W Minneapolis [Master Thread]
Aug 18, 2008, 9:59 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 7,323
W Minneapolis [Master Thread]
Checked in at 10AM. Hotel is located on Marquette between 9th and 8th. Beautiful lobby!
Mathew gave me a warm welcome and told me I had been upgraded to a Fabulous room. I asked him if I could get a suite if I checked in later. He went to the office and obviously asked if he could upgrade me to a suite. Two seconds later he was happy to announce that I had a Fantastic Suite, 2401. Amenity points offered as well.
Awesome suite. There are only 4 suites pr. floor and I assume that the regular rooms are pretty small since the floors are pretty small.
Internet is 12.95 pr. day. Wireless or Wired. The suite is a corner suite with separate bed room. 2 x 37" LG LCDs, DVD player in the livingroom.
Pink mini bar with bigger bottles in the livingroom.
Red wine, Dynamite from Sonoma, 26 bucks for a 375ml bottle
Veuve Cliquot Champers, 65 bucks (375ml)
Tanqueray Gin, 36 bucks (200ml)
Absolut 100 Proof Vodka and Belvedere (both 200ml)Vodka 36 bucks
Smaller bottles of Patron, 10 can rum and Johnny Walker black (all 50ml, 12 bucks)
Livingroom is large and long. Round diningroom table with 3 chairs, cool chair and huge couch in the hang out area. Room Service menu is not offered in paper version, only on the TV under the Menu. Great idea, but takes some getting used to. You can't order through the TV, you have to call. Ordered a coffee pot up here while preparing for the meeting. Took 10 minutes. Great coffee in french press. Prices are ok, 20% service fee and 3 USD delivery fee.
Bedroom is big, Tivoli clock radio, but no Ipod dock like in the regular rooms here for some odd reason. The bathroom is huge, separate tub with awesome view. Bliss madness in there, 10 bottles at least. The shower is huge.
Half an hour after checking in, a guy stopped by with a hand written note welcoming me and delivered an extra big Voss Water due to my W The Card membership. Great touch!
Fresh, new and great property, highly recommended. Will make my bi weekly visit to MSP a lot fresher. So it's bye bye Westin MSP and hello W!
Will report more after I try room service food and the bar tonight
Mathew gave me a warm welcome and told me I had been upgraded to a Fabulous room. I asked him if I could get a suite if I checked in later. He went to the office and obviously asked if he could upgrade me to a suite. Two seconds later he was happy to announce that I had a Fantastic Suite, 2401. Amenity points offered as well.
Awesome suite. There are only 4 suites pr. floor and I assume that the regular rooms are pretty small since the floors are pretty small.
Internet is 12.95 pr. day. Wireless or Wired. The suite is a corner suite with separate bed room. 2 x 37" LG LCDs, DVD player in the livingroom.
Pink mini bar with bigger bottles in the livingroom.
Red wine, Dynamite from Sonoma, 26 bucks for a 375ml bottle
Veuve Cliquot Champers, 65 bucks (375ml)
Tanqueray Gin, 36 bucks (200ml)
Absolut 100 Proof Vodka and Belvedere (both 200ml)Vodka 36 bucks
Smaller bottles of Patron, 10 can rum and Johnny Walker black (all 50ml, 12 bucks)
Livingroom is large and long. Round diningroom table with 3 chairs, cool chair and huge couch in the hang out area. Room Service menu is not offered in paper version, only on the TV under the Menu. Great idea, but takes some getting used to. You can't order through the TV, you have to call. Ordered a coffee pot up here while preparing for the meeting. Took 10 minutes. Great coffee in french press. Prices are ok, 20% service fee and 3 USD delivery fee.
Bedroom is big, Tivoli clock radio, but no Ipod dock like in the regular rooms here for some odd reason. The bathroom is huge, separate tub with awesome view. Bliss madness in there, 10 bottles at least. The shower is huge.
Half an hour after checking in, a guy stopped by with a hand written note welcoming me and delivered an extra big Voss Water due to my W The Card membership. Great touch!
