AC Hotel Minneapolis Downtown — Hotel in Minneapolis

My wife and I stayed at the AC Hotel Minneapolis Downtown for 5 nights in April. Overall, the stay was fine. However, there were several minor issues that would make us consider other hotel options when we’re next in Minneapolis.

When we first checked into our room, 3 of the lights in the ceiling were burnt out. Then, when we were getting ready for bed that night, we noticed that the sink in the room was partially clogged. Now to give the hotel credit, when I talked to the front desk the issues were dealt with in less than 24 hours. But, since they were obvious issues I’m not sure why housekeeping didn’t note them whenever they came in to clean. The light sensor in the toilet/cubicle also malfunctioned; when you first walked in, the light would stay on for about 10 seconds and then slowly flick on and off twice before finally staying on. Since we’d already had maintenance in twice in 2 days, at this point I didn’t report it to the front desk. But it was still bothersome and something that would be obvious to housekeeping. Finally, I’m not sure who was in charge of designing the sliding glass doors for the toilet/shower stalls, but I’m really surprised that the decision was made to just print a pattern on it and not frost the glass. The effect is that when someone is on the toilet or in the shower, another person in the room sitting on the bed can see them through the pattern in the glass. Now, since it was just my wife and I it wasn’t the end of the world. But, given how the room is laid out with the see-through glass doors, I wouldn’t recommend the hotel to anyone traveling with family or friends, although it’s perfectly acceptable for a single person in town on business.

Finally, it would be nice if the Front Desk had corkscrews that could be borrowed for a deposit. When I went to borrow one, the staff at the front desk told me that the hotel, “only had one corkscrew,” and if I needed to open a bottle of wine (and get wine glasses), it could only be done by the bartender in the lounge while it was open. This is the first Marriott-branded hotel I’ve stayed at where I couldn’t get...

UPDATE - but wait! There’s more. 3rd fat trying to get out of the parking garage, 3rd day it doesn’t work. We had the QR code they sent after the first one never came and the front desk agent had to come out to the parking garage that day, the second one that was supposed to work for 24 hours never worked and once again we had to go through phone calls to get out. 3rd day, once again didn’t work but this time the parking garage attendant was able to help Without forcing us to go through the hotel and phone calls and waiting. All to simply get out of the parking garage we are paying $35 a day to park in. I would never stay here again.

Original review - Austere in every way. I long for the days of the heavenly bed. But if you are looking for a hotel room with a clanging glass bathroom door that wakes up any sleeping human, all wood, metal and glass with the most minimal of thin bedding (and bathroom towels), this is the place for you.

Because the bedding is so basic I called down for 4 extra pillows - i didn’t tell them I thought the bedding sucked - they were delivered within minutes. 🎉

The shower is awesome. The lighting in the bathroom is minimal. Any person using it to apply makeup may look much different in the light of day.

Getting out of the parking garage has been a hassle each time so far. Once the front desk agent had to come out to the parking garage at the gate to get us out. We’ve had to call both times. The gentleman who works for the parking garage - unaffiliated with the hotel - said this happens frequently. So much so that he knew which button we should push when we had to call the hotel to get help.

Breakfast - attendant is fabulous. Everything else, meh. Including having to use plastic ware to eat. At a premium hotel. Not a sketch motel.

The hotel is in a vibrant downtown area - which we wanted - so expect to hear loud cars, music and the effects of clubbing until...

Honestly for a city break, AC Hotel's location can't be beaten. It's right in the centre of everything and a lot of entertainment places (a couple of clubs/bars and a LOT of food places) are within walking distance. For the places that aren't, there is also a Tram stop close by, as well as the Nicollet Mall.

The hotel is also right next to a parkade (multi-storey carpark), so if you're driving it's very convenient. Getting a parking barcode from the hotel front desk is a must otherwise it'll get expensive very quickly.

The staff was also helpful and friendly enough, and while they do offer breakfast for an additional fee, we just didn't have a real need for it- There were so many options close by. The lounge is also pretty cool and actually a decent place to hang out and get a drink or watch TV.

My only minor issue was with the room we got, specifically the bathroom. The room itself was pretty nice and spacious (although wood/laminate flooring can get cold). In the bathroom though, the shower curtain was too short and the lip of the stall was not high enough so water spilled out from the shower stall into the rest of the space. I think it was sloped in the stall, but I'm not sure if that would have made a difference. There is a floor drain right next to the cubicle though (in the main bathroom space), so I assume this was expected/thought of, but of course it's not sloped outside the shower stall so the water just goes everywhere.

I was only there for a couple of days so it was only a minor annoyance, and obviously encountering the same situation depends on getting a similar room (unless they're all somehow like that) but it's worth pointing out because if I was there for up to a week it would have gotten super annoying. Simply having a longer shower curtain would have fixed the issue.

All in all it was a great stay, and AC Hotel is now my goto when I'm in...