Every time I’ve been to Minneapolis in the past, I have stayed downtown. It’s close to the popular dive bars, restaurants, and US Bank Stadium. But with inflation and the value of the Canadian Dollar, these hotels were getting too pricey, especially on the weekend of a Minnesota Viking’s home game. Any of the good downtown hotels would run us north of $300 CAD, and parking for $50-60 USD a night. We shopped around and came across the Graduate Minneapolis Hotel located in University of Minnesota campus.
The price was much more reasonable at the Graduate, costing us $220 a night and parking for only $12 USD per day. We weren’t downtown so we weren’t walking distance of Sneaky Pete’s, Dream Girls or any of the other popular degenerate Canadian traveler destination spots, but we were close enough for a cheap cab ride; and besides I wasn’t with the boys for this trip, I was with my fiancé and baby. Although, I did manage to spend a few hours at Sneaky Pete’s one night. And it was a far walk, but I even managed to walk back to the hotel from US Bank Stadium after the Viking’s game in about 45 minutes. Plus the university area still has plenty of good restaurants and pubs in the vicinity. And across the street from the Graduate, there is a Caribou Coffee, a roti place, a couple of pubs, Chipotle and Bruegger’s Bagels. And within a 5-minute walking distance there is a Buffalo Wild Wings, plenty of Asian restaurants, Dominos and a Jimmy John’s.
So, staying at Graduate Minneapolis, you will be in a great location. Not to mention inside the hotel there is a Chick-fil-A, a Starbucks and a restaurant and bar, called the Beacon Public House. The food wasn’t great there, but the service was good, the beers were cold and there are plenty of TV’s to watch some sports and relax. Not to mention there is a Top Golf in the hotel too. I didn’t play Top Golf as I didn’t have enough time, but I walked in there to look, there were 3 virtual golf bays and it was pretty quiet; but this would be a fun option for something to do if you have time to kill. There is also a nice little gym too. The only thing lacking is a pool.
My favorite part of the hotel though was the décor and stylish contemporary classic library design and theme. There are long wood tables, brown leather couches, classic chairs, cool looking lamps and plenty of places to sit back and relax. The lobby is bustling with hotel guests and university students working away on their laptops and numerous people relaxing and reading. The rooms were good sized and decorated with a similar theme. There are plenty of old Minneapolis artifacts on display and the hotel and rooms are extremely clean.
Finally, the service was good too. We were provided with a crib for our baby, and a microwave was brought to our room to sterilize the bottles. I didn’t talk to the hotel staff too much, but all the interaction I had was pleasant and they provided a few recommendations on places to eat.
All in all, it was a great stay at Graduate Minneapolis. We were there as a family and it was a great stay, and I could imagine with a group of friends the hotel would be a lot of fun.
How i'd rate Graduate Minneapolis:
Rooms - great
Service – great
Location – good
Parking – good
Amenities – great
Price – good
Next time I go back for a boy’s trip to watch a Viking’s game, I will persuade the boys to stay here.
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