Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel

Pre-stay issues: Where do I start with just how horrible this hotel is? I guess it starts with their sister property booking rooms when it is closed for rennovation. So, the call center moved us from Le Meridien to this property. The problem was that this property's management knew nothing about us, our stay, or even that their sister property is closed. Two separate individuals acted like they didn't believe us. Which is just poor customer service. Issues with the stay: The lady at the front desk (Keke or Kim) was very unpleasant. She clearly hates her job. Further, the A/C is broken. They've sent 2 engineers who guess at what is wrong with the unit and "fix" it temporarily. The room is fine, but definitely not a "premium" hotel. The Rembrandt in Kansas City is much nicer, better staffed, and better maintained. This is obviously a "business class" hotel, akin to a Fairfield Inn. Do not expect USB-C outlets; its all out-dated type-A. The bathroom is attrocious to try to get ready in. There is no makeup counter, desk, or mirror. And the bathroom has the passive style ventilation, like a Drury Inn. It takes 5 minutes (not hyperbole) for the hot water to finally come on in the shower/tub. Also, do not expect room service for breakfast. They really push their buffet and severely limit what is otherwise available for breakfast. It doesn't help that all the in-room coffee is dark roast either. The only reason this hotel seems to exist is to serve the convention center across the street. So, if you aren't here for a convention, please stay somewhere else for your sake.

I stayed at the Marriott St. Louis Grand while attending a conference. The hotel’s biggest advantage is its location. It’s within walking distance of many downtown attractions, restaurants, and the convention area, which made getting around very convenient. Unfortunately, nearly everything else about my stay was disappointing. The first issue was customer service. Before arriving, I called to add my wife’s name to the reservation so she could check in and receive a room key before I arrived later that evening. Instead of helping over the phone, the front desk staff simply told me I would need to use the chat feature in the Marriott app. The interaction felt dismissive and unhelpful. I had also reserved a room with one king bed. When we checked in, we were informed that no king rooms were available and were given a room with two full-size beds instead. It was disappointing to arrive and find that the room type I had reserved was unavailable. The hotel itself is clearly showing its age. While I understand that older hotels can still provide a great experience, the guest rooms are in need of significant updating. The furnishings, finishes, and overall appearance feel dated. The biggest problem, however, was cleanliness. When I first entered the room, I immediately noticed a heavy layer of dust on several flat surfaces, especially the bedside table. There was enough dust that you could literally draw lines through it with your finger. The most concerning issue occurred on our second night. The comforter accidentally slid off the bed, exposing the inside surface. We discovered what appeared to be a large blood stain, a large urine stain, and a separate blue stain on the comforter. This was unacceptable and honestly made us question the cleanliness of the entire room. I called the front desk to report the issue. They promptly sent an employee to our room, but instead of bringing a replacement comforter, he arrived with only a flat sheet and a blanket instead of a comforter. To make matters worse, he left the stained comforter in our room rather than taking it with him, leaving us to deal with it ourselves. While I appreciate that they responded quickly, the response did not adequately resolve the problem. Overall, the excellent location is the only reason I’m not giving this hotel one star. The combination of poor customer service, failure to honor the reserved room type, outdated accommodations, cleanliness concerns, and an inadequate response to a significant housekeeping issue left me very disappointed. I would recommend looking at other downtown St. Louis hotels before choosing this one.

This actually a mixed review of the Marriott St. Louis. We attended the National Baptist Congress this week and the location is great. It’s right across from the Civic Center and there are plenty of restaurants in the area. Keke, Rikki and Itayvia were fantastic in helping us with many things while we were there. I can’t say enough about them. Exceptional! But, there was one problem that could have been catastrophic. On the last day I texted and requested my car from valet parking. There had never been a problem because the response text was always your car is being delivered. This time the text said my car had already been requested. I asked the head valet and he said he would take care of it. Did that mean someone had taken my car earlier? It took over 30 minutes for the car to be delivered. Eventually I saw our car driving up and I went to get my wife and luggage in the lobby. When we returned the valet had given our vehicle to someone else. We looked and saw our car getting ready to turn onto the side street. I had to run and catch them and tell them they had the wrong car. I don’t know if they had a ticket or not. But they were certainly driving away in our new car. Valet parking needs to verify tickets before releasing a vehicle because if it happens again, someone will be on the hook for a lot of money. Hotel score 10. Valet parking 0.