Minneapolis Hotel recommendations (St. Paul, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park: for sale, hotels, home)

[goillini8]

I'm actually from Minnesota, not the Twin Cities, but still very familiar with the area.

Thinking about going there for 5 days in the coming weeks with a friend who has never been and who was a big Prince fan. He'll want to do the whole Prince Experience - First Avenue, Paisley Park, and whatever relevant places we can find (he's a huge music fan generally, so I could take him by St. Paul Central and tell him members of Mint Condition went there and he'd probably be thrilled).

Additionally, I want to show him the area generally - Uptown and the chain of lakes, St. Paul (Summit Avenue, and just drive him around the neighborhoods since MSP is so picturesque.

I know I should just stay downtown and I may end up doing so. But, parking is always extra, and I would like to save some money. Hotels are always cheaper out by the airport or off the highway (Plymouth, Brooklyn Park/Center). And, we will be covering a lot of the metro so it's not that important to be right downtown.

So, my question is, if I don't stay downtown, what's sort of the best of the non-downtown decently priced hotels? - airport area, 494 South and 494 West, 394, and I guess parts of 694 and Roseville might be okay (I always forget how close Roseville is to both Mpls and St. Paul.

Best Deal I found downtown was $130ish at the Crowne Plaza. Plus taxes and parking. Further out there seems to be places in the $85-100 range with free parking (I'll skip the $70 and under unless someone can tell me a certain hotel in that price range is clean and safe).

Thanks.

[blackpointyboots]

We are in the cities frequently. These are my favorite places to stay.

1. The Westin (Edina). The hotel is wonderful, has free underground parking in Galleria's ramp connected to the hotel. Galleria is also connected to the hotel. So there are multiple coffee places and restaurants right there. They are usually around $239 a night. Sometimes you can get a deal with a AAA discount etc. for around $120 a night.

2. Doubletree Bloomington. This is the old Radisson South at 494 and Hwy 100. The rooms are nice but not quite as nice as the Westin, still far above most chain hotels. When we stay here we usually run over to the Southdale near the Westin for somewhere to eat or if you need to pick up a few things.

Both hotels are near each other. I usually use France Ave or the roads through the lakes to get to Uptown or to Downtown Mpls/St. Paul. it seems to go as fast or faster than the freeways and the drive is more interesting.

Have not stayed at the Crowne Plaza. I would skip the 3 star and lower hotels near the airport/MOA. They are usually overpriced for the quality. There is a new Marriot and a Radisson Blu connected to the MOA. I have not stayed in either one but they seem quite nice at least what you can glean from the lobby.

[blackpointyboots]

An addendum to my post. We stayed at the Doubletree earlier in the week. DO NOT let them put you in the north tower (the shorter building). The rooms in that wing have not been renovated and were awful. We had to crawl under a bed to reach a power outlet near the night stand. The room was horribly dated and in disrepair. The rooms in the main tower were recently renovated and were nice when we stayed there last year.

I did notice after I returned home that there is a new Hyatt near MOA and light rail that is in your price range. The promo photos looked promising.

[blackpointyboots]

Noticed looking for something else that the Doubletree and the Crown Plaza that is near the MOA are both for sale right now. This may have something to do with the less than great service.