Hotel Ignacio in Midtown-Grand Center
Hotel Ignacio recently added a gorgeous new retro-style neon sign atop the building. We think it’s one of the best new neons in downtown/midtown. If you have photos of neon signs (old or new) and you don’t mind sharing, please send it to info@countondowntown.com for an upcoming post about NEON, NEON, NEON.
Earlier story from April 2011 about Hotel Ignacio:
- The man and the hotel: Ignacio
Another project made possible by historic tax credits, the long-awaited Hotel Ignacio, opened its doors at 3407 Olive Street. The hotel sits next door to developer Steve Smith’s Triumph Grill, Motomuseum and motorcycle dealer/store MotoEuropa. A cooperation between The Lawrence Group and Saint Louis University, the project was completed at a cost of just over $ 16 million. The hotel will be managed by Equis, a division of Mullenix that runs several hotels in the St. Louis area.
The 51-room Ignacio in the 106-year old Morgens building is internally connected to Triumph Grille as is MotoEuropa on the north side.
Landscaping to the east of main entrance
51 rooms in two wings
Valet circle at main entrance
Aesthetically pleasing front desk and lobby area
Café on Olive Street side of lobby area
Clean design and simple lines
Comfortable seating with indirect lighting in lobby
Tiled floors with mosaic inlays
Contemporary furniture and art throughout the hotel
The north wing on the Locust side
Hotel Ignacio is yet another addition to the already hot Midtown Alley neighborhood. In just a few years several new offerings have been added in the immediate proximity. The earlier mentioned Triumph Grill, Motomuseum and MotoEuropa are situated next door and the P.W. Shoe Lofts, including annex Field House Pub & Grill recently opened across Locust street. Just a couple of blocks east, the new Plush multi-level venue is slated to open this summer and a block north from there Urban Chestnut Brewery opened its doors a few months ago.
Maybe Hotel Ignacio and the KWMU St. Louis Public Radio building, soon to break ground just west of Grand, will be the catalysts for more development to come in the Grand Center /Midtown Alley neighborhoods.
PDF of project highlights for Hotel Ignacio.
The Ignacio is a beautiful place and should be a welcome addition to midtown. But I do wonder about about guest safety as regards parking. Here are my concerns:
Is all parking valet? Or can you park yourself?
If you park your own car is it on a surface lot across the street? What are security issues there?
Does the hotel hire the best people to work at the hotel and to park cars; not just filling these job slots with hard-to-employ urban youth?
Great addition to Midtown. Enjoy reading your blog.
In response to Jack-
You can park yourself. We parked in the lot across the street the night that we stayed at Hotel Ignacio with no issues.
I know a few employees at the hotel and they are college educated, upstanding people. Not “hard-to-employ urban youth”.
“Hard-to-employ urban youth”?!?!? Really guys? You may as well just come out to say, “black youth”. And aren’t there “hard-to-employ” suburban youth? And by the way, black youth can be suburbanites. And can’t “urban youth” be “the best people” to work at the hotel and to park cars? FYI, “non-urban” youth aren’t always the best employees either.
It’s really sad that the code words and broad stereotypes here really messes up an otherwise good thread topic.
I’m really feeling the awesome sign.
I can’t help but compare the starkly different fates of the Hotel Ignacio building and the Pevely building. It is interesting that the same organization is celebrating one building with investment and new signage while tearing down another, along with its existing neon sign and insisting that it could not be saved !