Fresh, new and great property, highly recommended. Will make my bi weekly visit to MSP a lot fresher. So it's bye bye Westin MSP and hello W!
Will report more after I try room service food and the bar tonight
Last edited by SanDiego1K; Aug 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm Reason: Moved from another thread to start master thread
Aug 18, 2008, 11:49 am
#2
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DCA ZWU
Programs: AGR WOH
Posts: 1,785
more from the Strib's Barbara Flanagan; the Foshay long had Minneapolis' sole observation deck, so the skybar is a nice touch. Jon Stewart will be staying there during the RNC.
http://www.startribune.com/local/262...tml?page=2&c=y
"May I add that there are two WOW suites (one known as "extreme'') a 27th floor skybar, also with a great view, a Technogym, a pet-friendly PAW (pets are welcome) program, a 24-hour concierge, and believe it or not, a Foshay Tower museum.
"Wilbur Foshay's office is almost as it was in his day, with the paneled walls and tall windows opening to small balconies. You can rent it for a party.
"In 1929, when Foshay opened his building, John Philip Sousa and his band played a new composition by Sousa titled "The Foshay Tower March." The $20,000 fee Sousa never received made history. Foshay's utility empire collapsed just six weeks after the opening celebration and his check to Sousa bounced. In retaliation, the composer forbade the march from being played. Finally, in 1999, some devoted Minneapolitans paid the debt to the Sousa estate. The march can now be played if hotelgoers want to hear it."
http://www.startribune.com/local/262...tml?page=2&c=y
"May I add that there are two WOW suites (one known as "extreme'') a 27th floor skybar, also with a great view, a Technogym, a pet-friendly PAW (pets are welcome) program, a 24-hour concierge, and believe it or not, a Foshay Tower museum.
"Wilbur Foshay's office is almost as it was in his day, with the paneled walls and tall windows opening to small balconies. You can rent it for a party.
"In 1929, when Foshay opened his building, John Philip Sousa and his band played a new composition by Sousa titled "The Foshay Tower March." The $20,000 fee Sousa never received made history. Foshay's utility empire collapsed just six weeks after the opening celebration and his check to Sousa bounced. In retaliation, the composer forbade the march from being played. Finally, in 1999, some devoted Minneapolitans paid the debt to the Sousa estate. The march can now be played if hotelgoers want to hear it."
Aug 18, 2008, 5:53 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Posts: 980
Aug 19, 2008, 9:15 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
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Posts: 5,338
On pets: stayed at the Westin recently and found Minne to be a tough city to find green space for the 'jobs' pets need to do. I'm not sure about the area around the W but by the Westin it is several block away to anything not concrete or dirt.
Pictures
Aug 19, 2008, 9:30 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles & Orange County, CA
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Posts: 23,822
Aug 19, 2008, 1:09 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 7,323
Sorry, guys.. No camera on this trip. We have to wait for you to visit the hotel, Bliss 
OK, here's the rest of the story:
Went to the Living Room bar on the first floor and it was pretty crowded for Monday night. A very nice girl that just moved from Montana served me. I decided to eat at Manny's which is conveniently located next door, there's a door in the Living Room so you don't have to step outside of the hotel to enter this restaurant. (best steak house in MSP) Unfortunately there was a 2 hour wait, so make sure to make reservations in advance. A little "just opened" challenges at the bar, but nothing critical. Prices are 5 for domestic beer, 6 for imported. Good selection on the beer front. Martini's and other mixed drinks are from 8-12 bucks. Good Cognac selection, including Louis XIII and 5 XOs. About 20 Single Malt's including Oban 18 years and many more
Did not visit the smaller bar "Prohibition" on the 27th floor.
Valet was 28. As for the dog park.
