Clarion Hotel

RUN! This has to be the worst hotel I have stayed in (for 15 minutes). To start when you pull up the sign looks like it needs to be replaced and has paint pealing off it, the paint is peeling off the entrance, and you definitely want to park in the most-​light area.
When we went in the fountain was ripped out and had what looked like caution tape over it. The check in process took forever. Why?
Then we were given our key on the 4^th floor, then told the elevator didn’t work (note that other reviews on other sites state this was an issue years ago). On the way to the elevator we could see that the side door was not secured. On the way up to the 4^th floor we passed by the 3^rd floor, which was under contraction for renovation and was accessible. That is a serious security issue. What’s to keep someone from coming off the street and hanging out there? Nice time carrying all out luggage up 4 flight of stairs. What if I couldn’t climb the stairs and rented a room?
Then we got to the 4^th floor to be met by a strong smell of smoke, stains on the carpet, and missing tiles from the ceiling. Really?
To top it off, the key didn’t work. I had to trek up and down the stairs twice as the key didn’t work each time the desk tried to give me a new scan. It looks like a battery operated key, so they could have probably easily fixed it. Then after all that they let us know that the card readers on the 4^th floor have issues. Then why not fix them?!? Do you want to rent a room out?
Then we had to trek all the way back down with our luggage to be given a new room on the first floor.
What a complete disaster of a room! The key worked (Thank God). Upon opening the door we were again hit by a wave of a strong smell of smoke. I had a migraine (I am not one to get headaches) for hours after we escaped. The décor looked like they opened it in 1982 and didn’t maintenance or change (and only occasionally cleaned) anything. The outlet to the cable tv and phone were ripped out of the wall. The furniture was vintage 1982 with clear heavy use. The nightstand had large parts of the veneer ripped off. Then we pulled back to sheets to see yellow stains on the sheets. The toilet had urine in it still (seriously! Either the cleaning lady urinated in it and left it AFTER it was cleaned or she never cleaned it at all!).
We had enough. Our team got a cheap block of rooms, but this place crosses the line. We went straight to the desk, dropped off our cards, and left. We then got on the Internet (not on their wifi, which barely worked) and for a little more stayed at a clean place. Some others on the team left a day early and drove back and forth more than an hour one way to the games rather than stay there another night.
I really question the authenticity of any review online that says anything good about this place. There is no way a real reviewer would say anything good. AWEFUL!

No real words except the staff was friendly. The building itself was worth far less than the $ 119 I paid for the dirty and dilapidated room. The food, the pool, the elevator, the walls, doors, sheets, carpets and fixtures were all stained broken or dirty. Never again.

Not a good stay. No fridge, hard beds, bad wifi connection, and very old fashioned rooms. The pool was closed because of «maintenance», which everyone knew was a lie. Rooms weren’t as clean, and I found glass and hair in the bathtub. The employees were not friendly. Never would I stay here again.

My brother and I stayed at this hotel for 2 nights and if I had to stay in the Saint Paul area any longer I would had checked out and found a decent hotel. The staff were friendly and accommodating and the internet was free. That’s about all the good I can write. The hotel is in really bad shape and needs to be renovated badly, and immediately. I would never stay there again.

We are writing a travel book. We stayed three nights here. During that time our plans changed. This was not the absolute best hotel, but was worthy of booking an additional two nights here, rather than moving to a different hotel. We would visit here again.

We stayed at the Clarion because it was cheap and near where my wife was running the Ragnar race. The hotel staff was very pleasant and accommodating. The room was clean with the basic amenities. I would stay here again.

Decent hotel. My fiancée and I had to travel to South St. Paul in a short notice and was able to get a good deal here. Girl at front desk was very nice and welcoming, room was clean, came with all the basic amenities, free breakfast at bar, only about 20 mins from downtown Minneapolis. I’d stay here again.

The good:
Quiet
A place to sleep
Cable TV
The bad:
Shower floods and you have to stop to let it drain a couple times before you finish.
A bit pricey for the quality of the hotel. I’ve stayed at a similar hotel but for about $ 20-​$ 30 less per night.
They don’t maintain the rooms too well unless its because we are leaving in he afternoons and we’ve missed the maintenance window.
TL;DR: save some cash and go to a cheaper hotel, its gonna be about the same

Poor service room was so cold I book the room advance still they did not turnon the heat wi fi not working I don’t recommend this place to anyone

I choose this hotel because of it’s proximity to highway 494 and the MSP airport. I too was concerned about the previous reviews but was able to get a pretty good rate, thought I would give it a try.
I was told the property is under new ownership and from what I could see the current staff has done a great job of turning things around. I encountered three employees at the front desk during my stay and all were very nice and professional. My room and all the public areas were clean and fairly well kept. The place is due for some renovating and I guess that is coming soon with the new ownership. I ate at the bar one night and had a terrific cheeseburger, did not try anything else on the menu.
I would certainly stay here again.

