Americas Best Value Inn St. Louis Downtown

I brought my group of high school students here when we traveled to St Louis for a robotics competition, it was one of the only hotels we could book within the city.
Sundeep Patel, is the manager, he was accommodating and somewhat paranoid about us booking 12 rooms for our team, and asked for several credit cards.
After getting everything straightened out, we only ended up staying one night after one of our students found a bag of methamphetamine in the pull out sofa. We were unsure if the small bag actually contained meth at first, but Sundeep’s stark reaction was very telling that this was obviously something illegal that shouldn’t have been left in the pull out sofa. We told Sundeep Patel we had to leave because it was a major and obvious liability issue with our students.
He agreed and said THANK YOU FOR YOUR DISCRESTION, WE WILL NOT CHARGE YOU FOR YOUR NIGHT HERE. Well, now it’s 2 weeks later, he charged us for every room. So our discretion is out the window at this point.
The door jams were beaten up to the point where the doors barely shut and locked, the elevator reeked of urine, the smoke free rooms smelt like smoke and mildew (one of our students with slight asthma was incredibly sick after trying to sleep the one night we were there), their maid carts had less cleaning supplies than my college dorm room and the disgusting outdoor carpeted stairs were coming apart.
One of our students had this to say «It was super dusty I could barely breathe. I felt like my lung collapsed and the stench of cigarettes was everywhere. If my eyes were closed I would have said we were in a cigar shop.»
Despite the close proximity to the Edward Jones Dome, I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. Their manager, Sundeep Patel, is clearly a manipulative person who is only interested in money and not the well being of his customers… not even children.

Proximity to the Edward Jones Dome is really the only reason you’d choose this hotel over any other in the city. The outside is rough and the rooms look dated, although everything was working and clean. The only parking is paid parking, and although the price per night is cheaper than most other downtown hotels, it’s not cheaper by much. But, if I were going to something at the Dome, I’d stay here again.

Like the other reviewers, I agree that you are basically staying here to pay a little less than some of the area hotels. However, my rate plus tax was $ 100, so I would hope for a lot better than what my group received. We were on the non-​smoking 3^rd level, but all of our rooms we tried smelled like smoke. One of the rooms still had a used wash cloth and used bar of soap in the bathroom, next to the newly laid out packaged soap. None of my party felt comfortable taking shoes or socks off the entire time we were there. I felt bad for the guy working the front desk, as he was the only staff at the hotel for the night and was not able to leave the desk to help us clean up the room. Anyways, I would not recommend this place unless you truly need a bed and are comfortable with the smoky smell.

I stayed at this motel during the summer (mid-​June) so yes, my review is a bit late. But better late than never, as they say.
I was really pleased with this motel. I only stayed here one night so that I could take my dad to a baseball game and be on our way the next day. Parking was great. We had a UHaul that I thought would be an issue, but the front desk staff was very kind about letting us park it there while we were at the game and overnight. Even though it wasn’t the best area, the UHaul was untouched and we didn’t have any real issues with the area.
The actual hotel room was better than expected. Clean, nice layout, fridge and microwave. The walls may have been a bit thin but we were so exhausted from driving that you really could care less about neighbors making noise.
Free breakfast is another highlight! Regardless of the fact that the breakfast was pretty basic, it was free. Free coffee and pastries. No one can actually complain about that.
I will say that I think the price was a bit high for what you get but compared to all other hotels in the area, I would gladly pay it again. It’s close to the arch, baseball stadium, downtown, highway on-​ramp. Really convenient. You can easily walk to those places, though beware of traffic, but we took a cab and it was only $ 10.

Hotel very clean. Excellent service. Only complaint is that your neighbors make lots of noise after cardinals games.

If you use your hotel as your vacation destination then find another place. But if your destination is St. Louis and you want to be downtown, close to the arch and everything else, then book a room.
With all the terrible reviews we expected to not even be able to stay one night. We were very pleasantly surprised when we check into the room. The room is dated, but was very clean and secure. The beds were comfortable. The service was exceptional. Staff was very helpful and always available.
Continental breakfast consisted of fresh donuts every day, coffee and orange or apple juice.
Parking is free — compared to $ 10 or more per day at other hotels, so when pricing make sure you ask about on-​site parking costs at other hotels in the area.

Room smelled funny. My particular room had low water pressure but they did warn me about it. Also kind of pricy.

For what it is, I think this inn is pretty great.
Now let’s be honest. If you’re staying here, you’re staying here for the price and nothing else. There are much nicer, more convenient places to stay, but America’s Best Value Inn’s discounted rate ($ 64+taxes) was basically $ 40 less than the next cheapest hotel in the area. I was only staying a night and planned to be out most of the day, so this was perfect for me.
The hotel layout has outdoor entry, unlike every other hotel in the area. I had a room right across from the elevator, so I kept the curtains closed for privacy. No outdoor light. That was no big deal though. The room was a good size, with a fridge and microwave as well! I might have had a bigger room since it was a handicapped room, but I’m not sure since I haven’t seen any others. The bed was really comfortable, and the AC/​heater worked very well, and quietly. It was clean, including the large bathroom.
My one complaint would be the thin walls. I could hear snoring from next door.
The front desk staff was very friendly and helpful. Check in and out were a breeze. In the morning, there were Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the lobby, along with coffee, tea, and juice.
Location-​wise, it’s very close to the freeway and you have to be careful when crossing the streets. It’s about a 15 minute walk to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and Gateway Arch. Not bad at all.
There aren’t many amenities here. It’s a no-​frills motel, basically. But for the price you pay, I don’t think it can be beat.
Read more about my travels at

It was cheap and since we were there just to sleep… it was fine and within walking distance from where we needed to be.
We did find a bed bug the first night but they moved us to another room. Staff was friendly helped us print our boarding passes. I would bring my own towel though… not too soft and bad if you have sensitive skin.
but it was fair for the price.

