Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced on 19 October that Hyatt Centric Downtown St. Louis has opened at 1501 Washington Avenue, describing it as the first Hyatt Centric hotel in Missouri. According to the company, the hotel has 142 guestrooms and occupies a building that dates to 1910.
The Building
Hyatt said the eleven-storey building was constructed as the headquarters of the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company, a major early-twentieth-century St. Louis shoe manufacturer. It described the design as Sullivanesque, with slender vertical columns, ornamentation and Art Nouveau influences. The release did not name the owner of the property.
Rooms are described as having contemporary, industrial-inspired decor, natural light, high ceilings, oversized windows and city views, and some include a dedicated sofa seating area. The hotel is pet-friendly.
Dining, Meetings and Amenities
The lobby restaurant and bar, The Link, serves locally sourced New American dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Hyatt said, with menu highlights including toasted ravioli and a pizza from a wood-burning oven. The restaurant is named after Theodore C. Link, the architect of St. Louis Union Station. The hotel also has a lobby bar, Provisions, a 24-hour market, and Expedition, a seasonal rooftop bar and pool that Hyatt said is open for lunch and dinner throughout the week in spring and summer.
For events, the hotel offers about 11,750 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, including a ballroom for more than 200 guests, plus a 24-hour fitness centre. Hyatt listed nearby attractions as the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, City Museum, Forest Park and the America’s Center Convention Complex.
General manager Bill Tirone said in the release that the hotel brings the city’s history forward rather than treating it as a backdrop. Brad Dean, chief executive of the destination organisation Explore St. Louis, called the opening a strong vote of confidence in the downtown area and in the future of the visitor economy. Hyatt is also offering a New Hotel Member Bonus Offer that earns World of Hyatt members double points on the room rate and eligible incidentals.
Why It Matters
Converting historic commercial buildings into hotels is one way cities bring older downtown properties back into use, and this opening places a branded hotel in a structure tied to St. Louis’s manufacturing past. For the city, the hotel adds meeting space and 142 rooms in a district close to its convention centre and major attractions, which Explore St. Louis has welcomed. For Hyatt, it extends the Hyatt Centric brand into a new US state. How the hotel performs will become clearer only as it trades, and the announcement itself offers no occupancy or investment figures.
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