It’s amazing how fast time has passed in the revitalization of Washington Avenue. The old Hotel Statler, rehabbed back in 2002 and rechristened the Renaissance Grand, has just received a $30 million renovation. The new name for the hotel will be the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel. Last week, the author was given a tour of the newly renovated public spaces and guest rooms by the hotel’s Director of Sales and Marketing, John Malkus.
First, a little bit of the background. The Statler chain chose the corner of Washington Avenue and 9th Street for their new fourth new hotel. The firm of George B. Post and Sons revolutionized architecture in office buildings in the final decades of the 19th Century, and St. Louis is lucky to have one its designs here. Post’s career spanned from just after the Civil War to the outbreak of World War I. In that time, this revolutionary architect gained credit for engineering the first office building with an elevator, the 1870 Equitable Life Assurance Building in New York City. Post would go on to segue into the Beaux-Arts Style which became popular at the turn of the 20th Century, focusing on a mixture of Renaissance and Neoclassical elements.
Ellsworth Milton Statler, the client, had already amassed a large fortune while in the process of creating one of the first modern hotel chains in the United States. His first hotels also pioneered the placement of bathrooms in each guest room. The firm designed the 23-story hotel around a central light well, and apparently always intended to have a second wing added. While that planned second portion did not materialize until the new millennium, the new Statler did feature air conditioning, a first for any hotel in America. Since George Post died in 1913, and the hotel did not open until 1917, most likely his two sons, William and Otis completed or originated the plans for the Statler in St. Louis. Local prominent architecture firm Mauran, Russell, and Crowell served as local architects for the New York-based Posts.
The renovation has preserved the two stunning public spaces of the old Stater: the Crystal Ballroom and original lobby. The lobby now functions as an event space, and its beautiful stucco ceiling decorations recall the Neoclassical designs of 18th Century interior decorator, Robert Adam. Eschewing gaudy colors, the room instead focuses on a cream and pale blue color scheme. Likewise, the Crystal Ballroom, on the top floor of the historic portion of the hotel, is easily one of the most beautiful spaces in St. Louis, and coupled with its spectacular views of the city, certainly one of the most striking locations for a meeting or wedding reception.
The new renovations leave well enough alone with those august spaces, and instead focused on updating the 2002 renovations. First and foremost, the front lobby has been completely re-envisioned, replacing the giant open atrium with a new bar just inside the front doors. The new decorative scheme does not seek to emulate the historic spaces, but rather focuses on a new modern look. Likewise, the restaurant, once relegated to the basement, has been moved up to the main floor. The new partitions show an influence of Japanese architecture with simple, black frames with frosted glass. A new store off of the lobby, as well as an expanded, brightly lit check-in desk complete the renovations of the main floor.
Upstairs, the newly refurbished guest rooms likewise continue the new modern design of the public spaces. Previously, the guest rooms attempted to continue the decorative scheme of the historic hotel, but this author found those old designs stuffy and quickly obsolete. The new designs are modern, with clean lines, muted tones and minimal cluttering on the walls. This is a new trend in St. Louis, where hotels are eschewing more dowdy decorative schemes and focusing on contemporary design. It is a welcome change, and the hotel is positioning itself for the next decade of hotel trends.
And it is learning from the past failures of the Hotel Statler. For decades, the old hotel was known for being out of date, tired, and eventually hopelessly obsolete. When the hotel finally closed its doors, it represented a failure for downtown St. Louis to keep up with the times. The rebirth of the hotel as the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel helps keep the city competitive as a major convention destination. The future for Washington Avenue, and arguably its most important anchor, the hotel, looks bright.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].