No surprises on the bill, great stay! Will stay there again in 3 weeks, will try to take some pictures then unless someone else visit's before then
OK, here's the rest of the story:
Went to the Living Room bar on the first floor and it was pretty crowded for Monday night. A very nice girl that just moved from Montana served me. I decided to eat at Manny's which is conveniently located next door, there's a door in the Living Room so you don't have to step outside of the hotel to enter this restaurant. (best steak house in MSP) Unfortunately there was a 2 hour wait, so make sure to make reservations in advance. A little "just opened" challenges at the bar, but nothing critical. Prices are 5 for domestic beer, 6 for imported. Good selection on the beer front. Martini's and other mixed drinks are from 8-12 bucks. Good Cognac selection, including Louis XIII and 5 XOs. About 20 Single Malt's including Oban 18 years and many more
Did not visit the smaller bar "Prohibition" on the 27th floor.
Valet was 28. As for the dog park.
No surprises on the bill, great stay! Will stay there again in 3 weeks, will try to take some pictures then unless someone else visit's before then
Last edited by tommy777; Apr 21, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Sep 14, 2008, 2:44 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: West Texas, Chicago, Dallas
Programs: National Executive, AAdvantage Platinum, SPG Platinum, FPC Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 397
W Foshay Minneapolis Trip Report
Mods is there any way we can make this the master thread?
Ok since there really haven't been any reports on this new mulitmillionaire dollar rehab project I'll be the first.
Day#1. Arrival at the W Foshay and valeted the car since my fiance had a gimpy foot(clumsy accident!) and yes, we brought our 2 dogs with us for the P.A.W. treatment. Wasn't quite sure who was a Valet attendant at first as the uniforms didn't stand out at all. What clued me in was the usual earpiece and attentive ready to help look on their faces. Plus after staying there a couple of days they were easily recognizable. Lobby was beautiful with original art deco ceilings and dramatic dark red, purple, and blue hues in the usual ultra cool W way. Lounge and Mannys steakhouse were to the right on the way in, and what appeared to be a roped off VIP lounge area just past the "regular" folks lounge. Front desk was this weird half circle moon covered in carpet on the backside. Check in was smooth, instant recognition of my platinum status... was offered points or the standard platinum amenity of a free in room movie. I took the points of course! Asked about an upgrade and was told that I was upgraded to the best possible room which was a Fabulous room vs the Spectacular room I booked for 151 at a gov't rate. Then I asked if any suites were available as I had just checked on my iPhone a half prior to see if there were still any available to book for our 2 1/2 day stay there. Didn't tell her that but she stated that none were available.
Alas, up the elevators to the 21st floor, still with the original doors from back in the day although nice and shiny new looking now. Fabulous room was quite impressive, comfortable king size bed, flat screen with dvd player, a nice looking wet bar, and a huge bathroom with lots of windows overlooking the W and N sights of the city. Young looking kid couldn't have been more than 20-22 years old helped us with our luggage and gave him a nice tip. Was going to hang out at the pool and hot tub for an hour before dinner but alas none at this hotel! Big bummer! Oh and no executive lounge for you lounge types. The Whatever/Whenever service was great. I forgot to bring some shaving cream and the fiance needed a shower cap. They came up delivering some shaving cream though I was highly disappointed as I had thought some bliss hot shaving cream would be what I got. This was just plain old vanilla shaving cream with a cheap razor. They had ran out of shower caps so they went out to Walgreens and picked her up a brand new one from there. Nice touch! Went to dinner at the Oceanaire and got hooked up with a free ride with the Acura experience guys. They'll basically drive you within a reasonable distance in the city while you listen to the Acura DVD commercials and fill out a pamphlet with some of your info. Good marketing tool! Came back to the W and went up to the Prohibition bar on the 27th floor. Bouncer/doorman a friendly short stocky guy. Can't remember his name. Very helpful though on both nights. Bar with semi comfortable chairs and couches in separate room overlooking the entire city, bar off to one side. Kind of had a more old smoking office or with books on huge shelves though none were present. Fiance and I enjoyed some drinks and along came an entourage... fiance says "Hey come join the Party!" to the group and the lead man in front laughs and keeps walking. Turns to me and says, "Hey that was *#)_@!". Let's just say he's a famous rapper/movier star. So the rapper, said he had just finished a rap concert. Nice cool relaxing guy. I'll try to post some pics later of the hotel but not of so and so for privacy reasons. Funny later one of his groupies got escorted out by security. She must have crossed the line. Quite funny! Went back to the room and got some late night room service.... seamless request thru Whatever/Whenever. Food on the other hand... well I'd avoid the burger if I were you. Dry, tasteless, yuck. Off to sleep...
