What it is

A sleek Midcentury-inspired retreat where floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the Gateway Arch and the chef is a James Beard award winner.

What it isn't

Lacking a pool. In fact, this one is on the 8th story rooftop and flanked by a bar and private cabanas.

What we think

When you book a hotel in Paris, you opt for one in view of the Eiffel Tower. In St. Louis, peeping out on the Gateway Arch—designed in 1963 by Eero Saarinen—is all but required. Guest rooms here echo the iconic sight with streamlined efficiency; expect blonde woods and mossy velvet upholstery against a palette of soft gray. (Bonus: each has a glass-walled rain shower, marble-lined bathroom and outsized footprint, with most rooms starting at 511-square-feet). Guests and locals alike jockey for tables at Cinder House, helmed by James Beard Award winner Gerard Craft; the South American-inspired menu includes prawns a la plancha and piri piri chicken with gooseberries and polenta.

You're here because

The hotel has an eight floor Sky Terrace that’s the perfect place to take in the cityscape, thanks to fire pits and note-perfect cocktails.

The Moment

After a 60-minute vinyasa yoga class in the spa, you beeline to your treatment room. Today’s delight: a cane sugar, olive oil and citrus body scrub before an orange and chamomile whipped shea butter massage. In other words, absolute bliss.

Restaurants & Bars

Cielo - Authentic Italian cuisine

Cielo Bar - Cocktails

Location

Set directly on the Mississippi River, which separates Missouri from Illinois, the hotel is a mere two block walk from the 630-foot-tall Gateway Arch park and the Old Courthouse, where onetime enslaved person Dred Scott sued for freedom.