St. Louis RV show customer review

A few dozen friends and I attended the 37th Annual St. Louis RV Travel & Vacation Show at the America’s Convention Center over the weekend. My very first RV show, y’all!

What to not wear to the RV show: eyeliner

We wanted to look striking walking around the show room so we put on A LOT of black eyeliner. Brittany put eyeliner on me and literally got it all over my face. When it was my turn to put eyeliner on her, I admit I got a little crazy with it.

After just a few minutes wandering around the RV show, some bald guy with tattoos all over his neck complained about the folks in our group wearing eyeliner on their faces. He said his rights were being violated because he had to avert his eyes to avoid looking at us. Another middle-aged lady took offense at our friends wearing excessive eyeliner. She said the way we were walking around silently was bullying. The crowd was really touchy about eyeliner! I can see that it might be distracting, but harassing? How does something on another person’s face equate to harassment? It’s like saying someone else’s cleavage is harassment. Some of our friends put white tape on their faces which made them look like accident victims, which is to say, ridiculous, but hardly threatening.

#face racism,  rv show

Rude Staff at the RV Show

They should seriously consider extending the amount of time they let RV enthusiasts stay at the show. We were told we had to leave after only thirty minutes. Not only did I miss the Airstream, I didn’t get to take ANY selfies in fancy campers like I planned.

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The staff was rude and refused to speak to us unless we followed them to Room 115, whatever the hell that was. It was confusing because we were paying customers with tickets. What was Room 115? Was Room 115 code for Hotel California? We can check out any time we want but we can never leave? Two of my friends and I wanted more information about Room 115 and who exactly didn’t want us at the RV Show.

Slow service/overkill by hotel staff

That’s when it got weird. Either the RV Show staff or the Convention Center workers called in armed hotel staff to escort us to where you go when you don’t go to Room 115. The hotel sent dozens of shuttles with flashing lights to meet us outside the Convention center. It seemed an awful waste for just the three of us. The shuttle bus looked more like a Nuisance Abatement vehicle. The seats were hard and there wasn’t even room to stand up.

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The shuttle driver was kind enough to take our bags but I suspect he secured our cell phones so we couldn’t post poor customer reviews. I would have tipped him for the bags if my hands hadn’t been in cuffs. Instead of going to a regular hotel they took us to this really crappy one that didn’t have any windows. The lobby was very unwelcoming and could have used some fresheners.

Some of the other hotel guests smelled awful and appeared drunk. Several had apparently been waiting hours to days for their rooms upstairs and no one was happy about it. The armed hotel staff helped us off with our shoes. I assumed they were going to have the shoes shined but instead just removed our laces and hoodie strings. (Note to self to wear uncomplicated foot ware and clothing without strings to the America’s Convention center.)

The staff at the Concierge desk asked A LOT of personal questions. On two occasions staff felt us up as part of the “intake process”. They took our fingerprints presumably so we would be less inclined to steal hotel robes and keep us honest with the mini bar. The whole experience seemed designed to make us feel like criminals.

RV Show/room service food

I can’t comment about the food because we were given the bum’s rush out of the Center before we could even blow powdered sugar off a funnel cake. Later on, after being delivered to our hotel, we were promised room service would provide curly bologna sandwiches on stale bread, but even that never came. By the time we left, we were all starving. A bellboy did bring us some water after we asked for it. Again, I was unable to tip because the hotel staff insisted on shrink wrapping our money and valuables.

Poor attention to customer service

The check-in process took a really long time. Instead of showing us to our rooms, we just hung out with the hotel staff in the lobby. Surprisingly, we had thoughtful and respectful discussions about how the hotel could be run better with better trained staff and how my friends and I could lobby for better treatment without wearing eyeliner.

It turns out they don’t actually have guest accommodations at the crappy hotel so the bus driver took us to the Justice Hotel where the interminable check-in process started all over again. They were overbooked so the three of us were herded into a soulless cement guest room with a free-standing toilet at one end and a door that locked upon closing. We shared the metal benches with a handful of detoxing women for a few more hours before they finally let us out, but only after we paid an exorbitant room charge.

All in all, I can’t recommend anyone go to the America’s Convention Center or the Justice Hotel. There’s got to be an easier way to have important discussions.

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