OK, picture this — you’re driving through middle America all day when you decide to pull off somewhere in St. Louis, but you’ve never been to the city before and you really don’t know where to stay for the night. You only have a half day to spend in the city so you want to stay somewhere downtown, but you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg. If that’s the situation, this is the place you go. It’s super affordable, located right next to the Arch, football stadium, a casino and the water. The rooms were clean enough for me. No frills, but no grossness inside either. The outside areas definitely could use a remake, but I really didn’t mind. Front desk was super pleasant too.

I chose this place for the cheap price of one night and convenient location. For the price of it, it wasn’t worth it. I should have paid a little more at a different hotel for the one night we were in the downtown area of St. Louis. Convenient location to the riverfront and a short walk to the Arch, but this place is a dump. As soon as we checked in and saw our room, we decided that we were going to spend as much time outside of the hotel doing things around the city and only go back for sleeping purposes.
Location:
The hotel is located right next to Lumiere Casino which is where we spent most of our evening. It was nice to kick back and have a few drinks and then walk across the street into our hotel. The Gateway Arch was about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. The only bad thing about the walk was there were not many sidewalks in the front of the hotel due to busy streets, so we had to walk toward the river behind many buildings to get to some sidewalks.
Staff:
We did not have many interactions with the staff other than the same woman for check-​in/​check-​out. We checked out early and asked if we could leave our car in the parking lot so we could spend a few more hours in the downtown area. They had no problem with our request.
Room:
The walls were paper thin. The people next to us were skyping and we could hear their entire conversation. (It wouldn’t have been so bad, but this conversation lasted late into the night and then again early in the morning. we had no need for an alarm clock.)
Here is my take on the cleanliness: (mind you, I am quite a clean freak)
Neither myself nor my boyfriend were able to will ourselves into the shower because we were scared of what was crawling and growing in there. The remote was never touched because it looked as if it had never been wiped clean.

Man this place is a dump. Excellent foresight for what’s coming next right? Well not quite, read on.
I have enough gall to admit I have stayed here twice. It was the cheapest hotel we could find on the Landing, and when you are out until 6 a.m. and only plan to spend 5 – 6 hours in a hotel you don’t expect much. The location is great. It’s a short walk to any club/​bar you want to go to on the Landing, and best of all — the hotel doesn’t charge you $ 10+ to park. As for the price, I believe it was between $ 85-​$ 95 to stay there, before taxes. There is no internet there… I think they may have said they had a hookup in the check-​in office, but you have to be really desperate to check your myspace to do that don’t ya think?
The bed felt like someone nailed some disgusting bar fly there the previous night… more disgusting than the one my friend tried to bring back… but that’s beside the point! It creaked, it wasn’t comfortable and there were black smudges on the pillowcases. The toilet was broken… (so he shamelessly pissed in the shower) … the shower curtain rod was smashed through the wall… and the television remote only had one battery… dude you have to be one piece of work to steal a battery from a hotel television remote.
It’s cheap, it’s dirty and it’s a place you don’t want to tell your significant other you were at. And I wish I knew at the time there were hotels like the Hilton on Olive that were close to the same price.

I had an excellent experience with this motel. This is by far the cheapest place to stay in the downtown. It is right near the riverfront, and only a short walk from the arch, from a bunch of restaurants, and a metro station, and you’re near the metro headquarters to boot if you need to pick up schedules. The area here used to be mostly industrial so if you look at an aerial photo you might say – I’m not walking through THAT neighborhood, but there has been a new casino, hotel, and coffee shop built along that street so it is much more active and safe than it probably used to be. Also, the lot is fenced in on most sides and has security cameras, for what it’s worth.
The room itself was very nice. The bed was comfortable and everything was very clean. The A/​C unit was quiet and worked very well. I only have a few minor complaints: the bathroom shows a lot of cosmetic wear and tear. While it was clean and everything worked fine, it did look rather beaten up. The rest of the room was in pristine condition. My other complaint is that there is a lot of noise from the interstate which is right out the window. And lastly, the lighting is a bit low – you need to turn all the lamps on to brighten the room: one is not enough.
There was free wireless internet. Although the signal was a bit weak from my room in the third floor on the corner, the internet itself was very fast and reliable. The breakfast was pretty simple, but they had donuts, and they were very good.
As one last recommendation if the management ever reads this, I think in the long run it is imperative to plant trees between this building and the interstate. There are currently a few bradford pears and cedar/​junpiers planted – these won’t cut it. Not only do they look pretty unhealthy now, but they don’t get tall enough to really shut out the noise. I would recommend planting some much larger trees, such as a sycamore, northern red oak, sugar maple, or silver maple. Silver maples especially are fast-​growing and grow well in cities so that would be the easiest choice. Personally, I would plant a variety of trees.
I would certainly stay here again and would recommend it. You can easily pay three times as much to stay in the downtown, and in my opinion, that’s just not worth it.