The Moonrise has taken some exciting trips across our corner of the galaxy lately! It’s been a stellar spring for all of us here at the best boutique hotel in St. Louis. In May alone, we had the chance to travel to Toronto for the annual International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association Conference, AND take a trip to the brand new St. Louis Arch Grounds for a preview!
New St. Louis Arch Grounds Sneak Peek
The Moonrise was over-the-moon to be invited to join in kicking off this year’s National Travel and Tourism Week Celebration in St. Louis at The Gateway Arch! Until recently, the grounds of the beautiful St. Louis Arch were walled off by a parking garage on one side and a freeway gulch on the other. Accessing the Arch grounds from downtown was difficult and the obstructions didn’t do justice to this iconic St. Louis structure. That’s all changed now, thanks to years of hard work and a $380 million renovation.
The new grounds at the Gateway Arch National Park, as it is now known, are now mostly open, but will formally open with the new museum beneath the Arch at the start of July. The Moonrise, along with other attendees of the celebration, was lucky enough to get a preview tour of the new museum – the only one they will ever offer! After entering through a grand mezzanine that featured dazzling moving projections and murals, we got to walk through the new galleries that tell the story of America’s westward migration. The revamped museum has been brought into the 21st century thanks to the new technology and interactive elements featured throughout the space. It’s just one more reason to take a trip to the Lou; we can’t wait for everyone to see it this summer!
Thanks to the renovations, there’s now more room for event programming along the riverfront. We know a thing or two about unique event spaces at the Moonrise, so we’re excited to see what waterfront activities come to this new space!
Supporting the LGBTQA Community at IGLTA Conference
The Moonrise recently attended the annual International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association Conference in Toronto for the second year running. We’re all about Pride and always strive to make the Moonrise an inclusive space for everyone, so we were thrilled to attend an event that promotes equality and safety for LGBTQ tourism worldwide.
We attend to make connections with LGBTQA-friendly and LGBTQA-owned suppliers, show our support for the community and participate in the effort to make the industry better as a whole. This year, a large theme for the conference was sustainability. It was so great to hear the speakers present suggestions for eco-friendly hotel practices and to realize that many of them are already being implemented at the Moonrise. For example, The Moonrise Hotel provides only recyclable carryout containers, offers complimentary water stations in meeting spaces to cut back on bottled water waste, has individual thermostat controls that only heat or cool spaces in use, reduces the use of disposables and sources food from local growers.
We’re proud to be a progressive business that pushes for diversity and supports our causes and beliefs through actions! After all, why wouldn’t you want to make our corner of the universe an awesome place for everyone?
Want to stay at the coolest and most LGBTQA and eco-friendly hotel in St. Louis? Book a room at the Moonrise today!