Gateway Center

I was here for a work conference. The room was freezing. You had to stand in the lobby to use the Wi-​Fi. Food was okay. They ran out of coffee. Not my favorite place.

Everything is wonderful at the Gateway Center — from the location, facilities, amenities, to the staff. And believe me, we took full advantage of it all!
My husband and I decided on the Gateway Center for our wedding ceremony and reception (2007). It’s located conveniently near all major St. Louis interstates and only a short distance from downtown St. Louis. There are several hotels in the area and restaurants to suit every taste. We selected a private room at Porter’s Steakhouse (next door to the Gateway Center) for the rehearsal dinner.
Our wedding ceremony was in one of the Gateway Center’s conference rooms which comfortably seated 180. The smaller room offered the intimate setting we were hoping for. And it was incredibly close to our beautiful reception location — across the hall in one of the Gateway Center’s ballrooms!
The caterer worked with us to get the food selection we wanted at a price we could afford. And when disaster set in with news of our wedding cake from the baker, I was more than amazed when the Gateway Center staff stepped in to help pull it all together.
We wanted a simple, intimate wedding with all the elegant touches. Black and white table accents, beautiful lighting, lots of candles, and the reassurance it was all taken care of in one place. My husband and I agree, if we were planning our wedding all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing. The Gateway Center has it all.

I go to a lot of cons, and thus, have experienced a lot of Convention Centres. I went here for the 2007 NASFiC which was also Archon for the year and was simply unimpressed with the space. It’s sad because I really would have liked it.
The first thing is that it’s located in the middle of freakin’ nowhere from the point of view of someone who isn’t from around those parts. It’s about 30 minutes out of town, with no direct way to get there except for SuperShuttle, which costs a ton. A Taxi will run you ‘OH MY GOD!” and if you try to take the lightrail you’re a fool. Just a fool.
Now, once you’re there, there’s everything you need to keep yourself from experience too much of the world outside the convention center area. There are varying levels of restaurant within walking distance and a dozen or so hotels. I stayed at the Drury Inn. There’s a Mexican place, whcih is OK, and there’s a White Castle, which I put a hurt on the first day I was there. There’s a lovely Rudy Tuesday, and after years of seeing their commercials in a state that has no Ruby Tuesday, I was glad to get to see one in person.
The real problem is the Convention Centre itself. The rooms are weirdly set-​up and I had a real problem finding the rooms where the various programmes were. The signage was poor and at a couple of points it seemed to indicate that the same room was in two different places. The thing could handle a good-​sized con, but it also had some serious bottlenecks that you don’t have to deal with at the best CCs.