My family would frequently pass through downtown (on then Interstate 70) on our way to South St. Louis. Long before I stepped inside, I would see the green lines that supported the windows of the lobby facing the arch. At night, the lights of the lobby and dining would have a certain glow to it, one I had never seen before, and haven't since. I was drawn to the millennium (then Regal Riverfront). Many trips down interstate 70 past the structure, I'd see those green lines and lights, and long to get inside.
Flash forward to 2010, my then girlfriend - now wife decided it was time to stay at the Millennium for two nights. We arrived on a beautiful fall afternoon. We ascended to the 21st floor and took in the views. We had a south facing window with views of the river. Even though it was after Labor Day, we still headed to the pool - which was still open. It was cold, but worth it. Later, we ascended to floor R - (as it was marked on the elevator.) We still joke if R stood for Restaurant, Roof or Rotate!
We sat down to dinner just as the St. Louis sun was going down, about 6:30 PM. From there, we got to see the highlights of St. Louis all from above. This was the first time I'd ever been in a high floor in downtown St. Louis, so it was quite the treat. The full trip around took about an hour or so. We watched the moonrise to the east, as we enjoyed a lovely dinner.
The next day, we enjoyed breakfast in the very area I had driven by many times in the lobby. We then explored the lower level. It was seemingly un-ending, and I enjoyed exploring how it connected to its other building as well as the parking garage across the street. On our 2nd night there - the fire alarm went off! So, down we went 21 floors of stairs to the street. We never found out why it went off, but it is something we still talk about to this day.
I was the drummer for the Dana Kinsman Trio, which played at the Top of the Tower, as it was called back in those days, circa 1979 to 1981. Dana, George Lehman, bass guitar, and I were there 5 or 6 nights a week playing everything from the '20s through the early '80s. Dana was a Bing Crosby-type crooner who, if one closed their eyes and just listened, might have thought Bing was in the room. Dana, an exceptional entertainer would come in and listen to the room's ambient musical note, sit down at the piano, and play the note on the piano and announce it to Georgeand me---"It's a C# tonight, gentleman." "Swanee," "Ain't Misbehaving," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Woodchopper's Ball," Moonlight Serenade," "Manhattan Skyline," "Feels so Good," and a crowd favorite, Dana's rendition of "My Kind of Town"---replacing "Chicago is" with "St. Louis is," treated every patron, young or old, to a song they knew and to which they could sing and dance. I can't even begin to think of how many people we entertained during our run---had to be thousands. We were set up in the middle of the restaurant, just to the right of the bar, looking across the river toward East St. Louis---beautiful, panoramic views every night. As a young, professional musician in St. Louis, I couldn't have had a better gig!
And I wish I could remember her name, she tended bar every night I was there. Bl8nd, wore glasses, and alwats looked sharp in her black pants, vest, and bow tie! We could never connect because when I asked her out, she was dating someone. And, of course, when she asked if I still wanted to go out, I was dating someone else! It just wasn't meant to be!
Great restaurant, great times, great memories!
We took a risk having a November wedding back in 2008. Typically November has a chance of snow, with anything after Halloween likely to end up with cold, windy and wet weather - but we lucked out. When we woke up the day after Halloween after dressing in costume for our rehearsal dinner - Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo - we woke up to a beautiful, sunny fall day. And after we were married in Lafayette Square and took pictures in Kiener Plaza, arguably the most impactful day of our life led us to this beautiful downtown hotel. We celebrated with a few hundred of our best friends that night, taking pictures in their beautifully windowed spaces, overlooking the river and city. In the morning we caught up about the festivities for brunch in the rooftop restaurant. It was the perfect cap to our beautiful day, that now has led us to 17 years together, two beautifully creative kids and five STL businesses. It's a memory and a place we'll never forget, as I'm sure many other can relate too.
For our 7th wedding anniversary, we brought our two sons to a special brunch at the top of the Millennium Hotel. The food was great and views were amazing - including the newly opened Busch Stadium.
