Trip Report - Late July, 3 nights

Question

I thought I’d do a small trip report of our recent trip to St Louis. First time to the city for both of us, we came as we are actively ‘chasing’ the TX Rangers at all 30 MLB stadiums, this was our 20th, so we’re 2/3rds of the way there now - with the balanced schedule now - is speeding up the ‘chase’ for us now. Husband and wife, 30s.

We stayed 3 nights at the Magnolia part of Marriott. It’s a historical building on the National registry. The lobby is nice, but the rooms could do with some work. The agent was nice to upgrade us, not sure of the exact room types, but she upgraded us to have a little sitting area. However due to the age of the hotel, the rooms have such weird floorplans with narrow corridors. You opened up the room to a narrow corridor, small sitting area and then other narrow corridor to the small bedroom. The bathroom was a small square aswell. The room was alright, no outlets in the sitting room to charge your phone or trash can oddly. Only one outlet by the bed, not one on the other side. Bed was comfy enough, shower was decent. I believe housekeeping was on request, which we did and they came both days, just making the bed and changing the towels, however on the latter day they left us with no towels! The toilet seat was broken when we first checked in, as well as hair on the bathroom floor - that stayed there our entire trip.

I did struggle to pick a hotel to stay in Downtown St Louis and wouldn’t choose to pick this hotel again. The free cookies at 8pm were nice though, we only managed to get once though as our other nights after the baseball games they were gone.

Anyway, I said I’d keep this brief, but I’m not very good at that. I’m not going to do a play by play of our days. More just thoughts, observations, tips for others coming to the city.

Downtown is pretty desolate, there isn’t much going on. On our daily walks between the hotel and Busch Stadium, on 8th st you don’t walk past any bars or restaurants. We never had a drink after the game as there wasn’t anywhere to really go Downtown apart from Ballpark Village. Which we checked out on Wednesday before the day game, it was pretty blah. We have a Live! at the Rangers Stadium and that can be pretty dead but had more atmosphere than Ballpark Village. I wanted to check out some of the bars south of the Stadium but it was too damn hot, we were in an excessive heat warning most of the time we were in town. It was one of the first times we only drank waters during the games, no beers. Only the drinks we had were at Live! on Wednesday.

It was good at least our hotel was by the convention centre as there were a couple decent restaurants here, Sauce on the Side - really good calzones and I’m usually not a fan of calzones. We hit up Snarfs every morning for breakfast sandwiches and Starbucks inside the Marriott next door for coffee. We ended up having ribs at Sugarfire which weren’t bad, not as good as Kansas City ribs. I’d read St Louis wasn’t as good as KC for its bbq, but as they are called St Louis style ribs, we wanted to give them a go. We tried to go to Bogarts on Tuesday for the lunch but they were sold out for the day.

The Convention Centre area was still a bit off putting, we took the metro into downtown from airport and got off the Convention Centre stop and groups were hanging around outside the movie theatre on Washington Ave, we noticed security guards too. We hit up the Dollar General Express a couple times, and overheard one member of staff quitting as she wasn’t going to work if they didn’t have security present - she wasn’t going to die, were her words. Chatting to one of our rideshares drivers, someone had recently been shot at the nearby Shell Gas Station.

Though we heard these things, we never witnessed anything, didn’t feel uncomfortable on the streets during the day, we only walked back from the stadium on evenings and felt fine. It’s just such a shame the downtown area isn’t doing well. On 8th St there was a some construction going on and closed sidewalks plus a lot of dog poop on the sidewalks!

We choose not to rent a rental car, as we didn’t want to pay for parking downtown and could get around most places using either public transport or rideshares. However we only ended up using public transport once from the airport to hotel. I would have used it more, if it wasn’t for the heat while waiting for the transport as well as lack of frequency - it was just quicker and more convenient to take rideshares. We paid less in rideshares than we would have done 3 days parking at the hotel. However with a car we could have explored more of St Louis - though the primary reason of the trip was baseball and why we chose to stay downtown.

Food wise we did have some good food but nothing that blew our socks off. As said Sauce on the side was good. Enjoyed the bread from Snarfs. Sugarfire wasn’t any too really write home about. We went to Mamas on the Hill for lunch one day, the plan was to do it on our Sunday night, but were still too full from our late lunch that day. We had the Seafood linguine and Linguine Diablo both were very good, my husband commented his Diablo didn’t have enough sauce on for him, but I thought it was fine. His Diablo had more seafood than my seafood linguine. The shrimp and scallops were both good though. We tried the Toasted Ravioli to start, wouldn’t get again, much prefer fresh ravioli. Didn’t see what the fuss was about.

We tried to go to Roosters our last morning for breakfast, I checked in ahead on Yelp so we could be seated straight away hopefully as it was only a 5 min wait. However, the staff didn’t even seem to know about the Yelp waitlist. It looked as if they were under staffed, overwhelmed and weeded. They weren’t seating half the restaurant and the tables that were sat, none of them had food. We ended up leaving.

Food at the stadium, we tried the Pastrami Dog, which was my husbands favourite, I think it was his favourite thing he ate on the entire trip, the next day he tried the Pastrami Sandwich and said he should have gone for the dog instead. We tried Mission tacos, got the chicken ones, they didn’t look like much but had good flavour. We also got Dinger Donuts which were good. I must say the lines at the concessions at the stadium were small, if any - which is a nice change. Usually you are missing multiple innings of the game, waiting for the food. However for the day game, we sat in the Redbird club, these concession stands, you did have to wait at and took time, which was unfortunate.

