Upcoming trip to St. Louis - I need help!
 

I just booked our plane tickets to St. Louis. Will arrive Fri morning and depart Sun afternoon.

There are several things I can't decide:
Where to stay?
Should we rent a car?

I know for sure we want to visit:
St. Louis Art Museum
Pulitzer Foundation
St. Louis Zoo
Anheuser-Busch Brewery
Gateway Arch
And possibly, Scott Joplin House

Ideally, I don't want to rent a car, and just take the MetroLink. Is that possible? Seems like staying in downtown is the easiest?

But, I want to stay in an area with good restaurants within walking distance, and I get the sense that downtown is quite dead at night? What about the area near Forest Park?

I also prefer bidding a hotel on Priceline, but looking at the zones on PL, I either can bid for downtown or for Forest Park/Clayton. The FP/Clayton area is huge, and looking at biddingfortravel, the hotels in FP/Clayton are in downtown Clayton, which is not near the Metrolink. How difficult it is to stay in downtown Clayton and go sightseeing without a car?

Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome!

BTW, we're cheap. We're looking for cheap hotels (<$100/n), that's why I want to try Priceline.

I think you'll need a car in St. Louis. And I'd choose Clayton over downtown, but that's just my personal preference.

Take a look at the recent thread titled "Whirlwind trip to St. Louis"

Someone who recently visited St. Louis and took metrolink. I personally would find using only public transportation a complete waste of only a three day weekend.

When is your weekend? Downtown is dead at night. I would certainly suggest staying in Clayton and renting a car.
I've never looked at how priceline assigns St. Louis Hotels. I'll take a look and see if I can come up with any suggestions.

Thanks. I did read the recent trip report thread. That person stayed in downtown and used only public transportation, that's why I am wondering if I can get around without renting a car.

According to BFT, the recent PL wins in Clayton/Forest Park are the Sheraton (7730 Bonhomme Avenue) and the Crwone Plaza (7750 CARONDELET AVE). I believe they're across the street from one another, and located a few blocks East of Shaw Park.

Are there plenty of restaurants within walking distance in that area?

If we stay in Clayton, how is the parking situation in downtown St. Louis area on Sat & Sun?

I don't think parking in downtown St. Louis on the weekend is much different from Dallas, Houston, or say Indianapolis. That is, you can probably park wherever you want for free or nearly-free.

Get a car.

I just realized that the Saturday we'll be there (March 11), is the day of the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

It starts at noon and here's the parade route:
http://www.irishparade.org/parade/route.html

I assume that'll make downtown quite a mess to visit (and difficult to find parking)?

Maybe we'll stay west of the city on Saturday, visit the Art Museum & the zoo, and then drive into downtown on Sunday to visit the Arch.

The public transportation in St. Louis, the MetroLink, is currently not passing through the Clayton area; it is under construction and will be completed by summer, but not by April.
Unfortunately, you will need a car to travel from Clayton to Downtown.
However, it is easy to MetroLink from Downtown to Forest Park, where the Art Museum and Science Center are located.
Anheuser-busch Brewery is a few miles south of the Downtown area, and therefore a car is required; no MetroLink connection.
The parade will make the Downtown area crazy and full of people; could be fun, or not, depending upon what you prefer.
Clayton area has many restaurants, but is primarily a business district (no shopping) so night-life is very quiet, apart from the restaurants--no real bars either.
The Soulard area, near the brewery, is a very fun and active night-life area: many restaurants and bars filled with jazz, rock and blues music.
I suggest staying downtown, and then just grabbing a short cab ride to Soulard if you want night time activities.
YOu may need reservations at the Pulitzer Foundation.

I would probably rent a car. Metrolink is not very extensive and things downtown are spread out. A car would give you easier access to neighborhoods such as the Hill and the Central West End. You can't get from Clayton to downtown without a car.

I would probably stay in the Central West End or Clayton if you are looking for somewhere close to restaurants.

If you stay downtown, try to stay closer to the arch. Many people stay in hotels near Union Station, but there isn't really that much here (I work right behind it) and its about 20 blocks away from the riverfront.