I was a 'houseman' there from 1969 to 1970. Our job was to set up tables, chairs and the dance floor in the main ballroom, we also set up the smaller conference rooms. One time, Edger G. Robinson attended a meeting in one of the smaller conference rooms. After they left we had to remove the tables and chairs and I saw he's name on a placard. (I wish now I had taken it). The main ballroom could be extended by removing the panels on either side. It was a massive ball room when those panels were hidden away. I met many nice people while working there. In the basement to the right of the escalator was a bar called the "Grog shop' which was typical of so-called hip bars and nightclubs of that time. The waitress worn sheer stockings and short bottoms, think of a Playboy bunny outfit.
One last note, my dear departed beloved brother (Gary) was the manager of the ballrooms for part of the time I worked there.
My parents knew it as Stouffer's Riverfront Inn and the Regal Riverfront Hotel. However, I only know it as the Millennium Hotel. I will never forget the one occasion I was able to have dinner in the revolving restaurant. Although the meal was amazing, the highlight was the iconic view. I have attended several dances (parties) in the early 1990s-2000s. A time was always had. I believe the groups putting on the parties was Breakaway Productions back in the day. Unfortunately, I am unable to find photos due to a house fire. However, I will always have my fond memories of the Millennium Hotel.
We ate at Top of the Riverfront after my 8th grade graduation (1991). It was the coolest place I could think to ask my parents to take us. I made the mistake of taking my dress shoes off under the table, then had to chase one of them, as it had stayed on the perimeter while the restaurant (and I) turned on without it!
It was Monday, September 6, 1971 and I turned 6 years old. My big sister, Sheila was 18 years older and treated me like a princess. She promised to pick me up from school and take me to the Top of the Riverfront Restaurant to celebrate. It was such a fancy restaurant for a little girl but that's the kind of thing she would do for me. I wore my favorite navy blue dress with bib suspenders trimmed in red to school. It had a beautiful flair when I twired around. Since I would be playing on the playground during the day, I wore a pair of red shorts underneath so no one would see my underwear when I was on the monkey bars. After school, she picked me up at we went to her apartment to freshen up and then on to the restaurant for dinner. I remember being so excited when they sat us in a window seat. I remember standing on the crack so my feet would separate as the room revolved and the platform remained stationary. That was the coolest thing in the world to me. The view was spectacular and I felt so special to be the birthday girl getting a fancy dinner with my big sister. Afterwards when we were leaving and going down an escalator to the parking lot, I spun around in my dress once I got to the bottom and she roared in laughter when she saw my shorts underneath my dress. I told her I needed to so the boys wouldn't see my panties.
I lost my big sister in 1994 to due a carbon monoxide accident. I miss Sheila dearly but the memories we shared especially at the Top of the Riverfront Restaurant will always be cherished. I am now 60 years old and share this memory with my adult children.
My late wife and I wanted to celebrate the year 2000 in style! We joined her sister and brother-in-law for an NYE dinner at Millennium. There were two seatings 8pm and 11pm. The 11pm was booked so we took the 8pm. We all gathered in the lobby and watched fireworks through the beautiful glass windows (I don't remember if it was before dinner or after, but grateful that there were TWO celebrations that night!), then went up to [or came down from?] the restaurant for dinner and a "spin" around downtown. My wife was in a wheelchair and I was very grateful that the restaurant and fireworks show were accessible. That was a new thing then. It was a wonderful experience and I'm sad that it is gone. It was something that my generation valued and I get that subsequent generations value something different. Happy memories!
For the CBC Prom night, my boyfriend wanted the night to be extra special. While friends of his were going elsewhere for dining, he decided to treat us to the Top of the Tower, it was called. Wow, what a magical night it was, he in his black bow tie tuxedo and me in my white dress. I imagined it was a marriage night as I was so in love. He ordered oysters on the halfshell and what an experience for a north county girl like me. Having never tried them, he coaxed me for a long while; he even showed me how it's done to swallow them after using the sauce. The whole experience, coupled with the spinning panoramic views of St. Louis, made the night one I've never forgotten. Oh, and I DID get the oysters down, my first and last time! What an iconic experience it has been to have the 'spinning' hotel in our fair city.
