Would Not Reccomend!

My friend and I have just returned from a trip to the Sofitel Minneapolis (February 20th-22nd). For months we had planned our "Girl's Shop Till You Drop" getaway and thought we had picked the perfect "4 star" hotel. The word disappointed does not even begin to describe how we felt! Here's what we didn't like:

1) This hotel advertised that it had free shuttle service to and from the airport and the Mall of America. While waiting (FOR OVER AN HOUR) to be picked up at the airport we saw several shuttles from other hotels come through 4 or 5 times. When we finally got to the hotel we had to sit around for over an hour waiting for that one shuttle van to come back to the hotel and pick us up, because they didn't mention that the shuttle only went to the Mall and back every 2 hours. The drivers are creepy, and try to cover up the fact that they have been smoking in the van in between pick-ups with a cheap bathroom air freshner. The drivers are not friendly at all!! If your not out there exactly at the pick-up time you will be left behind. They do not even wait for one second after the scheduled pick-up time! On our last day there we went down to catch the shuttle and ended up missing it somehow even though we were there waiting on time. We had to take the Hotel's taxi service to the Mall ($15.00) because we didn't want to wait 2 hours for the next one (hotel staff was not helpful at all with this and was very indifferent). When we were picked up at the Mall the driver showed up in a red unmarked van. No one bothered to tell us that they had switched vehicles (the van had always been a white marked one before this), which is why we missed it in the morning because we were looking for the other van! The driver almost killed us on the way to the airport. It was worse than the taxi ride we took in Mexico.

2) The rooms look NOTHING like the pictures posted on the internet. This hotel is worse than 2 and 3 stars that I have stayed in before. The only word we kept saying about this hotel is YUCK! The room looked unkempt, and there was not a top sheet on the bed (ewwwwww) just the duvet cover!

3) When we bought our luugage down to be stored our last day, it sat out at the desk for over a half an hour. Then it took over 15 minutes when we wanted to retrieve our suitcases while they had to track down the concierge to unlock the closet. HELLO???-no one else in the hotel has a key to this closet??????

Here's what we did like about this hotel: NOTHING!!!

We would strongly reccomend that if you are considering staying at this hotel that you RECONSIDER!

Great Value!!!

We stayed at the Sofitel the weekend of November 12-14 2004. We were pleasantly surprised at the great value of this property. For a very resonable rate we were given a comfortable room with many ammenities. Although this room had not yet been remodled it still contained all the main features of the other rooms. The feather bed was so comfortable I could have slept all day. Bathrobes, premium toiletries and Evian water with turndown service were nice touches. The carpeting and furniture could use updating, but the cleanliness made up for that. We spoke with other guests that were in remodled rooms and they told us they were beautiful. The lobby is nicely decorated. The staff was very cordial. I would recommend this hotel to anyone.

Disappointed

My husband and I stayed at the Sofitel July 9-10. We payed through the 11th but left a night early. The rooms in the hotel were OK - I wouldn't classify them as 4 star. We wouldn't know how the restraurant "La Fougasse" is because we couldn't get served. We sat for 30 minutes without anyone acknowledging our presence so we got up and left. The restraurant was not busy when we were there. The waitress that we saw walk past us several times was only serving 2 or 3 tables. The Sofitel is definatley not worth the money.

Good hotel, not new, but comfortable

Terrific beds... like sleeping in feathers. The property is the first Sofitel in the US, so it's old... but they do what they can to keep it fresh and modern. You can tell that it's an old place, though.

Great job on:

- Front desk staff: attentive, terrific conceirge.

- Insulation: can't hear the hall, the road, or anything else for that matter. Slept sound.

- The little touches: fresh flowers in your bathroom, classical music playing when you first come into your room

- Check-in/check-out: Quick. Blazing.

- Wireless access: Good reception throughout. I used it in my room, the lobby, and the lounge area during the day.

Improvement needed on:

- Less-than-functional TV speaker in the bathroom. Cool idea, if it worked...

- When they remodeled (appears to be quite recent), they didn't make the corridors bright. They're fairly dark. Seem small and kind of cramped.

- Elevators are slooooooooooow.

- No AC outlets at all that aren't on a wall switch. I found this out when I turned out the lights to sleep and my cell phone didn't charge overnight.

- At a 4-star, you shouldn't have to ask for a needle and thread kit. It should already be in the room.

Considerations when selecting this hotel:

- As noted, it's not new. It's quite comfortable, very very quiet, classy, but not new. You can tell this the second you walk in.

- The rooms are somewhat smaller than what you may expect from a comparable property.

- Housekeeping will change linens, etc., but will not even attempt to tidy up. Some people like this, some don't.

Great

Stayed here April 2004 and the stay was excellent. It is a nice, quiet location. The thing I liked the best about this hotel was the beds...absolutely to die for. It was so comfortable down comforters, down feather bed, down pillows. Room and bathroom were very clean. I would recommend it.

GIve it a pass

Unlike other reviewers, I found this hotel to be very disappointing. I think of Sofitel as being distinctly French, but there was little in this hotel to distinguish it from any other chain hotel other than a sad little gift shop and a bakery that was completely hidden behind a corner. My room was ordinary and badly in need of a good update. Food was also ordinary. My biggest complaint is that the hotel wasn't FRENCH. The bistro menu was watered down for Minneapolis tastes - to the point where the menu labelled a California sparkling wine as "champagne". Breakfast wasn't the european-style offering I was hoping for but pretty run of the mill American basics. In a word - just another chain hotel and nothing like other Sofitels.

Simply Amazing!

My recent stay at this beautiful hotel was simply incredible. From the moment you walk into the hotel you are welcomed by the most genuine and informed staff that I have ever encountered in the hotel industry. Not only was the staff just attentive they exceed my expectations at every opportunity. You also must dine at both of the restraurants at the hotel. It was a true pleasure. This is my only choice in the Twin Cities.

Great Getaway!

We had a deluxe room; king bed, large sitting area, double sinks. Got the best price from the hotel's website. We ate in both restaurants and enjoyed both. Very fancy, not really suitable for kids, as there isn't a pool or game room. We only saw one child during our stay. Since we didn't have our children along we did enjoy having an almost "adults only" atmoshpere. We'd definitely stay here again!

Very Pleased

I stayed in the Sofitel and was very happy with it.

The hotel lobby was very fancy and the desk was very helpful. The room was above average in size and had a lot of nice amenties. There were a lot of nice tolietries in the room, even had a mini sewing kit. They also turned down my bed at night and tidied up my room.

The colors inside the room needed to be updated but I was very happy with it anyway.

Not to be Trusted

I made reservations for the Hotel Sofitel in Minneapolis in June of 2002 for 10/16-10/19/2002. The hotel sent me a notice on 10/7/02 saying that of this date I would be unable to change my reservation.

On 10/14 we received a phone call from the Sofitel telling us that they could no longer accomodate us and that they could get us reservations at the Embassy Suites or at the Holiday Inn. Which did we want?

The latest of the notication left us with the choices of hotels/motels that the Sofitel gave us. I have never had this problems with any other hotel/motel.

You can draw your own conclusion about whether or not to stay at a Sofitel.