ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – A new hotel opened in downtown St. Louis – giving hope to the industry after the pandemic.
“The historic value for one was one of the reasons that they chose this building,” Antoinette Fisher said, referring to the historic Shell building in downtown St. Louis. “This will be the first property that they have in the Missouri area.”
Fisher is a first-time manager of the new Home2 Suites and Tru Hotel by Hilton which now occupies the Shell building after it sat vacant for nearly 10 years.
“When you have older buildings, a lot of people don’t want to put that much time and effort into them, but I think it says a lot for the community. It builds the community,” Fisher said.
The Hilton brand is just one of several to repurpose historic buildings into hotels in recent years.
“The outlook for travel and tourism, particularly in the downtown core of St. Louis is very, very upbeat, from the standpoint that we’re becoming an entertainment center,” Brian Hall with Explore Stl said.
There are over 7,700 hotel rooms in the urban core of St. Louis with over 500 more in the pipeline to open in 2023 and 2024.
“We think that hotels are a fantastic opportunity for us to continue, from an economic development perspective, the trajectory and return to downtown St. Louis,” Hall said.
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