We will be in Kansas City for 2 nights and wondering where is a nice area to stay. We will not have a lot of time as we plan to visit the Truman Library in Independence during the day. Is there an area that you might enjoy restaurants and maybe a little shopping?

The Country Club Plaza is nice and has lots of shops, restaurants, and, I think, at least one hotel (we never stayed there).

The Country Club Plaza area has several hotels from moderate to very high end. All are reasonable walking distance to restaurants and shopping. Also, if you are interested in history you might enjoy staying at the Westin or Sheraton at Crown Center. You could walk to the WWI Memorial which is quite good and visit the Union Station. There are several good restaurants and the hotels are attached to an indoor shopping mall.

The Plaza is the best place to stay. There are a couple of hotels- the Rafael and I think the other is the Intercontinental.

Jack Stack BBQ is a good place to eat but I prefer Oklahoma Joes ( not on the Plaza).

When are you arriving? KC is near the end of a streetcar project that would connect the Crown Center area to the River Market, through the Power and Light entertainment district. I personally am looking forward to a visit after its completion to try that out. Until then, the Plaza as mentioned has shops and dining and plenty of hotels. The Nelson art museum and Kemper modern art are also near there.

We will be there the 1st week in April.

Here is what i was referring to.

http://kcstreetcar.org/

It is vague on when it will be open. Not sure why I look forward to visiting and using this. Just different I suppose. Wish it went clear to the plaza, but that would be a long route.

sunburn1944 - Have you tried q39? It's our new favorite BBQ - although Joes's is very very good. q39 is not far from Plaza / Westport area. Worth trying. Chicken Wings are excellent as well as other items on the menu. They have a great cocktail selection.

http://q39kc.com

Tidy - Not sure what days you are going to be here or when but here are a couple of fun things in KC that we enjoy - this would be fun if you are here this weekend/ first weekend of the month.

http://www.westbottoms.com
http://kccrossroads.org/first-fridays/

People travel from all over everywhere to go to this store also.
www.nellhills.com

Hendrini- don't get to KC often anymore. Used to live there but most of the reasons to visit are gone.
Q39 sounds great. Wish I had some burnt ends for dinner tonight.
Live in Oregon now and they have a lot to learn about BBQ here.

The streetcar system is set to be up and running on May 6th. Those of us who live here are interested to see how it comes together and how it will be used.

The Plaza has many hotel options--in addition to the two already mentioned, there is also a Hampton Inn and Suites, a Sheraton, a newer upscale Hotel Sorella (west side of the Plaza) and a Marriott Courtyard (east side).

I would also not hesitate to recommend the Crown Center area and its Westin and Sheraton hotels, especially if you enjoy history due to its proximity to the WWI museum--if that's not on your to-do list when you are here, it should be as it's outstanding.

Bitter - I just heard on the news the street car is running as "practice" now- yesterday was the first day they had two streetcars doing practice runs on the street - but it won't be running for public transport until May.

hendrenl , thank you for the tip about Nell Hill, it looks like something I would really enjoy. Now I need to find a place to stay. I messed up I thought it was KC, Kansas and now I realize it is KC, Missouri.

The metro area is half in Kansas and half in Missouri. You could easly tour the metro from either side. If you want to be in a scenic area where you can walk to shopping and restaurants, I would go with the Country Club Plaza or Crown Center area, which are both in KCMO.

I highly recomend visiting the Steamboat Arabia Museum. We have taken all of our out of town guests there and most of them still talk about it.