The animals may be in cages, but the humans will get to sleep in a boutique hotel.
The St. Louis Zoo this week got the green light for its most ambitious of expansion plans, including a zoo-themed boutique hotel connected to the zoo by an aerial gondola.
Also on the zoo’s drawing board are a nine-acre animal-focused attraction, an expanded animal habitats, a full restaurant, and a research center.
While the Kansas City and San Diego zoos also have gondola rides, St. Louis’ zoo will be only the second in the country to have a hotel on campus, officials said, and one of the few to have amenities such as wide-open plains, fine dining and gondolas.
Planners imagine a hotel with aquariums behind the desk and exotic birds perched in the lobby.
They see a nine-acre savanna with animals wandering free, while diners take in the views at a glass-walled, white-tablecloth restaurant.
The first strategic plan should be complete by the end of 2014.
