Coming to visit (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington: appointed, to rent, hotels)

[Minervah]

Minneapolis is one of the places on my list to which I am thinking about moving. In late spring, I would like to visit and look around since I actually have never been there. Can anyone recommend a hotel in the downtown or near downtown area? I want to be as centrally located as possible so I can take public transportation to view various parts of the city.

I also want to check out some of the great museums and theaters I have heard so much about. Any suggestions about those? I don't know anyone in Minneapolis so I will just be kind of wandering around as a tourist but with the idea of possible relocation.

Any advice would be welcomed.

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Minneapolis is one of the places on my list to which I am thinking about moving. In late spring, I would like to visit and look around since I actually have never been there. Can anyone recommend a hotel in the downtown or near downtown area? I want to be as centrally located as possible so I can take public transportation to view various parts of the city.

I also want to check out some of the great museums and theaters I have heard so much about. Any suggestions about those? I don't know anyone in Minneapolis so I will just be kind of wandering around as a tourist but with the idea of possible relocation.

Any advice would be welcomed.

There are lots of hotels downtown, ranging from basic to luxury. I'm not real sure what your budget is. Here are a few recommendations:

Very Centrally located (generally located in the core of downtown):

Luxury:
W (in the historic Foshay)
The Minneapolis Grand
601 Graves
Ivy

Upper
Westin
Marquette (IDS Ctr)

Upper-Middle
Hilton
Marriott
Hotel Minneapolis
Radisson

Middle
Northstar Inn (Crowne Plaza?)
Doubletree (Lasalle & 11th)
Embassy Suites (less central than most core hotels)

Boutique:
The Chambers (in the Henn Ave Theater District)

Budget:
Downtown Inn (used to be known as Normandy Inn at 4th Ave S and 8th Street)

Other less expensive hotels that are slightly further from the core, but in good locations include Holiday Inn Express (on 11th Street at 3rd Avenue--not too central, but only 3 blocks walk to Nicollet Mall); Millenium Hotel (at 13th & Nicollet Mall).

Regarding travelling around town: remember that our LRT system is about 20 years less advanced than Portland and our single line only serves one part of town. From an urban point of view, I'd recommend the following (if you're not going to rent a car):

1. Consider renting a bike: Minneapolis has a great network of bike paths, and this allows you to see what is the city's best feature: our park district--with greenways and bike paths encircling the chain of lakes (Lakes Harriet, Calhoun and Of The Isles) extending to Minnehaha Parkway all the way to the Mississippi River then up to downtown
2. Take the LRT to Lake Street and hop the 21 bus westward (Though there are several cool places to see a few blocks east of Hiawatha including Town-Talk Diner, Midori's Floating World Cafe etc...). Lake Street is a relatively gritty street, but also provides a lot of the flavor of the city, including lots of ethnic businesses, the Midtown Global Marketplace with the City Market (just east of Chicago Ave), and the start of hipster Mpls at Lyndale (Lyn-Lake) into Uptown (at Hennepin). Walk to the Refectory at the northeast shore of Lake Calhoun (grab a fish sandwich at TinFish if they're open). I'd then take either the Number 6 bus or the Number 17 back downtown. I remember reading somewhere that the No. 6 Route was voted as Best Bus Route (in City Pages, I think) in the city because it goes from the U of M to Downtown to Uptown to lake Calhoun to Linden Hills (which is close to Lake Harriet).

Regarding Theater and Museums, here are a few ideas:

Theater:
The most famous is the Guthrie, located along the Dwtn Riverfront. Even if you don't see a play there, you should visit it just to check out the awesome view from the "endless bridge" jutting out over the River Parkway (great view of St Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge--two Mpls must see's).

There are many community theaters (Jungle, Illusion, ...) along with shows in the Hennepin Avenue Theater District (State, Orpheum and Pantages) I'd check out Minneapolis News, Events, Restaurants, Music - City Pages or other local websites to see what's playing.
The Bryant-Lake Bowl (Lake Street and Bryant) has an interesting blend of live music and shows, plus bowling.

Museums:

Minneapolis Museums tend to be art themed: The Walker is contemporary Art, Mpls Inst of Arts is all encumpassing and well worth seeing. The Weisman is at the U of M. Again, check local websites to see what shows are going on. I'd also recommend Mill City Museum, which nicely tells how Mpls came into being as a major flour milling center. St. Paul has the Science Museum of Minnesota. Other interesting, but smaller museums include the Bakken (located at the SW shore of Lake Calhoun) which has displays on electricity, Frankenstein, and a herb garden); The Museum of Russian Art (at 54th Street at I-35W (east of Nicollet)), and Pavek Museum of Broadcasting (lots of radio paraphanalia) in St Louis Park.

Hopefully this info helps. There's a lot to see, but the Twin Cities are fairly spread out.

[uptown_urbanist]

As far as museums go, I agree with the suggestion to check out the Mill City Museum - it will both give you historical context for the city as well as give you a chance to check out an interesting neighborhood in Minneapolis that may be of interest if you relocate. Combine it with a walk across the Stone Arch Bridge for a true Minneapolis experience. The Bakken is also a fabulous museum, well worth a visit. Combine it with a walk around Lake Calhoun and a visit to Uptown or Linden Hills. The Hennepin History Museum is also a wonderful yet often overlooked local museum, showcasing truly innovative exhibitions about Minneapolis history. It's right across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, so you could easily check out both at the same time. They're only a short bus ride from downtown.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I just went to the Minnesota Science Museum and was really disappointed. It isn't terrible by any means but it's very child oriented. If you need to see museums and you don't have your 4-12 year old kids along I'd pass on that one.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Slig

I just went to the Minnesota Science Museum and was really disappointed. It isn't terrible by any means but it's very child oriented. If you need to see museums and you don't have your 4-12 year old kids along I'd pass on that one.

Kind of like the one we have here in Portland. On the other hand the last time I went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry it was awesome.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. It's a good place to start.

[bloomingtonsteve]

Well...I'm a 47 year old kid because I love the Science Museum. I also love to see kids enjoying stuff like that. It gives hope to the future.

Everyone's given great answers. I would add the Bloomington Civic Theater.
The performances rival anything the Guthrie puts on and also feature a live orchestra.

The spring show is "The Music Man" and runs from May 1st - 31st.
BCT | Bloomington Civic Theatre (http://www.bloomingtoncivictheatre.org/0809/musicman.htm - broken link)

[chilaili]

I would also visit the MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Arts Minneapolis Institute of Arts) near Uptown. It has a fabulous permanent exhibit and some excellent temporary ones, a pretty good gift shop and decent restaurant. The History Museum in St Paul isn't bad either.