Chase Park Plaza, St. Louis, MO, Ghid vizitatori și ce de văzut în apropiere

Chase Park Plaza is a large hotel and residential landmark at 167 Lindell Boulevard in the Central West End of St. Louis, facing the edge of Forest Park. It began as the Chase Hotel in 1922 and grew into one of the city's best known addresses for dining, dancing and overnight stays.

The story behind it

The Chase Hotel opened in 1922 on the western end of Lindell Boulevard, at a time when the Central West End was becoming the fashionable part of St. Louis. A companion building, the Park Plaza, followed at the end of the 1920s, and together the two blocks form the complex you see today.

Over the following decades the hotel became a social centre for the neighbourhood, with ballrooms, restaurants and lounges that drew visitors to the park side of town. After a period of decline and vacancy, the buildings were restored and reopened in the early 2000s, and they now serve as a hotel with apartments and dining under one roof.

What to look for

• The scale of the facade along Lindell Boulevard, where the older Chase and Park Plaza buildings read as one long, tall frontage.
• The main entrance and porte-cochere, where the hotel's formal 1920s character is easiest to appreciate from the street.
• The view across the road toward Forest Park, which explains why this corner became such a desirable address.
• The mix of grand early twentieth-century buildings and apartment blocks nearby, which shows how the Central West End developed around the hotel.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 20 minutes to look at the exterior and the entrance area, longer if you want a meal or a drink in one of the public spaces.
• Because it is a working hotel and home to residents, stay in the public areas and be considerate of guests. Check current opening hours for restaurants and bars.
• Late afternoon is a pleasant time to visit, when the light falls well on the facade and Forest Park is a short walk away.
• The Central West End has cafes, bookshops and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis within reach on foot, so it combines easily with a longer stroll.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in St. Louis, MO is a good way to take in Chase Park Plaza as one stop on a longer walk through the area. You reach each place on foot, the app tells you about it as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in front of what you are looking at. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Oz Escape in St. Louis gives the hotel and its streets an Oz-flavoured frame. You walk between stops, hear about each place when you get there and work out a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Oz Escape: A Wicked Glitch in St. Louis is a second Oz-themed route that passes the same landmark. You can start any time, with no guide and no group to join, and each stop comes with a short story and a puzzle. One ticket covers the whole group.