nwmissouri

Soon celebrating 35th anniversary and need help finding just the right hotel/restaurant in KC. Do you have good/great experiences with either?

mjz

I would recommend the Fairmont on the Country Club Plaza. In my opinion, this is the best hotel in Kansas City. I live in Kansas City and have never stayed, but friends and family have and all gave positive comments. The Country Club Plaza is a remarkable area that provides great dining, retail and live music. I would recommend Plaza III for dinner. This is a nationally ranked restaurant with great steaks...as well as many other offerings.

If you have further questions, just ask.

sister2

I agree. You could walk to your restaurant then walk around the Plaza. No need to get in the car and drive anywhere. Safe at night, too.

Haeve fun!

paige

Fairmont at Country Club Plaza would be a great choice. Lots of restaurants to choose from in the area and shopping!

Stephie

While the Fairmont does have a good reputation as a high end hotel in KC, recent comments by some who have stayed there include some complaints about the indifferent less than helpful hotel staff, and tired rooms in need of face lifts.

Another option would be the Raphael a boutique hotel on the Plaza, not a chain hotel, more unique. www.raphaelkc.com.

And while the Plaza III is well known for serving great steak, it's been around for a while too, and there are some newer more chic excellent restaurants that have opened in recent years. To name a few: McCormick & Schmick's seafood, PF Changs, The Kona Grill, etc. all reputed to have great food. I'd keep your options open on that, maybe ask the hotel staff what they'd recommend, and call the restaurants to make sure you don't need to make reservations.

Happy Anniversary!

Keith

I echo the recomendation of the Raphael.

Or, since you are coming in the winter and might get nasty weather, either of the hotels at Crown Center. They are both nice and you could visit all the Crown Center and Union Station stuff without going outdoors.

Keith

Patrick

We've stayed at the Raphael twice and love it. It is nice, but not grand and not in the same league quality wise as a Ritz or Fairmont. I think all the rooms or at least most are suites. The last time we had a large suite and in the living room was a huge "dining table" with 12 chairs. I think the idea was you could use it as a conference table, but we couldn't stop laughing at the idea of inviting 10 strangers in KC over for dinner in our room.

TedTurner

I suspect the Raphael is a converted apartment or condo building. Given the rooms I've seen there I can't imagine how it would have been originally designed to be a hotel. And I agree with everything Patrick said. The Raphael feels more like an apartment-hotel. If space matters the rooms I've seen are large. But the luxury element is not there.

The Fairmont (previously Alameda Plaza and the Ritz Carlton) is in need of some refurbishment. It is the best overall hotel in KC for location and quality together, but has lots of little flaws. Ritz Carlton sold it rather than spend the money to try to bring it up to speed with most other hotels in that chain.

Kona Grill, McCormick & S, PF Chang are all chains, of course, and are not really special occasion type places. Most of the better restaurants on the Plaza are chains (Capital Grill, Ruth's Chris, etc). JJ's is independently owned and has possibly the best wine list in KC, located 2 blocks west of the Plaza, but the atmosphere is more homey than refined.
Lidia's (Italian) near Union Station is not a chain (Felidia in Manhattan (NYC) is its sister establishment) and offers the most interesting atmosphere in KC IMO, good Italian food (not on par with NYC, though) and good service. It's in restored freight warehouse, but a nice place, not as casual as something like PF Chang's.
Frondizi's is a block east of the Plaza, is not a chain, and offers a nice experience (Italian food). Moderately dressy type place. Its website offers menu and details.
The American Restaurant feels dated to me and unnecessarily stuffy, but you'll usually see it rated the best restaurant in KC.
Cafe Allegro was tops, but closed.

Patrick

I'm pretty sure that they told us the Raphael was originally a women's residence -- an apartment building for single women.

To agree with Ted Turner, picture the furniture and decor in a Fairfield Inn, for example. Everything is fine, but it sure isn't Ritz Carlton quality.

Keith

The Raphael was built as an apartment house in 1927. The restaurant in the hotel is a nice place for a romantic dinner.

Keith