Thanks everyone for the replies.
Any hotel recommendations?
Depends what you want to spend. The Loews is the nice new hotel downtown that just opened during COVID. It also has a great sports bar downstairs and a "rooftop" bar with greenspace that is fun.
The Courtyard and Hampton mentioned are nice and pretty much like what you would expect.
The Hotel Phillips and Marriott are older buildings and can be had for cheaper sometimes while still being nice.
Haven't been inside yet, but Hotel Kansas City (Hyatt) just opened also and is supposed to be really nice and have a great restaurant/bar.
Downtown KC is very walkable and has the streetcar that you can hop on and off of for free so I wouldn't worry too much about the area if you are downtown. None of the ones downtown I can think of are in bad areas either.