aloft Minneapolis [Master Thread]
May 18, 2012, 4:52 am
#16
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 5,015
I was in MSP for a few months, every week, on a project.
I stayed at the following:
Westin MSP
W Foshay
Meridien Chambers
Sheraton Midtown
By far, the Aloft was the best property in my view.
Rooms: Rooms are nice and spacious, and very functional. Layout is sensible, and if you get one of the rooms facing Gold Medal Park it's really quiet. The rooms facing the street are slightly noisier, but nothing unbearable by any means.
Internet: The wireless is reliable, but I've noticed it varies in speed depending on where you are in the property, and what time of day it is. At no time was it too slow to get work done though.
Food: Best food at any of the properties frankly. Mains at the bar go for $10-$12, and breakfast runs about the same (A breakfast sandwich, odwalla smoothie drink and a complimentary tea/coffee).
Restaurants nearby: Sanctuary across the street is amazing in terms of a higher end place, Maxwell's on Washington ave (5-10 minute walk away) probably has some of the better pub food around. Wasabi across the street is decent for Sushi, and Zen Box izakaya on Washington ave has some good Japanese pub food.
Staff: Great staff, know you by name after a few weeks, and are very receptive to requests (they graciously once helped print out a few presentations for me that I had to give the next morning when it was late night)
Location: Location is great (especially if your client is located outside of the MSP downtown core). It's close to 35W, which will get you anywhere around town. Even if your client is downtown, it's a short drive or light rail ride into the core (5 minutes).
Fitness facilities: I like the 'do everything' cable machine they have at the alofts... I'm a bit of a workout fanatic and it does the trick (as I am a heavy weight user, and no hotel I've been to really accomodates). Also, it's right by the riverfront, and the trail is a fantastic run.
All in all, I'd definitely stay at Aloft MSP when in town.
I stayed at the following:
Westin MSP
W Foshay
Meridien Chambers
Sheraton Midtown
By far, the Aloft was the best property in my view.
Rooms: Rooms are nice and spacious, and very functional. Layout is sensible, and if you get one of the rooms facing Gold Medal Park it's really quiet. The rooms facing the street are slightly noisier, but nothing unbearable by any means.
Internet: The wireless is reliable, but I've noticed it varies in speed depending on where you are in the property, and what time of day it is. At no time was it too slow to get work done though.
Food: Best food at any of the properties frankly. Mains at the bar go for $10-$12, and breakfast runs about the same (A breakfast sandwich, odwalla smoothie drink and a complimentary tea/coffee).
Restaurants nearby: Sanctuary across the street is amazing in terms of a higher end place, Maxwell's on Washington ave (5-10 minute walk away) probably has some of the better pub food around. Wasabi across the street is decent for Sushi, and Zen Box izakaya on Washington ave has some good Japanese pub food.
Staff: Great staff, know you by name after a few weeks, and are very receptive to requests (they graciously once helped print out a few presentations for me that I had to give the next morning when it was late night)
Location: Location is great (especially if your client is located outside of the MSP downtown core). It's close to 35W, which will get you anywhere around town. Even if your client is downtown, it's a short drive or light rail ride into the core (5 minutes).
Fitness facilities: I like the 'do everything' cable machine they have at the alofts... I'm a bit of a workout fanatic and it does the trick (as I am a heavy weight user, and no hotel I've been to really accomodates). Also, it's right by the riverfront, and the trail is a fantastic run.
All in all, I'd definitely stay at Aloft MSP when in town.
1. Location: Terrible. Only the Sheraton Midtown is more poorly located. The aloft is at least a mile outside of the downtown core and not much is going on at either the hotel or the immediate neighborhood, and the choice of restaurants is abysmal. You can take the light rail (after walking another 8-10 minutes) to the downtown core for 50 cents each way, but you might have to wait 10-15 minutes depending on the time of day. Much better to stay in the downtown core area!
2. Rooms: The rooms are significantly smaller than all of the other hotels and none of them have much of a view, whereas the W Foshay has very large rain showers and breathtaking views, especially from the top floors. Plat upgrades to suites at the W Foshay are plentiful, but next to non-existent at the aloft. The shower stall in the rooms at the aloft is a tiny claustrophobic box with large push-botton bottles for conditioning shampoo and shower gel bolted to the wall.
3. Parking: You have to park across the street from the aloft in a parking ramp (as we native-born Minnesotans call parking garages) and pay $15 a day for the privilege. In the downtown core you can get free parking on weekends on the street, but that's nearly impossible in the aloft area due to different metered parking rules. Of course, during weekdays, it's cheaper to park near the aloft.
4. The "fun" factor: The Living Room Bar at the W Foshay is one of the largest and most beautiful among all W hotels and excellent for people watching, with lively crowds every night of the week. It is also an art deco lover's dream. The aloft wxyz Lounge is boring and usually completely dead 7 days/nights a week.
5. Food: At the aloft? Are you kidding me? You can buy pre-packaged convenience store food at inflated prices or a few pre-made bar snacks, but there is no real restaurant at the aloft. At the W Foshay, there are TWO renowned full-service restaurants on the ground floor (Manny's Steakhouse and Keys Foshay, a breakfast and comfort-food cafe) plus excellent bar snacks at the Living Room made in Manny's kitchen.
[Note: MSP means Minneapolis-St. Paul. You should substitute "Minneapolis" for "MSP" in yoohoo's review.]
Last edited by DCBob; May 18, 2012 at 5:09 am
May 18, 2012, 7:14 am
#17
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AC *E, SPG Plat, Hertz
Posts: 73
I couldn't disagree more! I have stayed at all of the above hotels as well. I prefer the W Foshay above all the others. There are SEVERAL disadvantages to the aloft, especially in comparison to the W Foshay:
1. Location: Terrible. Only the Sheraton Midtown is more poorly located. The aloft is at least a mile outside of the downtown core and not much is going on at either the hotel or the immediate neighborhood, and the choice of restaurants is abysmal. You can take the light rail (after walking another 8-10 minutes) to the downtown core for 50 cents each way, but you might have to wait 10-15 minutes depending on the time of day. Much better to stay in the downtown core area!
2. Rooms: The rooms are significantly smaller than all of the other hotels and none of them have much of a view, whereas the W Foshay has very large rain showers and breathtaking views, especially from the top floors. Plat upgrades to suites at the W Foshay are plentiful, but next to non-existent at the aloft. The shower stall in the rooms at the aloft is a tiny claustrophobic box with large push-botton bottles for conditioning shampoo and shower gel bolted to the wall.
3. Parking: You have to park across the street from the aloft in a parking ramp (as we native-born Minnesotans call parking garages) and pay $15 a day for the privilege. In the downtown core you can get free parking on weekends on the street, but that's nearly impossible in the aloft area due to different metered parking rules. Of course, during weekdays, it's cheaper to park near the aloft.
4. The "fun" factor: The Living Room Bar at the W Foshay is one of the largest and most beautiful among all W hotels and excellent for people watching, with lively crowds every night of the week. It is also an art deco lover's dream. The aloft wxyz Lounge is boring and usually completely dead 7 days/nights a week.
5. Food: At the aloft? Are you kidding me? You can buy pre-packaged convenience store food at inflated prices or a few pre-made bar snacks, but there is no real restaurant at the aloft. At the W Foshay, there are TWO renowned full-service restaurants on the ground floor (Manny's Steakhouse and Keys Foshay, a breakfast and comfort-food cafe) plus excellent bar snacks at the Living Room made in Manny's kitchen.
[Note: MSP means Minneapolis-St. Paul. You should substitute "Minneapolis" for "MSP" in yoohoo's review.]
1. Location: Terrible. Only the Sheraton Midtown is more poorly located. The aloft is at least a mile outside of the downtown core and not much is going on at either the hotel or the immediate neighborhood, and the choice of restaurants is abysmal. You can take the light rail (after walking another 8-10 minutes) to the downtown core for 50 cents each way, but you might have to wait 10-15 minutes depending on the time of day. Much better to stay in the downtown core area!
2. Rooms: The rooms are significantly smaller than all of the other hotels and none of them have much of a view, whereas the W Foshay has very large rain showers and breathtaking views, especially from the top floors. Plat upgrades to suites at the W Foshay are plentiful, but next to non-existent at the aloft. The shower stall in the rooms at the aloft is a tiny claustrophobic box with large push-botton bottles for conditioning shampoo and shower gel bolted to the wall.
3. Parking: You have to park across the street from the aloft in a parking ramp (as we native-born Minnesotans call parking garages) and pay $15 a day for the privilege. In the downtown core you can get free parking on weekends on the street, but that's nearly impossible in the aloft area due to different metered parking rules. Of course, during weekdays, it's cheaper to park near the aloft.
4. The "fun" factor: The Living Room Bar at the W Foshay is one of the largest and most beautiful among all W hotels and excellent for people watching, with lively crowds every night of the week. It is also an art deco lover's dream. The aloft wxyz Lounge is boring and usually completely dead 7 days/nights a week.
5. Food: At the aloft? Are you kidding me? You can buy pre-packaged convenience store food at inflated prices or a few pre-made bar snacks, but there is no real restaurant at the aloft. At the W Foshay, there are TWO renowned full-service restaurants on the ground floor (Manny's Steakhouse and Keys Foshay, a breakfast and comfort-food cafe) plus excellent bar snacks at the Living Room made in Manny's kitchen.
[Note: MSP means Minneapolis-St. Paul. You should substitute "Minneapolis" for "MSP" in yoohoo's review.]
Walleye tacos, great selection of pizzas, burgers, sandwiches etc...
Far better (value wise) than the $51 I paid for a beer and chicken (more like quail) breast and two sides of spinach at the W the one time I tried there. And Manny's at the W is an average steak place in my view (doesn't hold a candle to Murray's down the street).
I did like Prohibition upstairs at the W however...
I'll also add in a late footnote to the above review that I've only ever stayed in MSP (Minneapolis as pointed out above) Monday nights through Wed. So I don't have any weekend point of view of the above properties.
May 18, 2012, 10:04 pm
#18
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,816
Having said that, saying the aloft is the best property in Minneapolis is also a stretch. It certainly serviceable. I like the rooms and, yes, the location. But, I would rather stay at the other properties (except the Sheraton "Midtown").