We visited Minneapolis recently to fly to another location. On our return we decided to stay for an extra couple of nights. We chose this location because we are from Winnipeg, MB and this was on the right side of Minneapolis for the drive home. We also wanted to go to both the MOA and Albertville, so this location was central for that because there is quite a distance between the two. This is a new hotel and it is quite large. We had a one bedroom suite and it was great for our family of four. It is always nice to have a room to put the kids to bed and then have space for the parents to have some alone time instead of everyone going to bed at nine! The pool area was average and the tiles around the pool were actually quite slippery (not the best for small kids who forget not to run). The breakfast area is large but considering the size of the hotel it was always very full. The breakfast selection is very good. The eggs were not the typical ones that taste very processed. All of our service requests were happily met. Our only complaint was that for some reason they neglected to housekeep our room one day. They apologized and sent someone up to change garbages and provide us with towels. We were on the road side of the hotel and there was some road noise to deal with. On the whole would stay at this hotel again.

We were visiting "The Cities" for a long weekend and decided to stay in a new location. We wanted to be near hiking trails and parks. This location suited us very well for that, although it is a long haul back into St. Paul/Minneapolis.

The room was wonderful, spacious, warm, and completely comfortable. I love the new blinds that completely darken the room at night and good light during the day. The hotel staff was very accommodating when we called to complain about noise.

Although the room interiors are superbly designed, the walls are not. The noise coming from the neighboring room was too often invasive. Music and voices came through the wall next to the desk and couch, loud and clear. Similarly, the barking dog across the hall was an annoyance.

The breakfast room was well-stocked and the breakfast room staff was always super accommodating. My complaint about the breakfast room is really about a problem that is emerging more and more often: children and teenage guests coming to the breakfast room straight from bed, in pjs or underwear, barefoot, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, scratching heads and bodies as they reach for the eggs and toast before proceeding to a table where they put bare feet up on the chairs for everyone to look at. There's something pretty unappetizing about all this. Yes, it is the parents' responsibility to prevent this, but since they aren't doing so, can management request some reasonable rules like: clothing and shoes? You may even need to have some signs about washing hands...or having hand sanitizers at the entrance to the breakfast room, like cruise ships do.

I stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks between November and December 2011. I was on a business project and most of the team stayed at the same hotel.

The property is great -- new, clean, with extremely helpful staff. The rooms are huge! I stayed in a one bedroom that is bigger than most regular one bedroom apartments. I had one issue with the hairdryer -- just went kaput -- and they fixed it within 10 min of my noticing there was a problem.

There were alot of families staying there while I was there as well with lots of children so definitely family friendly and pet-friendly (I saw at least one well-behaved Labrador at breakfast). As a business traveler I only noticed the kids on the weekends when I was up later for the full hot breakfast and occasionally in the saline pool if I was in the gym next door.

The free daily hot breakfast is great -- changes a little bit daily but always has all the good staples from cereal to eggs to waffles.

I did not go into the pool (was interested in the saline concept but ultimately in my opinion too cold outside to even think about swimming!) but did go to the gym. I was pleasantly surprised that the gym was large (for a hotel gym) and not only had cardio machines (2 treadmills, 2 elliptical machines and a recumbent bike) but free weights and benches with a full wall mirror and one of those good floors so that in case you drop a weight you don't break the floor.

The rooms themselves are very modern with granite countertops and a darker wood motif, very comfortable beds and two TVs -- one in the living room and one in the bedroom. The kitchen was a full kitchen with a stovetop but no oven which you really don't miss. The fridge is full size and comes with a microwave and all your basic kitchen necessities. You won't be cooking Thanksgiving dinner here but either as a business traveler away for several weeks or a family trying to save money from eating out you can definitely make the kitchen work.

The hotel is in a strip mall with a Caribou Coffee, a Subway, a Pizza Place, a FedEx, a hair salon and another gym so you really have most things you need right there. A Red Robin is across the street and several other eating and shopping options are within short driving distance. Getting to downtown Minneapolis is ~20-30 min.

The hotel did some happy hours/evening snack things on some days and have a nice fireplace room right in reception for people to hang out -- I was working too much to get to try out anything before 7pm at night.

When I am next on travel in this area I will definitely stay at the Residence Inn!

Stayed at this Residence Inn for 2 nights while visiting family - hotel was clean and enjoyed our stay. Breakfast had almost anything that you wanted. My only complaint was that the ice maker in the refrigerator started grinding about 6 in the morning (wasn't even making ice cubes) so was an early wake up I wasn't ready for. Otherwise I would recommend this hotel.