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Alton · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels near the main square in Alton

Andres Molina

Andres Molina Latin America

Updated 1 September 2026 · 45 Alton hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Alton, out of the 45 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 5 down to 4.3.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $170.

Private Bluff Top Cottage above the Mississippi River

Highest rated of the five

Private Bluff Top Cottage above the Mississippi River

★★★★★5 from 176 reviews

Private Bluff Top Cottage above the Mississippi River comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 5 from 176 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is found under city centre and around $170 a night on the dates we checked.

45 hotels in Alton qualified for this list and five made it. Green Tree Inn of Elsah is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Private Bluff Top Cottage above the Mississippi River1

    Private Bluff Top Cottage above the Mississippi River

    ★★★★★5 from 176 reviews

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    • Green Tree Inn of Elsah2

      Green Tree Inn of Elsah

      ★★★★★5 from 146 reviews

      • Parking
      • Kitchen
      • Air conditioning

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    • Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Airport3

      Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Airport

      ★★★★★4.5 from 1,436 reviews

      • Pool
      • Spa
      • Gym
      • Restaurant
      • Bar
      • Parking

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    • Wingate by Wyndham St. Louis Airport4

      Wingate by Wyndham St. Louis Airport

      ★★★★★4.5 from 348 reviews

      • Pool
      • Gym
      • Restaurant
      • Parking
      • Pet friendly
      • Air conditioning

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    • Comfort Inn Edwardsville - St. Louis5

      Comfort Inn Edwardsville - St. Louis

      ★★★★★4.3 from 650 reviews

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      How this list was put together

      45 Alton hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

      Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

      The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

      What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

      Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

      Andres Molina

      Andres Molina Latin America

      Field seasons take him to cloud forests, and he adds two weeks of his own on either end to see the country rather than just the research site. Nine countries in Latin America.

      Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.