A Look At the Abandoned Once Great Millennium Hotel In St. Louis [Photos]

In 1965 The Gateway Arch was completed and became one of America's most recognizable landmarks. It was a time of growth and progress for St. Louis, and a luxury hotel, Stouffer's Riverfront Inn was opened to serve the tourists in 1968. Here's the sad story of the now-abandoned hotel known as the Millenium Hotel.

Opened in 1968, and expanded in 1974 the Millennium Hotel Complex consists of a plaza and several recreational facilities. There are two towers as well, the original 28-story tower built in 1968, and an 11-story tower built in 1974. When operational the hotel had 780 rooms and 19 suites and a revolving restaurant at the top called Top of the Riverfront.

In 1999 the property was acquired by Millenium Hotels and Resorts. Millennium Hotels and Resorts operates hotels in Asia, Europe, The Middle East, New Zealand, and The United States. In America, they own hotels branded under the Millenium name on Broadway and Times Square in New York City. The Biltmore Los Angeles and The Knickerbocker in Chicago. They even own a rather plain Comfort Inn in Avon, Colorado near Vail. That's just naming some of their properties.

As of August 2022, Millenium still owned the property according to the St. Louis Business Journal. They told the business publication the hotel was closed pending refurbishment to address any past issues. Yet the thrust of the Journal's article was an exploration of the City of St. Louis' limitations when dealing with large, vacant, buildings.

The news got worse in early March when an urban explorer showed photos on a Facebook page, Krispy's Adventures, and caught the attention of KSDK 5 News, who detailed the sad recent history of the abandoned hotel.

They talked to The President of Lodging Hospitality Management Steve O' Loughlin, a second-generation hotelier, who provided a thumbnail history of the property to KSDK 5 News:

"My dad was the general manager of the Hilton Hotel in California. And then he had an opportunity to be a GM of Stouffers. So in 1976, it was originally Stouffers, and then it had a name change to Clarion and then to Millennium. And then, of course, it went dark in 2014. I had my first job at the Millennium."

While there has been some talk of doing something with the property, The KSDK 5 News article asserts that Millenium doesn't seem interested in selling the property, renovating it, or even entertaining offers to do something with it.

The KSDK 5 News article quotes O'Loughlin talking about the vision he sees for the sight. That vision includes apartments or condos, some retail, restaurants, and piggybacking on the success of Ballpark Village.

It's amazing to me that Millenium hasn't redeveloped or remodeled the property. One look at Krispy's Adventures shows there are spectacular views of Busch Stadium and The Arch, ones that might be hard to find at any other St. Louis area hotel.

Without delay, let's go back to 7 years ago and take a look at the abandoned Millenium Hotel in St. Louis. Back then, it seems like it wouldn't take much to get the hotel up to snuff and get it reopened. These days, it's a lot rougher around the edges.