the map.


[This message has been edited by Non-NonRev (edited 09-27-2003).]

The Courtyard to the Hyatt wasn't a bad walk a few years ago. It is near the location of the former "temporary" Amtrak station (aka St. Louis Union Trailer), where we arrived for our stay. I remember wishing we had stayed there instead of the Hyatt, which for the $ was very disappointing. The rest of the complex was very cool, however.

bump.

Tim was kind enought to check out & email me the following, so thought I'd post it in case someone else needed it.

Sharon,

I saw your thread requesting Downtown St. Louis info.

I was in St. Louis this past weekend. I stayed at the Marriott next to Busch stadium & went over to Union Station a couple of times. The Marriott/Westin is about a mile (by foot) to Union Station. (I walked it when I was there last year--I stayed at the Hyatt last year). My observations on hotels that I was able to see are as follows:

1. Marriott where I stayed. The metro (stadium stop)is about 2 blocks away and Union station (Hyatt) is 2 Metro stops away. There are not alot of things (eating, etc) to do over by the Marriott. The Arch is within a reasonable walking distance. Rooms were nice.

2. Westin is next to the metro. (stadium stop which is 2 stops from Union Station). Lobby appeared to be nice. Hotel entrance is less than 100 ft from the Metro trains.

3. Drury Inn-Union Station. Very close walk to Union station & no need to go out to street to get to Hyatt. I went inside Drury Inn & they appeared to have their own frequent stay program. (not part of Hilton, Marriott or Starwood that I can tell). They did have an afternoon cocktail hour.

4. Hamption Inn-Union Station. (there's another Hamption over by the River--more than a mile to Union station). It is about 2 long blocks to the Hyatt. (a little further than from Pancho's to your home). If I remember correctly, I had to walk on a semi busy street & walk on a small overpass. Lobby seemed to be pretty decent & they appeared to have hot breakfast in the mornings. Hamption to Hyatt is still reasonable walking distance. (a 1/4 mile or so).

I happen to be in those areas so I was able to easily check out these places. Union Station had alot of restaurants/shopping in & around there. There were Landry's Seafood restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe, & many others. Plenty to do & lots of eating places abound.

To sum thing up. The Marriott & Westin are about a mile (two Metro light rail stops) from Union Station/Hyatt. The Drury Inn Union Station is very convenient & easy walking. (no outside streets). The Hamption Inn is walkable to Union Station and is part of the Hilton Honors program. The Hamption looked modern & a multi story building. (~10 or so stories).

I am sure that someone local to St. Louis can give you more info. I trust this info arrives before you fly to STL.

Sincerely,

Tim (chemist661 on FT)


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Sharon

[This message has been edited by SkiAdcock (edited 10-07-2003).]

These have been some pretty good descriptions. The one property to avoid at cost is the Four Points on the riverfront. It is a filthy, run-down property with tiny rooms and is the choice for high school kids throwing parties on the weekends.

If you are bankrolling this trip yourself, have you checked Priceline? I would guess that they would have a zone guaranteeing you something within a mile or two of Union Station.

When I was in STL on business, we stayed at the Marriott. Nice place, good location for everything. But I wouldn't pay their rates with my own money or anything.

I really want just within a few blocks cuz the conf starts early/ends late each day, so I'm going w/ the Hampton Inn since it's $80/night and I get points. Thanks for the input everyone!

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Sharon

Skiadcock-
For a multi-day Hampton stay like this you may want to opt for the 50% Hhonors bonus in lieu of the paltry 100 airline miles. Register here:

http://www.hiltonhhonors.com/50perce...,earningstyle1

Thanks - I did sign up for that!

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Sharon

I got the Hyatt via priceline a year and a half ago for $37/night. I looked at www.biddingfortravel.com just now and it looks like you should be able to pick it up for $45-$60/night.