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The former Lennox Hotel, now the Marriot Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center. Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Photograph by Chris Naffziger
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Image courtesy of the Marriot Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center
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Image courtesy of the Marriot Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center
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Image courtesy of the Marriot Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center
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Image courtesy of the Marriot Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center
The area around the Convention Center has been undergoing dramatic changes over the last couple of years. St. Louis Centre was swept away and replaced with thriving street-level retail. Nearby, the Renaissance Grand has been reborn as the Marriott Grand. But just as importantly, the former Lennox Hotel, which became part of the convention hotel, is now the Marriott Courtyard St. Louis Downtown/Convention Center. Pat Lowery and Jeff Barone have renovated the hotel into a more intimate, boutique hotel in contrast to its massive neighbors.
The old Lennox Hotel, on the northeast corner of Washington Avenue and Ninth Street, was built during a critical moment in the history of St. Louis. It was the last hotel major hotel completed in the city in 1929, just months before the Stock Market Crash that plunged the nation into the Great Depression. The Lennox was also the last of the great hotels built around the theater district of downtown, anchored by the now lost Ambassador Theater and the nearby American Theater, among others. The Statler, now the Marriott Grand, and the Mayfair had already been completed nearby. Perhaps just how successful and booming St. Louis was in this era is illustrated by how such large hotels could spring up in such close proximity to each other.
Designed by Preston J. Bradshaw, one of the most prominent architects of the first decades of the 20th century in St. Louis, the Lennox Hotel cut a narrow profile on its street corner. Never a massive hotel like the Statler or Jefferson Arms, the hotel marketed itself as a more modern type of hotel, dispensing with large ballrooms or private dining rooms, in the words of its original promotional materials. Instead, the hotel focused in business travelers, with modern amenities such as private bathrooms. Originally clocking in with close to 400 rooms and a $2.5 million price tag, the hotel quickly established itself in the downtown hotel scene.
Bradshaw chose Renaissance Revival for the ornamentation of the exterior, with buff brick accented with white cream terracotta trim. For the most part, the hotel has not been modified, save for a spectacular mural painted during the building’s short life as an apartment building. Volutes, urns, and other swags molded in terracotta give the hotel a dignified appearance. Sadly, as this portion of downtown faded, so did the health of the Lennox. Closed sometime in the 1970s, the hotel languished like many of its neighbors until it was renovated in the early 2000s as the suites portion of the Renaissance Grand, the number of guests rooms cut down to a more manageable 164 rooms. The pairing of the old Statler and the Lennox never seemed to be an optimal arrangement, and the suites portion was closed and detached from the larger hotel several years ago. The author suspects that many St. Louisans did not even realize the old Lennox had been shuttered yet again.
Thankfully, this time around the remodeling into the Marriott Courtyard has returned much of the original luster to the hotel. From the street, the corner vestibule, with its original wood trim, has been cleaned and refurbished, giving the hotel a newly prominent entrance right off of the corner of Ninth and Washington. Amazingly, the original dark wood trim and green marble have survived the old hotel’s travails, and have been restored to their original appearance. One of the most fascinating and highly ornate details are the lobby’s elevator doors, happily preserved after all of these years. In addition, original works of art by Alicia LaChance accent the first floor. The lobby now serves as the center of the hotel’s public space, featuring a restaurant and bar along with a lounge and registration desk. While the footprint of the hotel on the ground floor is relatively small, it never feels confining.
Lowery and Barrone have taken the opportunity to improve on the renovation from a decade ago. First off, they made the decision to replace all of the windows in guest rooms, while simultaneously removing the walls between the bedroom and living room, allowing for a much more open and spacious suite. Surprisingly, the old hotel still had not replaced its old tube televisions, so the renovation also allowed for the installation of flat-screen TVs. The new furnishings of the guest rooms are more streamlined and airy, and the large windows offer inspiring views of the St. Louis skyline, particularly of the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge.
It’s really encouraging to see the large investments happening in the city, particularly along Washington Avenue near the convention center, which attaches to the hotel. What makes the Marriott Courtyard a strong competitor today revolves around what the old Lennox stressed in the past; its more intimate scale is an excellent counterpoint to the larger, massive convention-oriented hotels in the area. The careful mix of historic and modern shines in the now complete renovation.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via e-mail at naffziger@gmail.com.