In the 1980's, my mother would take Bob & me along with our daughter, Kristine, and son, Rob (both under 12 years old at the time), to the revolving restaurant on top of the Stouffer's Hotel. The full revolution probably took about an hour so we could see all areas to the west, north, east, and south as we had our brunch/lunch. Our son, Rob, remembers going to the restroom and when he came out would have a hard time finding where we were sitting. :-) Fun memories!!
My husband, dead 8 yrs now, and I went to our first NHRA race in 2007? and we spent the weekend at the Millenium and had dinner in the AWESOME restaurant on "TOP",, The food was so good and there was a baseball game so we even had fireworks over the river to watch!,, it was THE MOST romantic and BEST FOOD EVER (steak just melted in your mouth!!! I will NEVER forget our time there!! It was the most special weekend we ever had!
I remember attending the Platinum Star Trek Convention (1986). There was a dinner for attendees. At the dinner Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) sang a couple of songs for the attendees.
This was one of the best nights having all the family and friends from near and far gathering for a happy occasion, a wedding. Capturing this memory means a lot. He was so happy.
My group of high school friends ate at the revolving restaurant at the top of building for our senior prom. We thought we were so grown and fancy! The views and ambiance were spectacular.
If you'd have told me 20 years ago that I'd be writing a sappy social media post about this hotel on a Thursday morning , I'd have said you were crazy. If you had this on your 2025 bingo card, go ahead and put a chip down, because that is what's happening.
The Millinium Hotel in St. Louis will be or already has finished being demolished this week.. which was not totally unexpected as it has been abandoned for some time. It once stood as a great titan over the city, bustling with activity and business. No longer..
At one point though, a little boy bounced up and down these halls with overwhelming intrigue and excitement . If you happened to have a room here back in the early 2000s, there was a decent chance I was there. Sitting at the bottom of the elevator just waiting on more Cardinals players to come by.. or running down to the card shop to see what I could get for a few dollars to try to get autographed later.
Every year, for a chunk of my childhood, Greg Petty would haul our little group up to the Millinium Hotel in January for the St. Louis Cardinals Winter-Warm Up. I got to meet some of my favorite players there .. like Edgar Renteria and JD Drew. I got to meet Hall of Famers like Tony La Russa and Lou Brock. I got to meet future managers like Mike Matheny and Joe Girardi. As well as many others.
More than anything, I made many happy memories. Core memories .. whether it be after a Cardinals win in May or on a frosty January night, feeling that cold wind blow in every time the automatic door opened for another guest, still waiting for that one last Legend to walk through the door.
In the end, this hotel will go down as legendary in my book. Thank you for housing so many great memories. I hope I was able to breathe a bit of that life back into you, one last time
One of the more memorable stories is when I had the opportunity to work along with the Secret Service advance detail and Welcome President Gerald Ford to the Hotel. Here I was a guy who grew up in St. Louis North County, standing in front of one of the best hotels in country, shaking hands and welcoming the President of the United States to our city and our hotel. For someone in their mid 20's it didn't get much better than that!
Five kids, under the age of ten. I booked a room for a very special vacation to see St. Louis, the Arch, and a Cardinal’s game. The desk clerk gave us an upper floor room with, as he put it, tremendous views of Busch Stadium. As I opened the door and the kids saw the view, they went running to the window. My wife envisioned them actually pushing the window out and falling to their deaths (she had a fear of heights), so made them back away from the window and had me stack whatever furniture that could be moved, as well as our luggage, to block the window - and the tremendous view! By the way, we also didn’t look out the windows at the top of the Arch! Great memories we still laugh about!
This was back before the time of smartphones, you didn’t have the Internet everywhere you went. So to pass time I would read. I remember reading the last Harry Potter book on the bottom floor of the Millennium Hotel waiting for people to come swim and they rarely did .
I attended several large sports celebration dinners in the large "ballroom" on the lower level. It was the best venue among St. Louis hotels for such events. When the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame was established about 18 years ago, I was among the founding committee and we picked the hotel to host our first induction dinner. As it turned out, we had the very last event in the hotel. I recall there were rumors among the staff that the hotel was closing. We thought it was just rumors. Turned out to be true. We were the very last event there. Sad. We loved the room and the location but the was obvious the rooms were very dated. We used to have out planning meeting in the revolving restaurant on the top floor.
Ron Jacober
St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame
