I have read some nasty reviews and I understand that some people have been unhappy with their stay here. I used to live literally a block away from this place back when it was a flophouse for skid row drunks - they did a very long, detailed job to bring it up to code, renovate and turn it into a budget hotel tailored to gay travelers. I am the target clientele. The gay community in Minneapolis is like any small town - you konw everyone. I knew the owner, I knew or had heard of most of the guys working the desk, and I knew the area. I wanted to stay here because it was right were my plans are, and again I knew everyone working there. I saw it go from a place that had mice (in the very beginning!), to a struggling hotel that began to rent rooms monthly (which, had I returned to Minneapolis I was seriously considering if I could have gotten a room on the upper level - a $500 room downtown is unheard of in 2009 (or even 1995).
The majority of my stays at the Saloon Hotel (www.gaympls.com) have been overnighters when I come down from Duluth (150 miles north) to run the Twin Cities Marathon. I don't drive, so taking the Greyhound Bus and the station being a block away is perfect for me. However, about 10 years ago I noticed a disturbing trend by a temporary owner who obviously was renting out rooms to drug dealers and girls who were prostitutes (being so close the bus station, Salvation Army, etc) - there were more than a dozen incidents where police were picking up prostitutes, wanted drug dealers from CA, IL, AZ, etc., runaways, drug addicts (one who was found dead from an overdose). This lasted about a year until the new owner came along, he's been there ever since, and he is definitely interested that you get a good, safe place to stay for the night or weekend. I, personally, have never had a problem here. Remember this place was built in 1879 - it's one of the oldest structures left downtown. They had to get through a lot to fix this place up and you'd never know how old the foundation was. That said, having to share a community bathroom isn't fun, but they keep it clean, and I never had a problem using it (because I always request room 202 or 204, right across the breezeway from the bathroom/shower area. I'll be back in Ocotober '09 for the Twin Cities Marathon, where the starting line is 4 blocks away.

This hotel is the worst ever!!!! Everything you read about it on the net is true.

IT says European Style hotel, I was thinking since I am a european, that I could manage living there.......BUT FAR FROM IT!

I stayed 2 out of 5 prepaid nights, and booked over to the Hilton in St. Paul.

The hotel is smelly, filty, dirty as hell!!!!

The people who worked there was nice, but the hotel stinks!!!
STAY AWAY FROM IT GUYS!

Although I’m a very regular traveler, I don’t usually make comments on places I’ve stayed, but I’ve rarely wanted to warn people to stay away from a place as much as I do the Hotel Amsterdam. The service was so unpleasant, unhelpful, and downright dishonest, and the rooms and bathrooms so dark and dingy that I decided I would rather pay an exorbitant (and previously unannounced) cancellation fee than spend the night here. I had discounted some of the negative reviews that I had read of the place before I arrived thinking that perhaps homophobia was playing a role, but I was definitely mistaken – all the bad things that you’ve read are true.

This has got to be the worst overnight experience I've ever had. Staff has poor communication skills and even worse listening skills. The rooms smell and look like an ashtray. I stayed one of three paid evenings. I can embrace sleaze when necessary, but this was more creepy than sleazy.