Day #2. Had called the concierge the night before and Alyssa, (what a sweetie!), hooked us up at the Denny Kemp Spa for today for massages, manicure/pedicure for the honey, and I ended up getting an add on men's facial. Awesome! Took a cab there as Acura was not available then. Awesome relaxing morning at the spa and then that's where things went wrong. Spa Manager had come out earlier saying he had called the hotel and they were sending there Acura car over to pick us up. Wonderful I say! 1 hour later, no ride, multiple calls to the hotel by the spa staff to fix the snafu, W said that the Acura people said he was waiting outside. I had made a couple passes around the building earlier and no car. Went again, no car. Long story short, we ended up taking a cab back a little irritated at Acura and the W. Asked to speak to the hotel Manager. Nick who came out at that time extremely apologized and stated it shouldn't have happened and that Acura normally doesn't pick up guests to bring back to the hotel but he would look into it and find out what happened. I did preface this with telling him that his staff was doing a wonderful job from Brian, Courtney on Whatever and Whenever, Alyssa and Nina on the Concierge side and great housekeeping staff and Bellhops. My 2nd question to him that I had checked online the day previous and today and it said suites were still available. Is there any way he could get us in one today? He said of course! Told us the night prior that 4 suites were out of commission due to lack of running hot water. Put us up into 25th floor of suites. Basic layout..... 4 suites on the floor, our fabulous room the night prior had 8 rooms on a floor. Bellhop came down, helped us move our stuff in to our new digs and "WOW" a huge suite! Approximately 400 square feet living room with wet bar, and flat screen TV with DVD. Small little office space off to the corner of the living room, little dining space on the other side. Bedroom with King in the other room and what I thought was huge in the bathroom prior this new one was even bigger. Steam shower to one side, large bathtub to the other side with a view of the city. The only real things I would say to add were a small flatscreen for the tub, adding recessed lighting to project that cool "W" vibe to the bathroom and another shower head for the steam shower would be awesome! Couches although large needed a lot more pillows to make it comfortable and more inviting but it would definitely be a good place for a night cap with friends. Got a late checkout the next day til 4pm. No prob said the W/W person. Called twice by the front desk asking when we were leaving which was a little irksome as I had confirmed for a late checkout the night prior. Don't call me when I say I want to leave later. Overall a great place to stay. We would definitely stay at this W again. Minneapolis in addition was a great city. Kind of a mix of Chicago and Madison scene and atmosphere. I would rate this stay 9/10. Now I just agreely await the points to add up on this trip. Next trip W Lakeshore Chicago. I'll give a full detailed report there.
Here's a link to my Flicker account. Sorry for the poor quality photos. They were on my iPhone as the fiance forgot to pack the digital camera. Enjoy! (cross fingers hoping link works!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3050883...7607565439161/
Ok since there really haven't been any reports on this new mulitmillionaire dollar rehab project I'll be the first.
Day#1. Arrival at the W Foshay and valeted the car since my fiance had a gimpy foot(clumsy accident!) and yes, we brought our 2 dogs with us for the P.A.W. treatment. Wasn't quite sure who was a Valet attendant at first as the uniforms didn't stand out at all. What clued me in was the usual earpiece and attentive ready to help look on their faces. Plus after staying there a couple of days they were easily recognizable. Lobby was beautiful with original art deco ceilings and dramatic dark red, purple, and blue hues in the usual ultra cool W way. Lounge and Mannys steakhouse were to the right on the way in, and what appeared to be a roped off VIP lounge area just past the "regular" folks lounge. Front desk was this weird half circle moon covered in carpet on the backside. Check in was smooth, instant recognition of my platinum status... was offered points or the standard platinum amenity of a free in room movie. I took the points of course! Asked about an upgrade and was told that I was upgraded to the best possible room which was a Fabulous room vs the Spectacular room I booked for 151 at a gov't rate. Then I asked if any suites were available as I had just checked on my iPhone a half prior to see if there were still any available to book for our 2 1/2 day stay there. Didn't tell her that but she stated that none were available.
