Hotwire Hotel: 3* Minneapolis (Bloomington East - Mall of America Area - Airport MSP) Ramada Mall of America

[Triska]

I went through your HOTWIRE link and found a 3* hotel in Bloomington East-Mall of America-Airport for $48 on January 14 with the following amenities:

Airport Shuttle

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

It only has a Hotwire customer rating of 50%. A bit disturbing, but we really only need a place to sleep that has a pool and airport shuttle.

[thereuare]

Unfortunately this property has not yet been reported to the board. However, i would be a bit more leery of a hotel with only a 50% recommendation from previous HOTWIRE guests... while you think your needs are fairly basic, with a rating this low you may find rooms that aren't as clean as you'd like, a pool you might not want to swim in, and/or shuttle service which is not ontime or reliable. (a guess would be the The Ramada Mall of America)

I'd sooner look at the 3.5* hotel in this zone for about $10 more with:

Shuttle, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry

This 3.5* is a match for previous reports of the Holiday Inn Select (Three Appletree Square) and that would be my best guess for this one, should this be of interest and/or work for your needs this trip.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Triska]

I was actually thinking it is the Ramada, which has previously been reported as a 2.5*, but is ranked as a 3* on Trip Advisor. On the Hotwire site, it does say it has a 4.0 out of 5.0 rating on Trip Advisor, which is consistent with the Ramada's rating on there. It is one of the older and slightly outdated hotels in the area with very small bathrooms.

I'm hoping that by the time we book, the 3* hotel will change. All we really need is an airport shuttle, although it would be really nice to be near the Mall of America. I may start looking in other areas.

[thereuare]

It's possible the Ramada has changed star rating and/or the amenity set.

Also, i need to edit my comment above, the Holiday Inn referenced was last reported to the board as a 3* hotel, so this 3.5* may not be the Holiday Inn, although it too may have changed its star rating since last reported.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Triska]

Sorry, I forgot to update, so I'm doing it now. We decided to take a chance as we knew we'd only be there for about 8 hours before our flight. It was the Ramada and it was perfectly fine. We did have to switch rooms twice as the first room they put us in had only one queen bed and we needed two. They happily moved us to a second room, which also had one bed, but the third time was the charm! They apologized for the mixup the second time as both rooms were listed as two queens in their system.

We were flying standby on buddy passes and didn't get on the overbooked 6am flight, so we went back to the hotel and slept for a few hours before getting on the noon flight. We told them in advance that we might be back and they said that we didn't need to check out as we'd automatically be checked out at noon. It was an older hotel, but well worth the $48.

For anyone considering this property, but worried about the low 50% Hotwire rating, check out the TripAdvisor ratings first. It really was fine, just a much older hotel, but the staff was great. I think that people may be expecting something much more updated than the usual 3* hotels, which usually are much newer. I'd really put it on par with a 2.5* hotel as the common areas (hallways) and pool area weren't as updated as the newer 3*, but all three rooms we were in were updated and very clean. The staff was great and the pool area was clean, but older. We used the hot tub at 10pm and there were still plenty of towels. The shuttle service was also on time and went to the Mall of America as well. For this price, I'd stay here again.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Great deal and glad the hotel worked out well for your travel plans.

Thank you for letting us know about the change in star rating for this HOTWIRE property so that we can update the site's Hotwire Hotel List.

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.