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Saint Louis · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Saint Louis Zoo

Ellie Brandt

Ellie Brandt Southeast Asia

Updated 1 September 2026 · 13 Saint Louis hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Saint Louis, out of the 13 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.4.

All five are within 2.6 km of Saint Louis Zoo.

Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park

Highest rated of the five

Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park

★★★★★4.5 from 2,073 reviews

Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 2,073 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 a 3 star property, found under poi and around $161 a night on the dates we checked.

13 hotels in Saint Louis qualified for this list and five made it. The Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza St. Louis is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park1

    Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park

    ★★★★★4.5 from 2,073 reviews

    1.9 km from Saint Louis Zoo, about a 24 minute walk

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    • The Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza St. Louis2

      The Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza St. Louis

      ★★★★★4.5 from 3,108 reviews

      2.6 km from Saint Louis Zoo

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      • Gothic Heights Inn3

        Gothic Heights Inn

        ★★★★★4.9 from 87 reviews

        2.2 km from Saint Louis Zoo

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        • Moonrise Hotel4

          Moonrise Hotel

          ★★★★★4.4 from 2,688 reviews

          2.4 km from Saint Louis Zoo

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          • The Knight Center at WashU5

            The Knight Center at WashU

            ★★★★★4.7 from 180 reviews

            2.5 km from Saint Louis Zoo

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            How this list was put together

            13 Saint Louis hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Saint Louis Zoo second, then 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.

            Ellie Brandt

            Ellie Brandt Southeast Asia

            Works weekends at an animal shelter and saves the pay for off-season flights. Hostels, night buses, and volunteering at animal sanctuaries for a bunk. Six countries in three years.

            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.