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The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis
Clayton, Missouri, United States · Ritz-Carlton · Core Luxury
Clayton's benchmark luxury hotel since 1990 houses the largest dine-in wine cellar in St. Louis and a restaurant, Casa Don Alfonso, built around Sorrentine recipes passed down by the Iaccarino family, the same family behind the Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 on Italy's Amalfi Coast.
- 299 rooms
- Opened 1990
- Neighborhood: Clayton Business District
- Rooms from 530 sq ft (49 m²)
About The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis
- Clayton is the seat of St. Louis County but has never been inside the city of St. Louis, a split that dates to 1877.
- Casa Don Alfonso cooks Sorrentine recipes from the Iaccarino family of Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 on the Amalfi Coast.
- The dine-in wine cellar is, by local count, the largest in St. Louis; the address is 100 Carondelet Plaza.
History
Clayton, Missouri, occupies a curious position in the geography of Greater St. Louis. It is the county seat of St. Louis County, but it has never been part of the city of St. Louis proper — a peculiarity of Missouri municipal law that left Clayton independent when the city and county separated in 1877. Over the following century, that independence proved advantageous: as businesses, law firms, and financial institutions found reasons to locate outside the city limits, Clayton accumulated the professional and corporate infrastructure that made it Greater St. Louis's financial and legal capital by the late twentieth century. The Arts and Garden District, where the Ritz-Carlton sits at 100 Carondelet Plaza, is a short walk from Forest Park — the site of the 1904 World's Fair and still one of the largest urban parks in the United States — and within easy distance of Washington University.
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis opened in 1990, one of roughly eight new Ritz-Carlton hotels that opened that year alone as the brand was in the midst of an aggressive expansion phase under William B. Johnson's management. Clayton's corporate density and its position as the real financial heart of Greater St. Louis made it a more logical choice for a luxury hotel than the city of St. Louis itself at that moment, and the hotel has spent more than three decades serving the law firms, financial institutions, and corporate headquarters that constitute the neighborhood's economic base.
A comprehensive $27 million renovation in 2020 refreshed all public spaces, updating the hotel's visual language while preserving the sense of grounded permanence that a property in its fourth decade of operation earns. The dining program has evolved into one of the hotel's more distinctive features: Casa Don Alfonso, the hotel's Italian restaurant, draws directly on the Iaccarino family recipes from Sorrento — the same family behind the Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 on Italy's Amalfi Coast. Executive Chef Yalcin Arslan, appointed in 2024, continues that Sorrentine inheritance. The RITZ Lobby Lounge operates a daily sushi service between five and ten in the evening alongside craft cocktails and live music, an arrangement that reflects Clayton's own evolution into a dining and entertainment destination. ACHI, the property's ten-course omakase experience at an intimate six-seat counter, represents the most recent refinement of the hotel's culinary ambitions.
The wine cellar at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis is, by local assessment, the largest dine-in wine cellar in St. Louis — a distinction that the city, with its German immigrant wine-drinking culture and its historic position as a distribution hub for the wine trade, takes seriously.
The setting
100 Carondelet Plaza in Clayton's Arts and Garden District, the county-seat business core. Forest Park and Washington University are close; Lambert-St. Louis is the usual airport.
Restaurants and bars
- Casa Don Alfonso — Restaurant · Italian · Chef Yalcin Arslan
- RITZ Lobby Lounge — Restaurant · Sushi
- ACHI — The Omakase Experience — Restaurant
Amenities
- 24-hour fitness center with Peloton bikes and floor-to-ceiling windows
- Largest dine-in wine cellar in St. Louis
- 29,999 sq ft conference space; 13 meeting rooms
- Complimentary bicycle rental
- Cigar lounge
- Pet-friendly
- Butler service
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
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