On to Busch Stadium, nice stadium. We didn’t get to explore too much due to the heat and lack of AC. We did a lap around the lower concourse the first night and damn it took forever to cool back down. I like the big blue Monster hydration stations they had throughout the stadium. We did all three of the Rangers game. The first two games we sat behind the visitor’s dugout and then for the day game we sat in the shade of the Redbird club. The majority of the Redbird club were shaded, apart from the first two rows on the visitors section. I don’t know how anyone sits in the direct sun for a July day game!

We walked around the Zoo on Monday and sweated our butts off. Wouldn’t recommend going to zoo in the summer months, too hot and not many of the animals are out. We saw a lot of empty enclosures. The penguins is a great, little ac spot.

We walked over to the Art Museum afterwards, I like its initials of SLAM. We had to coatcheck our water which is understandable but also a pain. Not many restrooms in the museum. However we really enjoyed some of the art they had, including their Impressionism pieces and Contemporary collection.

We went to Ulysses S Grant Historical House one day, it was a good job with didn’t get there too early as they house didn’t open til 10:30am. Interesting stop to visit. We checked out Grant’s Farm afterwards, the tram tour is nice. It was already very hot, we enjoyed our free beers. Didn’t venture to see the Clydesdales in the parking lot as it was too hot and we were on foot. They were none in the stables at the main grounds. Shame you only get a glimpse of the mansion, we missed getting a photo of it.

We ended up going to Anheuser-Busch Brewery after Grants and decided to do the tour as we wanted to see the Clydesdales, the VIP tour for them was sold out for the day. However we really enjoyed the basic tour. $15 for a 75 minutes. We weren’t planning on doing a tour at AB but I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting St Louis. We have done a lot of brewery tours, but the facilities here, the architecture is beautiful from the previous century. We were also very lucky and got to see two Clydesdales walk through the stable and meet and pet both the Dalmatians.

We were going to go up the Arch but after seeing the vehicles you go up in. My husband is a big man and doesn’t like highs, I’m a little claustrophobic and it just wasn’t gelling. I couldn’t imagine fitting five people in those little trams. I would have loved to go up but it didn’t happen this trip. We also got caught in a massive rain storm while at the Arch.

We had rain every day while in St Louis. The rainstorm the first day. Rain in the morning the second. Baseball got delayed the third day thanks to afternoon rain and then the fourth day it had a little sprinkle after the game, which was no big deal but D.C. had bad weather and our flight got delayed 2.5 hrs!

We had a good time in St Louis, probably wouldn’t come back in July. But would go back to Busch Stadium in a cooler month.

Answer

It sounds like your trip to St. Louis was a mix of highs and lows, giving a very realistic picture for anyone planning a similar visit.

Accommodation-wise, the Magnolia Marriott is a historic property with a charming lobby, but the room layout and maintenance issues you encountered suggest that it may not be ideal for everyone. The upgrade to a room with a sitting area was a plus, though the narrow corridors, limited outlets, and housekeeping inconsistencies were notable downsides. While free cookies were a nice touch, overall it seems the hotel didn’t fully meet expectations.

Downtown St. Louis seems to be in a lull, with limited dining and nightlife options outside of Ballpark Village. While safe during daytime walks, the desolate streets and occasional construction or sanitation issues could make it less appealing for extended exploration without a car. Taking rideshares instead of public transport made sense given the heat and limited schedules.

Ballpark Village is available for post-game drinks but was described as underwhelming compared to Live! in Texas.
Convention Center area has some decent restaurants, such as Sauce on the Side for calzones and Sugarfire for BBQ.
For breakfast, Snarfs sandwiches and Starbucks inside the Marriott are convenient options.
Mama’s on the Hill offers solid Italian fare, including seafood linguine and linguine diablo.

Busch Stadium provided a good baseball experience, especially with seating options like the Redbird Club to avoid direct sun. Concession lines were manageable, which made for a more pleasant game day experience.

Pastrami Dog was a highlight of stadium food.
Dinger Donuts and Mission Tacos provided tasty alternatives with minimal wait times.
Overall, stadium experience was enjoyable despite the heat and lack of AC.

Daytime attractions included the St. Louis Zoo, Art Museum (SLAM), Ulysses S. Grant Historical House, and Grant’s Farm. While the zoo in summer was uncomfortable due to heat and many animals being inactive, the penguin exhibit was enjoyable. The Art Museum provided impressive art collections, though restroom and coat check logistics were inconvenient. Grant-related sites and Anheuser-Busch Brewery offered interesting historical and interactive experiences, with the brewery tour being a particular highlight for the architecture and opportunity to see Clydesdales and Dalmatians up close.

Anheuser-Busch Brewery basic tour ($15, 75 minutes) highly recommended for history, architecture, and interactive experience.
Grant’s Farm tram tour enjoyable, but summer heat can make longer walks uncomfortable.
Arch visit was skipped due to personal comfort and tram constraints, which is understandable.

Weather was consistently rainy, affecting game schedules and sightseeing plans. Overall, the trip was enjoyable, particularly the baseball focus, but summer heat and downtown limitations suggest visiting St. Louis in cooler months might offer a more comfortable and satisfying experience.