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Renaissance Minneapolis Bloomington Hotel, Minnesota [Master Thread]
There's a hotel in Bloomington, MN, currently a Crowne Plaza (before that a Holiday Inn), that put up intriguing banners saying things like, "We're undergoing a Renaissance" and "A Renaissance is coming" so I wondered if the hotel was rebranding as a Renaissance. Called them and they said, yes, rebranding to Marriott Renaissance in the summer.
https://www.cylex.us.com/company/ren...-26606869.html |
Glad to hear it! Marriott does have a website for the property, although it's a bit of a shell right now: Renaissance Minneapolis Bloomington Hotel: Bloomington Distinctive Hotels
Listed as Category 5. Surprisingly it will have an airport shuttle (as of now at least), despite being a fair distance from MSP - there are closer properties that do not have a shuttle. Also interesting that they are changing their address (currently 5401 Green Valley Drive in Bloomington). |
AFAIK it's still operating as a Crowne Plaze--or at least they still light up that sign at night--yet this place will need extensive renovations, ideally starting with tearing down the current building and starting over. I don't see haw they can realistically be a Renaissance by June 2018 as the website claims.
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currently 5401 Green Valley Drive in Bloomington |
Cat 5. Opening Oct '18. Looks like it has a M Lounge; says open daily, but don't know if that means for evening apps on Fri-Sat nights. Some M Lounges are fully open/others are open for brekkie only on the weekends.
Cheers. |
If this is the Crowne Plaza place, I don't see any signs of construction work and it appears (when I drive past) to be operating as a Crowne Plaza with no change in the signage, construction/remodeling equipment, or blocked off areas of the parking lot. The number of cars parked there seems to also reflect business as usual at the property. I would also add that I don't consider the building to be at all indicative of a Renaissance. The place looks cheap and is showing its age. There's nothing classy or historical in sight and its not a good location except for proximity to the interstate; no nonhotel restaurants within walking distance, for instance. |
If you call the phone # for the Ren, the voice mail says Ren & not Crowne Plaza. Regardless, if it opens in Oct as website says, will look forward to first trip report.
Cheers. |
Construction staging is at the rear and continuous for 2 years now. Bricks have been repainted and new AC grills installed, as well as new AC units. The sidewalks have been repainted (hint: NEVER paint ground concrete surfaces in a cold climate, they ice up terribly, concrete is slightly porous unless painted), there are 2 fancy restaurants within walking distance: Kinkaid's and whatever took the place of Parma. As far as location, I think 100 & 494 is the third largest concentration of jobs in the state? Also there is no longer access to the frontage road, it's blocked off. This website calls the area Normandale Lake Office Park "truly stunning" and "pristine" although historic it's not. The hotel is the black squares on white cube center-right.
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Cat 4. Now opening Jan '19.
Cheers. |
Originally Posted by tom_MN
(Post 30043456)
Construction staging is at the rear and continuous for 2 years now. Bricks have been repainted and new AC grills installed, as well as new AC units. The sidewalks have been repainted (hint: NEVER paint ground concrete surfaces in a cold climate, they ice up terribly, concrete is slightly porous unless painted), there are 2 fancy restaurants within walking distance: Kinkaid's and whatever took the place of Parma. As far as location, I think 100 & 494 is the third largest concentration of jobs in the state? Also there is no longer access to the frontage road, it's blocked off. This website calls the area Normandale Lake Office Park "truly stunning" and "pristine" although historic it's not. The hotel is the black squares on white cube center-right.
IIRC Kincaid's is located in a modern office building overlooking one of the small (manmade, I would assume) lakes in the area, but I wouldn't want to walk there for dinner from the Crowne Plaza. OTOH, they had good happy hour food offers in their bar which I think also applies to a patio in hot weather. I went there for dinner at a Sunday night happy hour on the instigation of a FT guy and was very happy about the choice. It's probably about eight miles from MSP airport, although some of the secondary roads you can take are rather pretty. |
one of the small (manmade, I would assume) lakes in the area |
The Crowne Plaza signage is down and the Marriott website is taking reservations for this hotel starting February 5.
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Originally Posted by tom_MN
(Post 30738491)
The Crowne Plaza signage is down and the Marriott website is taking reservations for this hotel starting February 5.
Not totally, as of today. It still says Crowne Plaza on the side of the building you see as you drive into the property, although there's now some stone thing (which I believe is totally new) with a Renaissance sign. It's not clear whether the sign on the stone thing will light up at night, will have spotlights/floodlights, or will be hard to read after dark. I also saw a small passenger van in the wild today that had a temporary looking sign that says Renaissance Bloomington. BTW, I'm seeing some very cheap rates. They're also selling club level rooms on weekend nights, so that might mean that the lounge will be open and doing food seven days per week. |
Look forward to the first trip report after someone has stayed there. Please do an update on the lounge/brekkie situation. Thx.
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I’ve been watching the makeover happen over 2-3 years. It was a thorough job including not just new furnishings but new sheetrock. They must have spent $200,000 just on landscaping. They even power washed the curb and gutter. I hope the investment pays off. |
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