Sofitel

My husband and I got the sofitel when booking through name your own price on priceline. We were excited because priceline «upgraded us» to a 4 star hotel and we had stayed her years ago and were very impressed.
The hotel staff upon arrival was very helpful and friendly. The hotel lobby is really neat and got me excited again to stay. My husband and I were in a hurry so we got to our room, dropped off our bags and went on our way. When we first walked into our «non-​smoking» room it really stunk. I thought it may have been at one time been a smoking room, but it wasnt quite that smell. I have allergies to smoke, and usually this is a deal breaker immediately. My husband was confinced it smelled «musty» or «moldy» and not as old smoke so we put the air on high and cold to try to help the smell, and left to go to my brother-in-law’s hockey games.
We got back to the room at 8:00 at night after the games.
Walking in the 2^nd time I was now convinced that the overwhelming smell was that of an old smoking room, but since it was so many hours from when we checked in, I figured it was too late to get a new room, and also my husband was uncomfortable with asking that since we paid through priceline. Despite how cold and high we set the air on the room was not cool at all.
The smell of the room is not the only issue, the room was also dirty… not in the sense that there were bugs, but there was literally a layer of thick dust on all surfaces (including the top pillows which we shook off before laying down for the night.) Even the carpet had some larger dust balls hanging around… perhaps that was part of the raunchy smell.
When I went to pick up my dirty clothes off the floor in the morning I saw that there was old garbage under a stool in a corner (gross.)
The shower was tiny. If you turn off any light switches almost all of the outlets are connected and turn off. (just an FYI for those who stay in the future)
All the furniture, walls, wallpaper, toilet, tub, everything has nicks and scrapes, and holes on them.
The toilet runs for a very long time after you flush it… but does eventually shut off.
Here’s the deal, ordinarily if I was getting a priceline hotel that was a 3 star or less, for a price of $ 50 (after taxes or less), I wouldnt complain about the nicks and scrapes and holes, but this hotel is supposed to be a luxury, a 4 star hotel, and also we paid almost $ 100 even with the *discount.*
There are a few positive things. The location is great and nearby a lot of things, airport, mall of america, high ways, good foods, and the workers were friendly. The cable worked well and the tv was a nice flat screen. As a hotel guest you do get free wi-​fi for 24 hours as well My husband said the shampoo was nice, and unlike most hotels it was very sudsy, which he likes. Unfortunately that’s not enough to save our stay. Next time I will enter a lower price for a lower starred hotel but will be nervous to be bumped up to this hotel, or I will just pay full price for a hotel that I know is much cleaner and nicer, (like the double tree, or hyatt place.)

I don’t get it. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but truly a disappointment. Staff is friendly, but this is nothing more than a Nicer version of a Super 8. Not family friendly (no room fridge or microwave) and not maintained to a luxury hotel standard they tout.

My wife and I decided to take a small vacation after our first child turned six months old and I found Sofitel by searching many websites and reviews. The price point on a room that we received is amazing. We chose a suite that came with with a king size bed, exquisite 1&½ baths, spacious living room, 2 large flat screen TVs, and a keurig coffee machine. The later was the icing on the top, having just a couple of the luxuries we enjoy at home makes a world of difference. We decided to bring the entire family which includes our child and dog. When I read the Sofitel was pet friendly, I assumed they just allow pets, they are indeed friendly to a larger extent of the word as the room service menu includes a dog menu! Room service itself is the best I’ve experienced at a hotel, compliments to the chef, food was equal in quantity and quality, we had leftovers from each meal we ordered! I not only plan to recommend the Sofitel but I may purchase weekend stays as gifts for weddings and the like!

So I found out that this Sofitel is the first to open in North America. This explains the ancient elevators, that despite the dressing up, one cannot completely hide.
The porter/​doorman made eye contact with me when i walked in but did not say hello which i found awkward. Then again perhaps he was waiting for me to say howdy first ;).
The front desk greeted me with a «bonjour» and honestly I almost laughed. It just sort of seems silly to be greeted Parisienne style in the middle of Bloomington, Minnesota?! Hehe. :)
The room décor I found to be a bit boring. My most recent Sofitel stay was in Brussels, and the gorgeous décor there is still fresh in my mind. However, once again being that the hotel opened in the 1970s, I applaud their efforts to stay relatively updated.
Being a platinum le club accor hotel member, there was a bottle of wine and a large bottle of Evian (aside from the pair of complimentary small bottled water bedside).
The bathroom was one of the main reasons that made me deduct a star. No rain shower?! Maybe some rooms have not been updated since I saw other reviewers raving about theirs.
Decent gym with some treadmills, elliptical, stationary bikes, weights. Complimentary apples, water cooler, towels as with most sofitels. Gregarious attendant at gym who handed me a towel.
I love Sofitel beds. My dad who was traveling with me wasn’t as thrilled. Bedding is very plush and sort of just envelops you and you become one with the bed. The pops said he preferred firm bedding and firm pillows.
Some sort of sale? we stayed 1 night for under $ 120 (including tax) which is ridiculously cheap. We had a large double bed room on the 4^th floor. Very quiet.

