Tru by Hilton Minneapolis Downtown — Hotel in Minneapolis

UPDATE: My concerns were addressed by hotel management. He personally called me. He listened to what I had to say, and I listened to his side of the situation and how he addressed my concerns and course of action to prevent future incidents. We need to keep an open mind, because sometimes the employee that we are frustrated with is also part of the unforeseen chain of events. And the last 2 links of that chain of events are them and us. Both being frustrated. There are some people that just don’t do well working with the public, but there are plenty good ones doing their best for you that don’t deserve the wrath that others have caused.

Couple days prior to arrival, I called seeking an answer to a question about my upcoming stay. They answered the phone after I just let it ring, only to be asked if I could hold, and was put on hold without even answering them. I was on hold for 25 minutes before giving up and hanging up. I tried a few hours later and the same scenario took place again, this time giving me the opportunity to say “ No, last time you put me on hold for 25 minutes and you never came back”. The hotel staff then said “Oh, what can I help you with?” Now there’s no urgency to put me on hold??? I had to ask my question and explain what I was asking 3 times. Simple question of will I be able to park my vehicle prior to checking in, so I can head to my obligation with the group I was with, never once asking to check into my room 6 hours early. He kept telling me he can’t check me in that early, and I repeatedly had to keep telling him I don’t want to check into my room early, I just want to park my car. Speaking of parking, it’s valet parking to the tune of $47/day which is excessive in my world, but I’m also not from a town this large. Where I live it’s 250,000 and have never paid that much for valet parking, and then be told, call ahead it’s a 30-60 minute wait for your car when I would need it. Glad the price reflects the service provided. Now, checking in. Slowest check in process ever! 2 people checking in guests on a Saturday of a large sporting event down the street?? Plan ahead and have more staff on hand!! Those 2 retrieving held luggage, trying to fill out key tags for parking, looking for and processing reservations, putting callers on hold (see why now) and guests coming back in with their keys and then stopping what they’re doing to finish up the previous guest’s check in. Forgot to add, upon arriving to park my car, 2, employees were talking, one walked away and one ignored me but acknowledged the guy that brought his car keys in, and helped him, only to return to what he was doing before he came in. Only upon doing the clearing of the throat thing did he ask if he could help me with something. Dennis, who checked me in was very polite, but you could clearly see they were understaffed for the amount of guests checking in. And another thing, our room key operated the elevator, which was not explained, but had over heard another guest questioning about why the elevator wasn’t working right. I was on floor 2 and it kept taking me to floor 6. Apparently, my newly acquired key from my lengthy check in didn’t work. Rooms are nice and clean, very understaffed at front desk and high cost to park to have to wait so long for your car when...

Three and a half stars. Read on for the PROS and CONS...|(If you found this review helpful, please click the thumbs-up!)||We picked this hotel as it was lesser priced than many in downtown M'polis and included a buffet breakfast. We stayed 6 nights.||PROS:||For the price, it offers all the basics, a clean, compact modern minimalist room, hard floors, mini fridge, iron and ironing board, large flat screen TV, several charging ports (USB and plug), several lamps, full length mirror, shampoo, conditioner and lotion wall dispensers, good shower, comfy bed, hair dryer, alarm clock. ||Convenient location -- walking distance to the Metro, visitor center, restaurants, skywalks, shops, cafes, riverfront, Mill City Museum, etc.||Luggage drop off -- the first day we arrived mid-morning before our room was ready and they allowed us to drop our luggage off.||Access to the skywalks from the hotel stairwell.||Friendly staff. I thought the staff were very good, especially George in the breakfast area. He might talk your ear off a bit, but he offered some useful tourist info and made the experience more warm and inviting. The front desk staff were always cordial and willing to help.||Breakfast buffet is your usual selection of hotel chain offerings, which included a nice vat of plain oatmeal with toppings. Also offered, dry cereals, flavored yogurts, boiled eggs, waffles, tea, coffee, juice, fruits including bananas and oranges, breads, muffins. The breakfast seating area is very spacious, allowing you to stay spaced out from others if you desire. The breakfast at this Tru hotel was better than the one at Tru Mall of America.||Generally quiet except for loud hissing HVAC system and door slamming by other patrons.||Coffee and tea offered in the lobby, although caffeine free tea options were limited. ||As Hilton Honor members, we were given snacks and water on arrival. Always a welcome touch. ||Use the nearby Nicollet Mall or Government Plaza Metro train stops. The Metro and station are slightly sketchy. There's also a bus stop and mail box outside the hotel.||CONS: ||The room was cold and we couldn't seem to alter the room temperature. The front desk leant us a space heater for the remainder of our stay, which helped. (Obviously we weren't the first to complain of a cold room!) The HVAC system in the room is on constantly and had a loud hissing noise. ||Housekeeping service is every-other day. ||Expensive parking. We didn't have a car, but the sign outside said overnight valet was $47 a night, plus tax. Oversized/XL vehicles $57, plus tax. What a rip off!||One set of towels. Sometimes when you're traveling, you like to shower twice a day and want an extra dry set. We asked for a second set of towels at the desk and they were happy to oblige. ||No pool. They do have a gym, but we didn't use it. ||If you found this review helpful, please click the...

Avoid this hotel with it's broken HVAC control units and it's lackluster care for guest safety.

I booked this newly opened Tru, or Homewood suites as it shares the same building, as I was looking for something low key in downtown for a couple days and thought I'd see how this hotel was. As I have stayed in several Tru hotels before I know what to expect from the brand, and that's a nice place to relax and enjoy a relatively newly built hotel brand. This hotel is an exemption to that trend.

I had booked 5 nights at this hotel, and I had checked in through their app the day before and selected my room. The next day when I arrived the room I had selected was no longer available and they had moved me from the floor I'd selected to a lower floor. This was the first time I've ever had my room revoked by a hotel after I have selected it in the app in my 15+ stays this year. It's a very minor inconvenience, and something I'd usually write off if there wasn't a major issue or lots of other minor inconveniences.

The room they had switched me to turned out to have a broken HVAC control unit, as it wouldn't adjust the temperature at all and just kept increasing the temperature in my room. I contacted the front desk and asked them to send up a maintenance person when available. About 5 minutes later they called back and offered me a different room. I accepted the offer to move, and was quite happy with the proactive solution from front desk attendant. The room I moved into was much better, until I realized that this HVAC control unit also did nothing to control the room temperature and now was running nonstop to cool my room. Again not a major issue, but now that's a second and third minor inconvenience.

The biggest issue is the guest safety issue. As I stated above I was switched rooms, but still had my digital key for my old room for the 4 remaining days I stayed there. I gave them the rest of the day after I switched rooms to update the app before going downstairs the next two mornings to ask them to switch my digital key access. The second time I explicitly stated something along the lines of "Would you please remove and update my digital key as I shouldn't still have access to another guest's room as that seems to be a security risk", the front desk attendants didn't seem phased by that statement and just attempted to switch my key but said "The systems running slow, I'll write this down and get it switched when the computer starts working" I accepted that and left them to it. Nothing ever happened and for the remaining two days I stayed I still had access to another guest's room.

Overall the hotel is new, clean and adequate for a lower-end Hilton chain, but the issues I've outlined above need immediate fixes and that's only done with new management. Until that time I'd avoid this place if you value your comfortableness...