Hotel Review: The Westin St. Louis – St. Louis, MO

Any lodging prospect that involves a Heavenly Bed is usually a slam-dunk, buuuuut you never know, so I walked into the Westin in downtown St. Louis (where you can shoot a cannon down the street and not hit anyone…usually) with my usual critical eye, but this AAA four-diamond property passed with flying colors.

The first thing I noticed, and my only major complaint, is the layout of the Lobby Level – it is extremely confusing: the front desk is hidden off to the right behind the elevator bank, the elevator bank is only visible from the restaurant entrance, and the only thing that greets you when you walk in the revolving door is an empty concierge desk and a coffee table.

The building, renovated in 2001 from a warehouse to the hotel, has maintained it’s industrial feel, with steel accents, angular lines, exposed piping and electrical in the ballrooms and sleek furniture. Still, the design is warm thanks to the dark blond wood walls and tons of natural lighting, courtesy of glass windows on multiple sides.

Rooms match accordingly. But here’s the best part – they are ENORMOUS. This isn’t a suite…it’s a regular double-double, and I’m standing at the end of a long hallway from the room door, zoomed in. That entire back wall is a window. There were TWO desks, an enormous flat-screen television, a separate counter with the coffeemaker (Starbucks!) and a minibar that is only accessible by key (so no accidental seal-breaking and trying to explain that no, you didn’t drink the Jack Daniels, when you check out). The bathroom was equally as large – floor-to-ceiling marble, enormous glass shower with the Heavenly Showerhead (2 nozzles), eco-friendly amenities, more counterspace than we knew what to do with and a huge bathtub, you know, just in case you feel like a soak.

The hotel has a passable restaurant, but a lively bar attached, and the staff is the kind of Friendly we’ve come to expect from the Midwest – welcoming and helpful. And if all this wasn’t enough, downtown St. Louis is a glorious surprise – the Westin is across the street from Busch Stadium, a short walk from the Gateway Arch, next to a MetroLink stop (which, for $3 you can take directly to and from Lambert Airport) and a few blocks from a fun outdoor sculpture garden where, if nothing else, you can get some pretty hilarious pictures.