Minneapolis in winter has a reputation, and most of it is earned. It gets cold. The lakes freeze solid. Sidewalks squeak underfoot in January. What the reputation misses is that winter is quietly the best season to have this city to yourself — the museums are empty on a Tuesday, the concert hall is at full strength, and a downtown that hums with 40,000 office workers in August turns into something calmer and prettier under snow.
It is also the season a 130-year-old mansion earns its keep. 300 Clifton is the Eugene J. Carpenter Mansion, a National Register house in Loring Park with carved fireplaces, hand-painted murals, a speakeasy in the cellar, and a hot tub in the back garden that runs all four seasons. Here is how to build a winter weekend around it.
Why book a Minneapolis winter weekend at all?
Three practical reasons. Rates across the city soften once the fall conference season ends. The cultural calendar does not soften at all — the Minnesota Orchestra is in the heart of its classical season at Orchestra Hall, a ten-minute walk from the front door. And the Minneapolis Institute of Art is free every day it is open, which makes a cold afternoon indoors cost exactly nothing.
The fourth reason is less practical and more the point: there is no better weather for a hot tub than fifteen degrees and snowing.
The garden hot tub, in January
The hot tub at 300 Clifton sits out in the English gardens, open to the sky. In June that is pleasant. In January it is genuinely memorable — steam rolling off the water, snow on the hedges, the back of the mansion lit up behind you, and the whole thing yours because most guests are inside by the fire.
Bring a robe and slippers you do not mind walking in. The walk back indoors is short, and the reward is a fireplace.
Which rooms are worth it when it is cold
Winter changes what makes a good room. You want space to hole up in, and ideally something to look at. The Crystal Mansion suite is the largest and the most theatrical. The Grand Edwardian and the Georgian Room both lean into the woodwork and the period detail that this house does better than any hotel in the city. If you are travelling as a group, the Estate Rooms give you the run of a floor.
Gertrude’s Cistern, and a movie in a haunted basement
Under the house is Gertrude’s Cistern — a speakeasy-style lounge built into the mansion’s old cistern, and the sort of room that only makes sense in a building this old. Next to it is the movie room, with heated reclining seats, which is the correct place to be at nine o’clock on a February night.
The house also has a documented reputation for being haunted, and winter is when guests tend to notice. Take that as seriously as you like.
What to do outside between soaks
Loring Park is across the street, and in winter it runs an outdoor ice rink and hosts Winterfest each February. The Irene Hixon Whitney bridge carries you from the park over the freeway to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which is arguably better under snow than in summer — the Spoonbridge holds a drift beautifully.
Beyond that: the skyway system for shopping without a coat, the theatre district on Hennepin, and Nicollet Mall. If you would rather not drive, Metro Transit’s trip planner will route you almost anywhere downtown, and the Minneapolis Trolley departs from the Pillsbury Club nearby.
What comes with a direct booking
Seasonal offers, when they are running, live on specials and packages, and the house dresses for the season on the Winter Wonderland page.
Breakfast is included and served in the dining room, which in winter is the warmest room in the house before about ten in the morning.
Book the winter weekend
Winter dates are the easiest of the year to get at this house, and the hardest to forget afterwards. Check availability at 300 Clifton and pick a cold weekend on purpose.
Keep reading: Where to See Fall Colors in Minneapolis and Where to Soak Under the Stars.
Keep reading: Where to Stay in Minneapolis for a Work Trip: A Historic Mansion Minutes From Downtown
Two more places worth knowing about while you are here: the Pillsbury Club, a historic mansion with a dining room and a bar about a mile south, and Minneapolis Trolley Tours, which departs from its front door.