The exterior does not do the interior justice. Great on site dining, service and rooms you won’t want to leave.

We stayed here when I was in Minneapolis for a convention a few weekends ago. The staff is really nice, they will try to make accommodations for you if they can. I wanted to have a connecting room with a friend and they were able to move our original assigned rooms to two other rooms that were connecting. They also provide complimentary coffee with a wake up call in the mornings. The showers in the hotel were really nice too! It was the ‘rain shower’ type of shower head!

This is a unique hotel. It feels like a cross between a high end boutique hotel and a special French wine country escape hotel. It is not for everyone as it has no pool, and is mostly geared towards adult patrons. It has an award winning French restaurant in the lobby. They serve an immensely popular brunch. Among the great features of this hotel is the French bakery and coffee shop. These pastries are the real deal, they must have imported French chefs to make these delectable pastries, breads and beautiful cakes. This little bakery attracts more locals than hotel patrons. Many times I have been enjoying my pastries and coffee and observed several cars pull up, park, and the driver comes in to buy carry out for some lucky people at home or at the office.
The rooms are extremely comfortable and large. European style feather comforters and sheets carries you as you sleep. The staff always set the temperature the way I left it last time I visited their hotel. I’ve never had to change the temperature on arrival in my 30 or 40 stay at this hotel. The bathrooms are appointed with high end French toiletries. My room always has complimentary bottled water, and a complimentary bottle of wine (benefits of their frequent club)
The fitness room has fairly new cardio equipment, various weight machines, free weights, some work out balls and mats.
Customer service is their hallmark in every part of the hotel. Front desk, concierge, bell service, wait staff, and housekeeping all seem to be truly interested in your experience at the hotel.

This hotel is very spacious and comfortable. They are pet friendly (and the concierge will even take your dog out while you’re at work!). The service really sets this place apart from the rest. Little gestures like walking around to the guest-​side of the front desk to hand you your key, offering a welcome beverage or complimentary coffee delivery with the wake-​up call really sets this hotel apart. Not to mention that the luxury sweets (which all of my colleagues and I got «free upgrades» to) have great Bose radios, Kurig coffee makers, amazingly comfortable beds and the rooms were spic-​and-​span. The restaurant was also French-​themed although you could get plenty of American food – all of which was outstanding. Certainly a hotel I’d stay at again.

OK… so it is a French Hotel. that is all well and good but it is in BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA… please don’t say Bön Jour to me unless you are french… or I come in dressed as Marcel Marceau… OK? (of course then you should just ‘mime’ bon jour)
Very nice hotel… and the one thing that makes it stand out above all the rest is this:
When you schedule your wake up call you also get a knock on your door from an employee with fresh hot COFFEE!!! (ohh sorry …“café au lait’” ooh la la)…Ok so she she is not usually dressed as a French maid, but thank heavens they hang a complimentary robe in the closet… which is usually right next to the door… nice touch too so I don’t scare the coffee girl away before she pours the ‘au lait’
highly recommend

I was traveling to Minneapolis for work and had really low expectations from the hotel. I knew I booed Sofitel and I had stayed with them in Vietnam and they were amazing. But not sure how US would be.
Sofitel surpassed me in their service, food and room.
My room was a handicapped-​friendly room, so bathroom wasn’t amazing with all the rods or what not. The bathroom essentials were great, however.
I loved Chez Collet, their restaurant. I am usually wary of hotel restaurants, but this was great — food was very high quality for both dinner and brunch.
They also offer wake up coffee which is AMAZING!