Chose this hotel for it’s proximity to a business meeting. Was concerned as I read many poor reviews b4 checking in. I must say I was pleasantly surprised and had a very comfortable stay. Staff was very professional and welcoming. Room was clean and nice sized. Used business center and met my needs. Needs some work but it felt as if that the owner and staff were working hard to make those upgrades. Certainly would stay here again when in the area.

Yeah, where to start. We reserved a room, 2 queen/​nonsmoking for the weekend. Checked in at 11 at night, went to the bar for a nightcap. Chris was a great bartender who made us feel welcomed and relaxed. Then the fun starts. The TV inour room had no remote and no way to watch anything. The desk clerk moved us 3 times to find a room with a remote, but the beds are double sized. I’m 6’6″ and 300 lbs, so a queen makes a huge difference to me. The next morning my wife finds that there was a drawer of remotes but they’d allready rented out our old room. We got switched a 4^th time to a room with queen matresses in a smoking room and a bathroom door that wouldn’t close since it was falling apart and had giant nails sticking out of it (4 inch nails for a 2 inch thick door). If Unilocal allowed me to post pictures I would. I highly recommend not to stay here or let anyone else stay here unless you hate them or want them at a business disadvantage due to poor sleep. Horrible.Hotel.

LOL, where to start.
I think I’ll just make a list of everything that was gross/​wrong with this place. Hope it’s helpful! Keep in mind that I’m not a neat freak. I don’t bring my own pillows and blankets, or carry around a black light with me to hotels to check for nasties. I’m a normal human being, but seriously, there’s a line, and this place. Well they crossed it.
1– When you pull up, to the hotel, there is an overwhelming stench of rotten garbage and what I can only presume is waste of some kind. Needless to say, keep your windows up and your nose plugged.
2– When you walk in, it’s warm and musty. Apparently they don’t run the A/​C even in the 95 degree heat.
3– Even though I called days prior to my check in and requested an early check in, which I was told was «no problem at all», I was unable to check in when I arrived. I had to wait another three hours.
4– By time I was able to check in, the guy behind the counter was ridiculously SLOW. There were two families ahead of me. Instead of efficiently doing his job, he was texting and making phone calls on his iPhone. By time he actually got to me, he actually tried hitting on me. It took every ounce of restraint that I had not to tell him exactly what was on my mind. This whole «check-​in» debacle took about 35 minutes. Ridiculous.
5– Now, to tell you about my room. From first glance, it was your basic room. I must say, this entire place was more of a large Motel than a Hotel. Either way, basic room. Big bed, desk, chair, tv, bathroom. It was very dated. VERY. DATED. Even my boyfriend whom NEVER complains about this kind of stuff (he’s a guy. if there’s a bed and a roof he’s good, lol) said that it was awful. Pretty sure the alarm clock, drapes, chair and bedding were from like 1970. The bed spread was visibly stained. I didn’t dare touch it to find out otherwise. The bathroom had black mold near the top of the shower where the tile met the ceiling. The toilet had black stuff along the top of the bowl. Obviously the housekeeper didn’t do a thorough job of cleaning it. The lock on the door (not the actual key lock part, but the extra lock on the inside) was literally broken off.
6– I’ve stayed in Motel 6’s that were nicer (and that’s saying something).
7– The only reason I didn’t jump ship and stay somewhere else is because I got a good rate through a friends & family program. Apparently they were charging $ 129 a night for the weekend that I was there. Let me tell you, there is NO WAY I would have EVER paid that kind of money to stay there. If that were the case, you would find me at a Hilton. You know, where the rooms are WORTH the money they charge. I only paid $ 49 to stay there. I have to say, it was worth MAYBE that. Maybe.
One good thing about this place, is that it is right off of the freeway, so it’s super easy to find.
Still, unless its between sleeping in a cardboard box or sleeping here, DON’T stay here.
If for whatever reason you have to, or choose to give it a shot, don’t pay more than $ 60. It’s not worth it. There’s a Super 8 somewhere around there that I stayed the time before, and it was way better, for around $ 70.