Alas, up the elevators to the 21st floor, still with the original doors from back in the day although nice and shiny new looking now. Fabulous room was quite impressive, comfortable king size bed, flat screen with dvd player, a nice looking wet bar, and a huge bathroom with lots of windows overlooking the W and N sights of the city. Young looking kid couldn't have been more than 20-22 years old helped us with our luggage and gave him a nice tip. Was going to hang out at the pool and hot tub for an hour before dinner but alas none at this hotel! Big bummer! Oh and no executive lounge for you lounge types. The Whatever/Whenever service was great. I forgot to bring some shaving cream and the fiance needed a shower cap. They came up delivering some shaving cream though I was highly disappointed as I had thought some bliss hot shaving cream would be what I got. This was just plain old vanilla shaving cream with a cheap razor. They had ran out of shower caps so they went out to Walgreens and picked her up a brand new one from there. Nice touch! Went to dinner at the Oceanaire and got hooked up with a free ride with the Acura experience guys. They'll basically drive you within a reasonable distance in the city while you listen to the Acura DVD commercials and fill out a pamphlet with some of your info. Good marketing tool! Came back to the W and went up to the Prohibition bar on the 27th floor. Bouncer/doorman a friendly short stocky guy. Can't remember his name. Very helpful though on both nights. Bar with semi comfortable chairs and couches in separate room overlooking the entire city, bar off to one side. Kind of had a more old smoking office or with books on huge shelves though none were present. Fiance and I enjoyed some drinks and along came an entourage... fiance says "Hey come join the Party!" to the group and the lead man in front laughs and keeps walking. Turns to me and says, "Hey that was *#)_@!". Let's just say he's a famous rapper/movier star. So the rapper, said he had just finished a rap concert. Nice cool relaxing guy. I'll try to post some pics later of the hotel but not of so and so for privacy reasons. Funny later one of his groupies got escorted out by security. She must have crossed the line. Quite funny! Went back to the room and got some late night room service.... seamless request thru Whatever/Whenever. Food on the other hand... well I'd avoid the burger if I were you. Dry, tasteless, yuck. Off to sleep...Day #2. Had called the concierge the night before and Alyssa, (what a sweetie!), hooked us up at the Denny Kemp Spa for today for massages, manicure/pedicure for the honey, and I ended up getting an add on men's facial. Awesome! Took a cab there as Acura was not available then. Awesome relaxing morning at the spa and then that's where things went wrong. Spa Manager had come out earlier saying he had called the hotel and they were sending there Acura car over to pick us up. Wonderful I say! 1 hour later, no ride, multiple calls to the hotel by the spa staff to fix the snafu, W said that the Acura people said he was waiting outside. I had made a couple passes around the building earlier and no car. Went again, no car. Long story short, we ended up taking a cab back a little irritated at Acura and the W. Asked to speak to the hotel Manager. Nick who came out at that time extremely apologized and stated it shouldn't have happened and that Acura normally doesn't pick up guests to bring back to the hotel but he would look into it and find out what happened. I did preface this with telling him that his staff was doing a wonderful job from Brian, Courtney on Whatever and Whenever, Alyssa and Nina on the Concierge side and great housekeeping staff and Bellhops. My 2nd question to him that I had checked online the day previous and today and it said suites were still available. Is there any way he could get us in one today? He said of course! Told us the night prior that 4 suites were out of commission due to lack of running hot water. Put us up into 25th floor of suites. Basic layout..... 4 suites on the floor, our fabulous room the night prior had 8 rooms on a floor. Bellhop came down, helped us move our stuff in to our new digs and "WOW" a huge suite! Approximately 400 square feet living room with wet bar, and flat screen TV with DVD. Small little office space off to the corner of the living room, little dining space on the other side. Bedroom with King in the other room and what I thought was huge in the bathroom prior this new one was even bigger. Steam shower to one side, large bathtub to the other side with a view of the city. The only real things I would say to add were a small flatscreen for the tub, adding recessed lighting to project that cool "W" vibe to the bathroom and another shower head for the steam shower would be awesome! Couches although large needed a lot more pillows to make it comfortable and more inviting but it would definitely be a good place for a night cap with friends. Got a late checkout the next day til 4pm. No prob said the W/W person. Called twice by the front desk asking when we were leaving which was a little irksome as I had confirmed for a late checkout the night prior. Don't call me when I say I want to leave later. Overall a great place to stay. We would definitely stay at this W again. Minneapolis in addition was a great city. Kind of a mix of Chicago and Madison scene and atmosphere. I would rate this stay 9/10. Now I just agreely await the points to add up on this trip. Next trip W Lakeshore Chicago. I'll give a full detailed report there.
