A fabulous weekend getaway! My husband and I spent a long weekend in St Louis for his birthday and stayed at the Drury Plaza in Chesterfield. It was a FANTASTIC choice!
The magic started when I booked the room: They have special rates for veterans, so I was able to get a great room at a great rate. The hotel is pet-friendly, and that includes cats (which isn't always the case at pet-friendly hotels). There is a pet charge, but Laura in reservations assured me that our kitty would be welcome, and we even spent a few moments trading cat stories. Many thanks to Laura for her kindness and assistance!
When we arrived, Ken at the front desk was SO helpful!! He was extremely welcoming, giving us tips about restaurants and things to do in the immediate area. He was also our bartender during the Kickback Buffets (more on that later), and is absolutely the soul of hospitality. Many thanks for such a great introduction to the Drury Plaza! Thanks also to Sarah, who gave us an extended checkout time (until noon) so that we could make it to a church service on Sunday before returning to the hotel to pack up.
Our housekeeper was Viriana; everything was impeccable and smelled fresh and clean. The room was lovely; very open and plenty of space for our luggage and all our kitty things. The armchair was a great place to sit and read or watch TV, and the office chair at the desk was perfect when working on my laptop.
The beds were quite comfortable, and there was a selection of pillows of varying firmness, so my husband and I could choose the ones we wanted. The location of the room was splendid; we were on the second floor, just off the stairwell at the end of the hall, away from the elevator, so it was very quiet. We could easily take the stairs up and down from the main floor, where everything was located (the dining room, pool, and exercise room). Even though there were large parties two of the nights we were there, we were not disturbed by the noise; the rooms must be fairly soundproofed.
The breakfast buffet was a hot breakfast, with eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes, waffles (via the waffle-maker), pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, pastries and fruit--and of course, juices, milk, tea and coffee. The Kickback Buffet was great--every night there were selections such as chicken and pasta, pulled pork sliders, and steamed vegetables, as well as options like hot dogs, nachos, and build-your-own baked potato. They had a full bar, with beer, wine and various liquor choices, and each guest could order three free drinks each night. Wow!! Most of the time, we ended up eating dinner at the Kickback Buffet! Special thanks to Riza at the breakfast buffet and Sal at the Kickback Buffet; they were both very welcoming and helpful, especially during our first times navigating the buffets.
The exercise room was well-equipped, with treadmills, elliptical trainers, a stationary bicycle, and two weight-training stations. It was open 24 hours a day, which was very convenient. The pool is indoor and outdoor and open from 9 am to 10 pm; I used it only once because of the crowds (being summertime).
The hotel has some nice environmentally-friendly practices: most of the dishes, cups and silverware in the dining area are reusable, and there's a clearly marked area for guests to return their tableware for cleaning. The soap, shampoo and conditioner in the bathrooms are in wall dispensers, which eliminates the packaging of single-use containers for these products. Guests can ask for reduced or no housekeeping, to allow reuse of towels and bed linens. The only recommendation I would make is to have recycling bins located in the public areas; I didn't see any, so we brought all our recycling home with us.
The hotel is very conveniently located at I-64 and Hwy 340. This made it easy to get into the city as well as out to towns surrounding St Louis, such as Washington, Augusta and Hermann. It's very near Hwy 94, the "wine road" of eastern Missouri. There is a restaurant attached to the hotel (Stoney Creek Steak House), but we never ate there because the Kickback Buffets were so plentiful. They have both underground and above-ground parking, at no cost. The immediate area is primarily office buildings and is kept up and very safe; beyond the offices are residential areas, which are very nice.
We have always stayed in downtown St Louis when we visit, but from now on our choice is the Drury Plaza Hotel in Chesterfield! We love it!