Hampton Inn & Suites Festus is now open many years after first being proposed.
The 85-guest room hotel at 1331 Shapiro Drive in the Festus Commerce & Business Center south of Hwy. A overlooks Interstate 55.
Jessica Westbrook, the establishment’s general manager, said it began taking guests on July 27.
However, she is aware of the history in getting the building project started, which goes back to 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“COVID hit the hospitality industry so hard,” she said. “I mean, it hit everything hard. But, it’s hard to build hotels when nobody’s going anywhere.”
Dharmesh Sharma, the hotel’s owner, got the ball rolling again on the project in 2025.
In addition to the guest rooms, the hotel offers a swimming pool, a meeting room that can accommodate up to 25 people and a breakfast buffet area for guests.
“We also have an outdoor patio area outside of the pool,” Westbrook said. “We’ve got some lovely patio furniture out there with umbrellas. I can’t wait for fall because it’s going to be absolutely lovely out there. If I were a guest staying somewhere, I would love to have somewhere in the evening to go sit outside, put up my feet, breathe, take in the cool air. Not very cool right now, but we’ll get there.
“Our breakfast is one of the best in the hotel industry,” she said. “We have a hot buffet breakfast as well as a very varied waffle option. We offer several flavors. The Hampton Inn’s big thing is waffles. We were the first big brand to offer waffles.”
She said visitors to the area for St. Louis Cardinal games at Busch Stadium undoubtedly will fill many of the rooms, but it is not the only reason people come to this area.
“Right now, our heaviest hitting is fall because of wedding season,” she said. “Just about here on out every weekend until November I have wedding blocks.”
She said the I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway in Pevely has already provided customers for the hotel.
“The Pevely raceway has brought us, just last weekend, we had a pit crew here,” Westbrook said. “We had all kinds of people here. I came in to help with breakfast on Saturday, and our head count was like 125 people, and we were only about 60 percent occupancy.”
She said the Hampton Inn & Suites Festus immediately began attracting customers.
“I’m not struggling,” she said. “I think people watched this area so long because the project started in 2019 and you’d see that sign (from I-55) that said ‘Future Home of Hampton Inn & Suites.’ So, the community has had this sign all these years knowing it was coming. Now it’s come to fruition, and they want to see what’s come about.”
She said the Festus location is part of 5,000 Hampton Inns worldwide and all are under the parent company of Hilton.
“Hampton is actually Hilton’s biggest brand,” Westbrook said. “Hampton is Hilton’s largest and most profitable brand.”
She said she intends for Hampton Inn to become involved in the community.
“I’ve already been involved with the chamber (Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce), talked about some of the events the city has,” she said. “Eventually, when we get our Facebook page launched and we’re able to start integrating ourselves in with the community, I hope to feature things like that on our Facebook, not just ‘Come book a room.’”
Festus Mayor Sam Richards said he welcomes the new business to town.
“I’m very happy about it,” Richards said. “It’s a boon for the city. I’m very happy they’re open and they’re here.”
Information about the hotel may be found through the Hilton.com website.