If I were to book a hotel in the Twin Cities, I might have to consider this place. I’m curious what the rooms are like. Hopefully they are as nice as the interior of the hotel.
Attended a seminar here. Very nice meeting room located downstairs. The pens they give out are the nice ones.
Every single staff member that we encountered while we visited this hotel was incredibly helpful and friendly. And in a genuinely really wanting to help friendly kind of way. It really makes a difference no matter what the service.
The interior is chic and tasteful. Not your typical hotel chain décor.
The restrooms downstairs were very nice, clean and well designed.
Free Internet. 3 large screen computers located downstairs.
Very nice lobby, and sitting areas. Umbrellas available if it rains and a valet.

This hotel is located a few miles away from downtown Minneapolis in a tucked-​away area not too far from the freeway. I got a great deal at this hotel on Priceline and was very pleased with the value of this place for what I paid. The hotel staff were very friendly, and the room was upscale though not overly fancy. I did enjoy the rain shower head in the bathroom, I’d never used one of those before and I thought it was cool.
One major mishap was that when I climbed into bed after 4 ½ hours of driving, I noticed that they never actually put any new sheets on the bed. It wasn’t that the sheets were dirty, they just took the old ones off and never replaced them so it was just the comforter and the fitted mattress sheet. I was so tired though and I didn’t feel like calling the front desk and waiting for them to come over to put new sheets on the bed, so I just slept the way it was.
Free self-​parking was a plus, and they had a nice little gift shop located inside the lobby of the hotel. I would definitely stay here again if I’m ever in the area.

Had a little overnighter at the Sofitel not too long ago… really cool place. Nice people, very clean. Very different in looks from most of the chain hotels you’ll find. The interior is basically just a big atrium. Cool. The layout is such that the ballroom area is in a pit and you take a little bridgeway over it to get to the elevators. Very cool.
The room itself was really big. The bathroom was also big. The décor is high fashion. We had an interior room unfortunately, which means that the windows looked upon the atrium. No tinting. With the blinds open, everybody could look right in. Not a huge fan of that.
The major downside that we noticed was how thin the walls are. I mean, not only could we hear conversations outside, but we had an upstairs neighbor that was… really having a good time. Was there prostitution going on upstairs?! We don’t know. But what we do know is that we heard female moaning every 2 – 3 hours (for 5 – 10 minutes at a time) the entire time we were there. Got to the room at about 8pm. Mmhmm. 10pm. Mmhmm. Nodding off around midnight. Mmhmm. I woke up to go to the bathroom at 5am. STILL GOING. Hey, maybe it was just a couple who hadn’t seen each other in forever. Good for them. But we shouldn’t have been able to hear that woman so damn clearly. We had to laugh about it. I’m not sure that it’s the right kind of advertising that Sofitel wants, but we definitely have shared the story with everybody we know.
All things considered, the place is awesome. But on our experience alone, we probably won’t be back.

Stayed at a Sofitel for the first time. The hotel is clean and the staff were very friendly. I traveled light on this trip so I didn’t bring any shampoo and stuff and figured I would use the items provided by the hotel. Luckily they actually provided some very good products. It was in a very quiet part of town so it was easy to get a good night sleep.
The only complaint I had with the hotel was the size of the shower. I’m not a wide guy, but it felt like every time I moved my elbows would hit the wall or shower window. Other than that, it was a good stay at a fair price.

Service really sets this place apart. Check-​in was friendly, polite and competent. The bellman directed my attention to everything I needed to know about the hotel and my room and went beyond the call of duty to get me another room key. The rooms are comfortable and have that Regan-​era luxury about them (actually the whole hotel feels like a 1980s Lincoln Town Car with its roominess and comfort). Dinner at Chez Colette was first rate too; have the steak with the fois gras and start with the charcuterie or the smoked salmon. The mark up on wine was reasonable as well so we had two bottles.
The only major downside to this place is the HVAC was loud, there’s no pool and it’s in an obscure location.

Immaculately clean, impeccable service, insurpassable comfort! This hotel is not your typical family hotel, as it caters more to biz travelers, but we had a fabulous stay with 3 kids under age 5.
Very quiet! Sprawling rooms. We had 2 adjoining double bed rooms, each with a mini crib. They give you actual rolling cribs, not dirty Pack & Plays, like most hotels bring. Generous bathrobes & brand spankin new white slippers were in the closets, which was so nice!
Rooms on the 1^st floor, where we were, do not come with fridges, but they brought one to us within 5 min of a midnite call to the front desk.
There is no swimming pool, but we knew that going in and knew we’d be too busy to use one anyways.
We didn’t hear a peep the entire time! Slept so well!
Internet access was free for the standard speed, but a faster connection would have cost some money.
The Collette restaurant was delicious, but pricey. $ 13 for french toast with a side. $ 6 bowl of cereal, $ 9 oatmeal. The service was pretty slow, but friendly. If in a rush, you might have better luck at the nearby Perkins.
We paid only $ 65/​per room per night by searching for a 4 star hotel in Bloomington on
. My sister paid $ 75, but I booked my room rifht after she didand got my $ 65 bid accepted. Awesome value! Will definitely stay here again!

