A Review of the Hilton Hotel at the Ballpark in St. Louis, Missouri

Last summer, my sister and I took a trip to St. Louis for her birthday. Since we were planning to see a couple of baseball games, we decided to splurge and stay downtown. We chose Hilton at the Ballpark as our hotel -and I am ever glad we did. I can't say enough good about this hotel. So many times, location is a prime selling point, and the location of Hilton at the Ballpark is fabulous. It is just a block over from Busch Stadium. There is a block between the hotel and the stadium. From what I understand, this area between the stadium and the hotel is going to be developed, but while we were there, it was just an empty area. But, because it was empty, we could actually see the baseball field and the game being played from the window of our hotel room. It was awesome.

I think the published check-in time was 3:00 PM. But, we were downtown St. Louis at 1:00 and I decided to call and see if our room was ready. It was, and we arrived at the hotel at 1:30 PM. I pulled up to the hotel and went inside to check in. The check in was quick and the front desk receptionist was pleasant. She asked if I planned to self-park or use their valet service. The pricing was reasonable, so I decided to valet the car. When I got outside, my sister has also decided that we should valet the car. The attendants already had most of our luggage unloaded and packed on a cart before I even got back outside. Talk about fast!

Once I had gotten my valet card, we went inside where a Bellman took us straight to our room. He noted the features of the hotel as we passed them. Once in our room, he unloaded our luggage and asked if we needed recommendations for lunch or attractions. We got recommendations for lunch and he headed out.

The room was amazing -the furniture, the location, the views -all perfect. I'll start with the room itself. The décor appeared to be new. The carpet was very soft and comfy. The bathroom was nice sized and had what I consider to be a luxurious shower curtain. The toiletries were top of the line too. I am still amazed at the luxury that was put into the bath linens.

Our room had 2 queen size beds. Each bed had 4 pillows. The bed linens were absolutely wonderful. The mattresses were just right -not too soft, yet not too firm. The sheets and pillowcases were soft and made you feel like you were in a cocoon of luxury. Each bed had a nice roll type pillow to add dimension and color.

The nice furnishings also included a very generous and comfortable chair and ottoman that sat next to the window. We also had a full length mirror with a nice heave wood frame that was free-standing. Oh, to have a mirror like that in my house.

The only thing that could outdo the furnishings was the view. I reserved a "ballpark view" room. I was pleasantly surprised that we could see the ballpark and even watch the games from our window. The window went from near the ceiling to about 2 feet off the floor and spanned the width of the room. From the window, we had not only a great view of Busch Stadium, but also of the city of St. Louis. When I was in the room, I spent my time sitting in the chair in front of the window.

Now that I have shared about the room itself, I think you might be interested in the hotel amenities that I sampled.

First of all, the front desk staff was exceptionally friendly, accommodating and efficient. My check in took less then 5 minutes, start to finish. The check out was equally pleasant. When we decided to valet the car, it took the attendant just a moment or two to unload our luggage and secure it to a cart. Then he took the needed information from us and provided us with a card we would need to retrieve the car. The Bellman was also incredibly helpful, courteous and friendly.

The gift shop was well-stocked with all of those travel necessities that you might need. And, the pool area was clean, comfortable and staffed by a pool attendant. I attended a couple of baseball games while I was in St. Louis. The hotel was within walking distance of the stadium -basically just across the street.

The room service menu had a good selection of different items and the service was quick and pleasant. I also tried the hotel bar and grill. It was nicely decorated, had good food and great service.

To finish up, I can honestly say that I will definitely stay at Hilton at the Ballpark on all of my future trips to St. Louis. The service at the hotel is second to none. The entire hotel was clean, comfortable and very nicely decorated. The amenities were luxurious, to say the least. I couldn't have asked for a better trip.