I hate to put a pin in this balloon but I have not had the same glowing experiences at this hotel that others have had. I just completed my third stay and most likely my last.

The pluses; great breakfast, incredibly friendly staff, convenient to airport, quiet.

The minuses; room maintenance. engineering seems to have a don't care attitude about room issues.

The first time I stayed here was before their renovation. The place was a dump. When I checked out I saw a since announcing their upcoming renovation. A while later I had occasion to again come to Saint Louis and first made sure their renovation was complete and once I founf out it was done made reservations to stay again. Checked in and found the frig didn't work along with a couple of minor issues (burned out light bulbs). The next morning, I mentioned it to the front desk staff on my way out and they said they would have engineering look at it and take care of it. That evening I returned to my room and the frig was still broken and the bulbs were still out. Mentioned it again the next morning and they checked their log and confirmed engineering had been informed. Again I was assured it would be taken care of. Got back that night and the frig was still broken and the lights were still burnt out. I had to go back to the front desk and they called the night engineer who should up within the hour with a new frig and light bulbs. That should have been a warning but I didn't heed it.

So I just recently returned to Saint Louis and agian made reservations here. Got to my room and discovered no closet door and no tool bar by the sink. The mounts were by the sink but the bar was missing. Ok, no biggie so I stop by the desk the next morning and mention both things and was informed they were in the process of replacing the closet doors throughout the hotel and she made a note of the towel bar and would have engineering look at it. I figured that was a simple matter to take care of and would be completed quickly. I thought wrong. When I checked out a couple of days later the towel bar was still missing.

I really want to like this hotel. The staff is extraordinarily friendly, the lobby is gorgeous, the manager's reception and breakfast are wonderful but the attention to detail within the rooms are severely lacking. I have spent some 90 nights in various Hilton family Hotels this year and this is by far the worst when it comes to room maintenance. Its like they write it down and engineering puts you on ignore. Not even a phone message acknowledging they got your request but can't quite get to it yet. I am afraid, given this attention to detail, this place will soon resemble the dump it was before they spent all of that money renovating it. I traveled as part of a team and they all had various issues with their rooms so it was not me alone.

I think on our next trip we are going to be staying somewhere else.

We stayed at this Embassy from Nov. 2 to the 4th. All the employee's were friendly from the front desk, to the housekeepeers. The bartender was fast and efficent, especially during the free coctaiils recetion. My problem witht the hotel is that I left a note for the housekeeper for extra towels, we never received them. The note was gone and was replaced by the shampoo etc....
On Saturday at 3:00 pm we called the for an extra blanket, and by 10:00 pm it never arrived. My husband remember there was one in the car, he went down and got it for our son. I was not impressed with the breakfast. The employees who worked there were friendly though. I order my omlet and when I went to go make the toast, the bread was still not put out. The flavor creamer for the coffee was not working. The only choice of juice was orange or apple. Our room was nice. Though it seems the bedroom would be over warm and the living room (where I son slept on the sleeper sofa, was cooler).

I have stayed here plenty of times and my experience is always the same. Clean, quiet and friendly staff. They go above and beyond, my son saw there were no more bananas at breakfast and the staff volunteered to go to store and get him bananas because they were out. My son is 2 and had forgotten all about the banana in 2 minutes but it was just the point that they tried to make him feel comfortable. I would refer this hotel to all my family and friends that would visit the area and we will be returning

After three attempts, we finally made it into the parking lot. There is only one way in via one way on a divided highway. We found it... could see it... but couldn't get to it. The second attempt, we realized it must be down teh same entrance/drive as the hotel that has a sign at the road. Third time by, we took the road, and sure enough, it led us to the hotel.

Thats not really what led to my dismall review though. Co-worker and I checked in at 11pm after a day of building inspection work, and a 2 1/2 hour drive from central IL. Check-in was extremely slow, even though we had the desk clerk to ourselves. Got in my room and proceeded to print my boarding pass for the next morning, and make a quick call to check in with the troops at home. At midnight, I headed to the shower, as I was pretty dirty from the inspection work we performed that day. Turned the shower on and waited... and waited.........and waited. Luke warm at best; no hot water. Went to the sink; same thing. Called down to the front desk, and was told someone would be up. 10 minutes later, they called to say the hot water heater was out, and he was restarting it. At this point, I logged onto my computer to do some tasks I was planning to do the next morning. At 1am, I tried the shower. This time it was stone cold. Not even remotely warm. I waited 10 minutes and tried again. Same thing. At 1:10am, I placed a second call downstairs. This time I was told that I would just have to wait, as the hot water heater had been out and it was going to take a while to warm up. I explained my situation to her regarding my need for a shower. Her reply "well you're not going to get a shower tonight"! I was shocked, to say the least. At that point I decided I wasn't paying for the night since they were not able to provide all of the basic services included in the price of the room. it must have caught the desk clerk off guard, as her response was that I could not sleep there if I wasn't going to pay. My response was that I was not leaving and she could take it up with her supervisor inthe morning. At 1:30am, I took a super-fast cold shower in order to go to bed.

While all of this was going on, I had a chance to walk around the room and really check it out. While the bathroom was generally clean, Mold and mildew were abundant in the grout of the "newly" remodeled bathroom shower. The carpets in the living room had not been vacuumed prior to my stay. The busy print allows dirt, dust, crumbs, and just about anythign else to blend right in. Therefor, no need to vacuum.

Breakfast is the traditional Embassy Suites fare. However, don't get your heart set on 2% milk. When I inquired with the floor staff regarding it's dry state, I was informed that "it's the first thing we run out of". Okay!!

I found the bed to be comfortable, and the work space functional. Customer service however, is something to be desired. i find it hard to believe that hot water was out to the entire hotel, and i was the only one that noticed it. My co-worker said he took a shower almost immediately after checking into his room just after 11pm, and the water temp seemd fine. Who knows what the deal was, but it was not handled in a way I would deem appropriate.

Funny thing is, at a Hampton, if you even mention the smallest inconvenience encountered during the stay, they will immediately offer to comp the room. While a "free" night is nice, it only favor's my client/employer when I'm travelling on business. I am the one that had to endure the situation though.

While the property is freshly remodeled in a modern fashion, the location and customer service would prevent me from staying again.

On a side note, I did receive a voice message from a manager regarding my experience. My call back and message has gone unanswered.