I’ve always had a great time staying at the Sofitel over CONvergence. Their staff is wonderful, and does a great job putting up with the hordes of geeks that invade their fancy hotel over the 4^th of July every year. It’s a great place to stay so you can get away from the hustle and bustle of CON.
Supremely comfy beds, tasty food at their restaurants, and again, service second to none. You should stay here any time you are in the Bloomington area!

I keep coming back. I have been staying at this hotel for two years now and it is consistently fabulous. Every hotel in the U.S. can take note on how to treat its customers from this particular Sofitel.
Love the people here, love the service, love the style.
The beds are heaven on earth.
The food is amazing.

We decided to stay here while we were visiting Minneapolis for a few reasons. We wanted to have that rare moment of staying in a luxury high-​end hotel. Since this was in a less-​busy area, and I had a discount coupon, then our room was very affordable.
This hotel is located in a suburb Southwest of Minneapolis called Bloomington, which happens to be the same city that the Mall of America is in. The mall and Minneapolis Intl’ Airport are just a 5-​minute drive away on hwy 494. There isn’t really anything interesting directly adjacent to the hotel, however bus route #540 does run right by it. Of course to get anywhere else you’ll probably want a car. This is Minneapolis after all, where the car is king.
The hotel is very clean, very professional, and very upscale. We were dressed in T-​shirts and cargo pants, so we felt a little underdressed. However, that feeling soon passed due to the extremely warm greeting everyone at the place gave us. Half of the rooms in the hotel have windows that face the large sunlit lobby. I assume this is simply to help the rooms stay warm in the wintertime, however if you really need a window that faces the outside there are exterior rooms available.
Our room had a very comfortable king-​sized bed, with a large flat-​screen TV, and a bathroom with a rain-​style shower. White towels and white bathrobes were provided, along with an assortment of boutique soaps, and a hair dryer. We could have used their clothes washing service, but we weren’t staying long enough to need it.
Unlike many other Sofitel/​Novotel hotels, this one does not have a breakfast buffet. However, they have Chez Colette for meals, and a small café that serves pastries. We didn’t have the funds to eat at Chez Colette more than once, also we had too many other restaurants around the Minneapolis area that we wanted to try out.
There is a small gift shop that also sells various necessities (medicine, candy bars, etc).
We had no problems with the room, nor did we have any issues with any other part of the hotel. When the person checking us out asked if there was anything they could do to make our hotel experience more enjoyable I didn’t have an answer. They thought of everything, and performed marvelously in every way.

My friend and I went to Minneapolis for my cousin’s wedding (Friday-​Monday stay); he’s an expensive 5 star hotel guy and I’m a as-long-as-it-isn’t-dirty-or-bug-infested kind of girl, this was a GREAT «compromise». This hotel is right off of the highway and easily accessible to other highways. Don’t let the exterior fool you though, it looks kinda old and. boring/​flat. But once you step inside, the lobby alone is gorgeous!
We were greeted and welcomed with a damp towel and refreshing glass of fruit tea. Our rooms were spacious, clean, and very well decorated. The beds, pillows, and comforter made me feel like I was sleeping on a cloud! My friend hated it b/​c he’s more of a firm mattress guy (he also hated the fact they didn’t have fitted sheets). Even the red «couch» in the room was comfortable enough to sleep on (though we didn’t lol). The bathroom was stocked with all the necessities (shampoo, etc) plus more (cotton swabs, cotton pads, nail filer — just to name a few!). My only complaint would be that our tv was a little spotty. most of the time it worked fine, but sometimes the picture or the sound would go out; we weren’t in our rooms to watch it much, so wasn’t that big of a deal to me.
Location was pretty good, in my opinion. You’re about 10 – 15 mins from Mall of America and the airport and about 20 mins from downtown Minneapolis. There are also plenty of other shopping centers and restaurants around Bloomington too.