I found a new place to stay when I'm in St. Louis. I recently stayed at the new Hampton Inn and Suites - Forest Park across the freeway from Forest Park and near the St. Louis Zoo. It's about 5 to 10 minutes from downtown and it's one of the closest hotels to the famous Hill area of St. Louis and is right down the street from Forest Park Hospital.
The hotel is located in the "Dogtown" section of St. Louis (there are many theories why the area is named Dogtown - one of them centers on the Igorot tribe of people who were at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and who supposedly would hunt dogs in the area to eat them while they were in St. Louis). It was built on the old Forest Park Highlands amusement park grounds - one of the biggest amusement parks in the Midwest from the 1880's to 1963. And it's situated right next to where the old St. Louis Arena stood until 1999.
Throughout the hotel and in rooms there are a pictures and memorabilia from the old Forest Park Highlands amusement park. Here's a picture of the old Comet rollercoaster at the park (right). Millions of people went through the gates of Forest Park Highlands over the years.
The hotel's decor is very art-deco - something that I've noticed with a lot of the newer or redecorated Hampton Inns. Rooms are spacious and the beds are comfortable. The one thing I like about this Hampton Inn is that they have a full complement of cable television channels on the television. Many Hampton Inns use satellite systems that limit the amount of channels to watch.
As I said, it is one of the closest hotels to the Hill area of restaurants. A new Krieger's Pub is attached to the hotel property. There's an Imo's Pizza just down the street. It's about a five minute walk to Pat's Bar and Grill (see my blog on Pat's here), and one of the newer St. Louis barbecue joints, Smokin' Al's, is just around the corner on Hampton Ave.
Room rates run around $109 to $159 a night. (I'm a Hilton Honors Diamond member and they have a special AAA rate so I was able to get a room for $98 a night - but also take into consideration that the room they gave me had a window view of a brick wall. I'm not kidding.)
They don't seem to have any special weekend rates, but they do offer a slew of family specials including a "Build-a-Bear" family package (Build-a-Bear is based not far from the Hampton Inn and Suites).
For me, it's centrally located and has easy access to highways. It's something this area has needed for a long time. And it will be the place I stay while I'm in St. Louis on business.
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