Here's a link to my Flicker account. Sorry for the poor quality photos. They were on my iPhone as the fiance forgot to pack the digital camera. Enjoy! (cross fingers hoping link works!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3050883...7607565439161/
Last edited by SleepDoc; Sep 28, 2008 at 7:24 pm Reason: Great report! Merged into master thread
Sep 14, 2008, 3:16 pm
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta - Gold; Starwood - Platinum; HHonors - Diamond & Avis Preferred
Posts: 10,869
Very comprehensive review, with pictures!! YEEEEEEEEEEAH! ^^
There is already a master thread
W Minneapolis open 8/2008 [Master Thread]
I'm sure this will be merged. Looking forward to more trip reports from you.
There is already a master thread
W Minneapolis open 8/2008 [Master Thread]
I'm sure this will be merged. Looking forward to more trip reports from you.
Sep 14, 2008, 4:35 pm
#10
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: West Texas, Chicago, Dallas
Programs: National Executive, AAdvantage Platinum, SPG Platinum, FPC Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 397
Very comprehensive review, with pictures!! YEEEEEEEEEEAH! ^^
There is already a master thread
W Minneapolis open 8/2008 [Master Thread]
I'm sure this will be merged. Looking forward to more trip reports from you.
There is already a master thread
W Minneapolis open 8/2008 [Master Thread]
I'm sure this will be merged. Looking forward to more trip reports from you.
Sep 17, 2008, 7:09 pm
#11
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,329
I just checked into the W MSP and I have to say I like it. The bellman and front desk staff were all very nice. I was upgraded from my 257sq foot "wonderful" reservation to a "fabulous" room on the 20th floor. I didn't ask for a suite upgrade, but I was also only here for a one night business trip and didn't feel the need to ask for a room I wasn't really going to use.
The room itself was decorated nicely and met all my needs. It is uber close to my client and overall I think I like it better than the Westin. TV are HD enabled and have a DVD player attached. A ipod docking station was included in all rooms. I didn't use the in room internet, but I did use my AT&T wireless air card and got perfect recption from the 20th floor.
The workout room is very nice and you can plug in your ipod to the machine and then control on the large on screen controls. There were complimentary water bottles, headphones and towels.
The room itself isn't huge but the bathroom is monsterous with three windows and a large steam shower. It had great pressure. My room did not have a tub, but I don't use a tub so I would take a walk in steam shower over tub/shower combo any day!
Overall I am very happy so far with my stay and look forward to coming back to the W MSP.
The room itself was decorated nicely and met all my needs. It is uber close to my client and overall I think I like it better than the Westin. TV are HD enabled and have a DVD player attached. A ipod docking station was included in all rooms. I didn't use the in room internet, but I did use my AT&T wireless air card and got perfect recption from the 20th floor.
The workout room is very nice and you can plug in your ipod to the machine and then control on the large on screen controls. There were complimentary water bottles, headphones and towels.
The room itself isn't huge but the bathroom is monsterous with three windows and a large steam shower. It had great pressure. My room did not have a tub, but I don't use a tub so I would take a walk in steam shower over tub/shower combo any day!
Overall I am very happy so far with my stay and look forward to coming back to the W MSP.
Apr 19, 2009, 8:36 am
#15
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: West Texas, Chicago, Dallas
Programs: National Executive, AAdvantage Platinum, SPG Platinum, FPC Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 397