Romantic hotel suggestions??

[Mooktheoriginal]

Hotel Sofitel is really sexy, romantic.

[Thegonagle]

The Grand is a very nice hotel. It's traditional, yet plush, and it's in a cool old building right in the middle of the central business district, and it's skyway-connected.

Honestly, if budget was no object for a warm, romantic room, I'd look at the Nicollet Island Inn and the Grand as my first choices. Then I'd look at the W (because it's in the Foshay Tower, duh!), the Ivy, and maybe the Westin for its location. I also wouldn't rule out the one of the historic suites at the Renaissance Depot Hotel (by Marriot--but those rooms look very nice and unique), but with the water park and ice rink, it may find it more "family" oriented than you want for that weekend.

If you're renting a car, check into parking rates and availability at each hotel you're considering. If you're cabbing, it won't make much difference in fares between any hotel in the CBD. If you're going to ride the light rail, the W, Grand, and particularly, the Westin (because of its proximity to the train station--less than one block if you use the side door) would be good choices. (If you end up at the Grand, W, or Westin, you can take the skyways between buildings to stay out of the cold from 6 AM to 6 PM--just be sure you have a skyway map, because the twists and turns inside the buildings can be somewhat disorienting if you're not used to them.)

I'm not a fan of the Chambers myself. Rooms seem small, and aren't very "warm." It's hard to explain, but I guess I prefer the more conservative hotel rooms to the edgy decor at the Chambers. Graves also suffers for the same reason. It's decor feels cold and harsh in some ways, the unnecessary elevator/hallway Muzak is some sort of weird world-beat techno, and that wall sculpture thing behind the front desk is positively creepy. It reminds me of a gigantic wind chime made from charred deer antlers. It's truly weird.

[Thegonagle]

I wasn't 100% sure when I wrote the post above, but if being skyway-connected is a factor, the Ivy building also has skyway access. There's a skyway crossing over 2nd Avenue to the Orchestra hall parking ramp; from there, you can walk toward the Hilton, and from there, basically straight into the business core of downtown.

(And sorry about all the typos above. I guess my internal editor failed when I was writing that at 3 in the morning. Too late to edit the post though.)

[labmom1]

Thanks Thegoangle for all the great info. We are driving up and have a reservation at the Grand......although I may poke around for any last minute specials.......I spend far too much time over analyzing a simple hotel room

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Not sure exactly what you're looking for, but my wife and I enjoyed our time here: FantaSuite Hotels Home Page - Suites With A Unique Fantasy Theme

If "romantic" means plastic sheets and sex chairs hanging from the ceiling, FantaSuites is the place to be.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

If "romantic" means plastic sheets and sex chairs hanging from the ceiling, FantaSuites is the place to be.

Hardly. We just thought the themed room idea was a cool one.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Hardly. We just thought the themed room idea was a cool one.

Just giving you a little heck