Tracy

I spent 60 a night on priceline staying downtown, and that was June when the Cardianls were playing. Downtown is dull. The art museum is actually very good, wonderful mid-size collection.
You probably do need a car.

Hi,

Writing this from St. Louis... so I hope I can be of some help. St. Louis has wonderful neighborhoods but unfortunately they do not all connect by walking or the Metro. St. Louis is really trying to revitalize the downtown area and it is catching on a little but it's going to take awhile for it to be established. Downtown is most active during the day unless there is an event like the St. Pat's Parade or Strassenfest, which is a big German festival in fall.

Saying that, I would rent a car. If you are sans kids, the downtown area has three areas that have a bit of night life... Washington Avenue is a street where all the trendy clubs are and the Soulard area, just south of downtown, has all the great blues and jazz bands playing. The third is Laclede's landing, which has bars and restaurants.

Looking at your itinerary I'd say that those are pretty fun things you have planned. One thing I would look in to is the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org.) It is a blast for kids and adults alike.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to help.

Amy

If you do decide to get a car while in the St Louis area here are several places just across the river in IL you may enjoy.

Lewis and Clark Center in Hartford
http://www.campdubois.com/

Cahokia Mounds
http://www.cahokiamounds.com/cahokia.html

I'm glad you read that "Whirlwind to St. Louis' thread, only because that although the OP did do St. Louis without a rental car, I think she states that she wouldn't do that in the future.

I checked on Betterbidding.com and Biddingfortravel.com they seem to have different hotels listed as what is available in the clayton/forest park area on Priceline. However, I think this option would be much better than staying downtown, especially because of St. Pat's Day parade and traffic.

I'm confused about your question:


"If we stay in Clayton, how is the parking situation in downtown St. Louis area on Sat & Sun?"

Are you asking that IF you stay in Clayton, and IF you rent a car, and IF you want to go downtown, will there be any parking issues?
Only because it is St. Patricks day celebration, I think downtown bars and clubs (Laclede's Landing, Washington Ave. and Soulard) will all be quite busy. Friday night parking downtown should not be a problem.

Pulitzer Foundation for the Art is only open on Wed. 12-5 and Saturday 10-4. Next door is the Contempory Museum of Art, also worth a look.

Amy (sunshine_daydream), hello to another St. Louisan! Where about in St. Louis do you live? I actually live in Glen Carbon, IL, near SIUE, but I work downtown behind Union Station. I don't see many people from St. Louis on this board...its nice to know there are more of us out there! :)

Tracy

Thank you all for your input. You've convinced me to stay in Clayton and rent a car to get around.

I think there's a Frank Lloyd Wright's house somewhere outside of St. Louis. We might check it out if we have the time.

The Frank Lloyd Wright house is in Kirkwood at Ebswoth Park 120 North Ballas Road Kirkwood, MO 63122 . see http://www.ebsworthpark.org/

Not very far from Clayton hotels, about 11 miles.

Hi Liz-

I was just checking out the FLW's house on the web. Have you been? Is it worth it? I'll have to call to make a reservation 2 weeks in advance. I'm not sure how to fit everything in right now.

Anyone else been to the FLW's house in Ebsworth Park?

Are there any good restaurants around Pulitzer Foundation for dinner?

I bought tickets for a chamber concert by the St Louis Orchestra at the Pulitzer Foundation for Saturday night. The concert starts at 7:30pm. I hope it ends by 9:30pm? Are there places still open for dinner around there?

Also, can anyone comment on the Puck's Restaurant inside the St Louis Art Museum? The Art Museum is open until 9pm on Friday night, so we may just eat there if the food is good.

No, I have not yet been to the FLW house, although I hear it was a good restoration job. Maybe somebody else can comment.

My favorite site to look up restaurant is saucecafe.com. There are not too many restaurants around the Pulitzer (Grand Center area).

Look at restaurants in the Central West End (CWE). A bit west of Pulitzer and should have many restaurants open at that time. After you look, come back and ask any specific questions about which restaurants appeal to you.

Also, those CWE spots are close enough to SLAM, also search Clayton restaurants if you are staying there. I hear mixed things about Puck, but I've never been.

How about Tony's? Is it really as good as the reviews? The last seating on Sat is 11:30pm.