Staybridge Suites Minneapolis-Bloomington by IHG — Hotel in Bloomington

Do not stay here if you are with a large group…..!!!!! (This hotel was one affiliated to take on hockey teams for a tournament). There were multiple teams here and the staff were VERY AGGRESIVE AND NEGATIVE towards any movement in the hotel. One child was knocking on the door to gain access from the back firepit area(which was not on) and the front staff came out yelling “you’re going to break the door!!!” Us parents were sitting there and we didn’t even hear the kid knocking because that’s how quiet it was (please note this was 2:00 pm in the afternoon) Our team along with a Manitoba team were sitting and watching the hockey game (playoff vs jets) and at 9:57 pm the lady working the front came in and said “curfew is at 10 pm and you need to go back to your rooms “ and proceeded to turn off the lights. We said “there is 0.33 seconds left in the game and we have 3 minutes before 10 pm “ and she said “nope it’s 10:00 you need to leave now”. Nobody was being obnoxious or loud. All children were asleep with one other parent in their rooms. We said we would never stay here and why would this hotel take on any teams if they do not allow them to be together. Upon going back to my room I heard the same front desk lady telling the children coming out of the pool that they need to go to their rooms and “this is not a bar … and if you want to stay out all night go to the bar”. These 11 year old children asked “what’s a bar?” And I just told them “that lady is crusty and not nice and shouldn’t talk to you that way”. I didn’t know who these children were but the front desk lady was rude to all people and tried to smile with her rudensss. We decided to go to the hotel next to us as our other teams were there and they happily took us in and let us stay in their lobby without issues! That is where we will stay next time. ||||As for the rooms we had to stay in a king and pull out couch room as that is all they had available and my gosh!!!!! Do not take a room with a pullout at all costs!!! They claim the mattresses are new??? That is a joke! The springs are jetting through a this sheet of material. When I kneeled on the mattress to put the sheet down our first night I said there is absolutely no way we are sleeping on this! It is worse than any bed we slept on in Cuba! We asked the front desk for a new mattress and she said they are brand new. I said can I have a mattress pad or a cot and she said they didn’t have any. She said she “may be able to get me an extra blanket”. We decided sleep is important and went to target and BOUGHT A BED IN A BOX 6” for $180 so that we could actually get some quality sleep. This is the first time we have thought to do this and thank god we did! The staff should be embarrassed with how they handle people and situations and they are aware the pullout couches are bad but seem to not relay this to the people who can make the changes needed. ||The chair in our room backing is off and screws are sticking out. The door rattles every time another door opens or closes. The ice machine is super loud in our fridge. The king bed is good! Gym is good. Breakfast is good....

The good:

Overall the staff was helpful, accommodating, and generally friendly when contacted/needed.

Room space and layout is good for those with children. Like having a separated room and some amenities of a home kitchen/place to eat. That's why we like staying at Staybridges.

Indoor pool and spa facility/temperatures were great even in severely cold outdoor weather. Swam a few times in our 2 day trip. Kids loved the pool -- getting into the pool & COVID policy was no problem -- worked out well.

Breakfast times and offerings worked great for us and considering COVID protocol worked out just fine. Breakfast area was clean.

Geographical proximity to restaurants, take out, delivery etc is great.

Opportunities for improvement (in my humble opinion):

1. Overall the common spaces (hallways, reception, pool breezeway, elevators) in this hotel had some strange/unpleasant odors. Smoke, chemical cleaners, (pets maybe?), etc. Couldn't quite put my finger on it -- but it seemed like it used to be a smoking friendly hotel at one point or the air handling is poor. The interior of our room seemed to be fine, however.

2. Common areas looked to be kept clean from a distance but a closer look showed that many opportunities for maintenance/better cleaning/tlc exist. Little things like banged up walls/furniture, peeling wallpaper, window sills/shades lined with dust & debris, plants with dead leaves on the ground, etc. The floor in the pool area looked as if it may have been mopped but there seemed to be the same debris and hair clumps still on the ground all 3 days of our stay which made me want to watch my step. Our room was tidy for the most part -- but my kid did find some old beer bottle caps in one of the corners by the pull out couch which presented a unique situation for us (and makes you question thoroughness/cleanliness).

Lastly, this isn't a huge deal but just an observation -- to navigate a full luggage cart to/from the elevators can be challenging in this hotel. I'm used to Staybridges with large open hallways, etc. This particular layout with the elevator corridor, tight turns, & hallways made for some bottlenecks where people with luggage had to back up and direct traffic at check out time.

Overall I rated our stay average as I couldn't say it was excellent. Just trying to be as honest and objective as possible; seemed like there could be a little more help on hand but that could be a result of Covid/mid-week stay.

I appreciate the kind folks on-site who helped with our stay! The overall experience was just not what I've come to expect from my previous stays with Staybridges...

Well to start off, the rooms were as advertised. The diahwasher was running when we checked into the room. We had to put away someone elses dishes. Then one of the outlets by the window in the living room wasn't working. That wasn't a big deal for us. We even had the light switch for the outlet on. Just wasn't working. Anyways... the breakfast in the morning was not great at all. The egg and cheesw omelets were ice cold, like they just came out of the freezer not even heated. I had to tell someone and they took my plate and microwaved it for like 20 seconds. Still was cold. The breakfast area is super small. The second days breakfast the waffle mix was not mixed. One if the workers there snatched it out of my hands and said it wasn't good. That was really rude to snatch it out of my hands. You could've politely said it wasn't good and ask for it. Then their juice was out and we had to ask for a refill for that. Then the danishes were still frozen. Is anything ever warmed up there? It didn't seem like it. Wasn't a fan of their breakfast at all. Then my family and I were excited for the pool. We got all ready, got there and we couldn't swim in the pool... the pool was ice cold. Like lake/ocean cold. I've never been in a pool that was so cold before. I wasn't letting my kids in a hot tub, so they didn't get to swim. I specifically picked a hotel with a pool. I was very upset about that. When we went out to the front desk to complain and ask about it, no one was there. When I checked out the lady didn't really speak English, so I couldn't explain everything. She didn't even ask how my stay was. I'm definitely do not recommend this hotel....