MN Minneapolis-St Paul Crowne Plaza Northwest

[shammes53]

This property become a Crown Plaza on August 1st, changing from a Holiday Inn Select (previous to that it was a Hilton) We stayed here on a Friday night (August 5th),as we had activities in the Twin Cities area during the weekend. I called about a week ahead to verify the reservation and request a non-smoking room, which was no problem. They said we would be getting a non-smoking room with a king bed and sofa bed, which was great being it was the wife, son (age 7) and I sharing the room. The location of the hotel is about nine miles from downtown Minnepolis, just off I-694/94. I know the area well since it is where I spent most of my childhood. There are now many other hotels in this same area and lots of good places to eat as well. Checkin was no problem, received a non smoking room as promised but, it was a smaller corner room on the fifth floor and no sofa bed! I went back to the front desk, they checked and apologized, we should have had a different room. They did not have any rooms with a sofa bed available (hotel was booked solid), but they promised us a rollaway at no charge (which was fine) Five minutes after we got back to the room, the rollaway was delivered. Very good service I thought (and the rollaway worked out fine) Although the room seemd a tad smaller, it had a nice desk and chair, amoire with 25" television, bathroom was very nice and very nice king size bed. The room worked out great for us, very close to the elevator and in a quiet location. Hotel has a nice size pool (small hot tub though) and sauna. Because it was their first week as a Crowne Plaza, they even had an afternoon reception in the lobby with free appetizers and beverages (including wine), it was great! We filled up on this and had dinner much later in the evening (at a Cracker Barrel - my son's favorite place) Overall we had a wonderful stay, I doubt the next time I get this property it will be for the $30 winning bid for this stay, but I would pay more. This is a very nice property and they did a great job with the renovation. Considering the distance from Minneapolis it would be a great alternative to a downtown hotel.

[ddnb]

My husband and I have stayed at this Crowne Plaza on numerous occassions the past few years, all through Priceline bids. We've always been happy with our stay here, especially for the price (usually around $38). We've gone there as a couple, with our son, I've gone with my mom and sister, and each time we bid for the Twin Cities, we put down for this part of town, hoping that we'll get this hotel (we've yet to be disappointed!).

There never seems to be an issue with us being Priceline customers. We've always gotten our room request (whether it's 2 queens or 1 king) and have been well taken care of. In fact, this past August 2006 we stayed there for our anniversary. This occassion was briefly mentioned at check-in in an off-handed comment. That night after we returned from dinner, we found a platter of chocolate drizzled fruit in our room and a message from the chef wishing us a Happy Anniversary. WOW!

We'll be heading back down there in a few weekends for a night and we're looking forward to our stay again!