Minneapolis Marriott City Center

The hotel connects to the Minneapolis skyway paths between buildings, and it’s close to the metro for getting to and from the airport. The downtown location was great. I stayed for a conference in the same building and felt very well looked after. The food was tasty, though a little pricey, and the staff were incredible. Housekeeping stood out in particular. Whenever we crossed paths in the hallway, they greeted me with a smile. I’ve never felt so cared for at a hotel.

I wouldn’t return, even though the hotel had opportunities to address these problems. I’ve stayed at The Emery before and decided to try this place. The bad reviews seem accurate, and I got the impression staff were just counting the minutes until they could leave. Valet never came out for my car, so I parked in the garage. The valet turned out to be inside on his phone. My shower wasn’t warm enough. Engineering came to fix it, but the problem remained. At Aurora, the lobby restaurant, I also ran into a server who didn’t seem trained or empowered to resolve a customer issue. The hotel was nearly empty, so capacity wasn’t the reason. I’m Ambassador Elite with Marriott and stay about 200 nights a year. I’ll post a similar review on Marriott.com.

Never again. This place is an overpriced dump with rude, lazy staff. I was locked out at 5 a.m. and there was nobody at the desk. Someone showed up 20 minutes later, said they were on break, and refused to help. When I asked for room cleaning, staff wouldn’t do it. The coffee shop also refused to make coffee 30 minutes before closing. They charge for everything too, including $8 canned coffee and a $5 room-service delivery fee.

The staff were pleasant, kind, and knowledgeable, and I liked the workout studio, though it could use more weight equipment. My room for a work occasion needed a steamer. More than that, it needed a better clean: there was hair that wasn’t mine in both the room and bathroom, the sofa cushions were dirty, and the place smelled very musty.