mosthecat

We will have our own car, and hope to stay outside of the main downtown area. We'd like to stay near cafes, record stores, shops, and so on, rather than the big department stores and all. Any ideas. We haven't found much other than the airport and Mall of America. Any help?

LHS

We stayed at the Staybridge Suites in Egan at Easter. It's fairly new, quiet, with strip malls close by and the Mall of America an easy drive. It's within blocks of 35E & 77, about 10-15 minutes from downtown Minnepolis when traffic is moving. We had dinner downtown.

Kmar

If you want to stay outside of the downtown area but still have access to everything, I would choose St. Louis Park. It's only about 4 miles from downtown, and uptown. Unfourtunly, there aren't any hotels in Uptown, but that is a neat place to go with tons of little stores, restaurants, and cafes!! I would recommend the Doubletree Park Place Hotel!

jbass

Wayzata is a cute, upscale town west of the Mpls downtown area. There is a Sheraton near the Ridgedale Shopping Mall (the only place I can think of for records)-otherwise Wayzata has the cafes, record stores, shops and so on.

Uptown fits the bill as mentioned above; no "nearby" hotel-downtown may be the closest. I prefer the Uptown area since I live close by; it's also close to downtown which I think is a plus.

Have you been to Mpls before - is there a reason not to stay downtown?

macsrus

I'd agree about Wayzata, nice place on Lake Minnetonka. I also like Stillwater a lot. Old logging town on the St Croix river about 40 mins East of the Twin Cities. Lost of places to stay and things to do, very cute place.

mosthecat

Thanks for the advie. I will look at these options. I have nothing against downtown, but when we travel we often like to be more in a neighborhood. Close to restaurants, cafes that resemble more of real life, and less touristy/business-like surroundings. We have never been in Minneapolis. Always in Duluth to see relatives, and thought it's about time to see Minneapolis.