Yes, and it may be the easiest honeymoon you ever plan. A “minimoon” is the short version: two or three nights, close to home, taken right after the wedding while the big trip waits for a better season or a bigger budget. Minneapolis is built for it. At 300 Clifton, the Eugene J. Carpenter Mansion on the edge of Loring Park, you can spend those nights in a National Register Georgian house with a private hot tub hidden in the garden, a speakeasy movie lounge under the house, and a park, a sculpture garden and a concert hall all within a walk. No airport, no rental car, no jet lag.
Why a minimoon in Minneapolis works
Most couples are exhausted by the time the reception ends. The point of a minimoon is to disappear for a few days without the logistics of a real trip. From 300 Clifton, Loring Park is a block downhill, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the Walker are on the other side of it, and Orchestra Hall and the restaurants of downtown are a short walk beyond that. You can leave the car parked for the whole stay. If you are marrying in the Twin Cities and your guests are scattered across town, this is also a way to be gone without being far.
Which room to book for a honeymoon
Three rooms get asked for most often by couples. The Georgian Room is the most spacious room in the house: a king bed, an en-suite bath, three tall windows over the secret garden and the mansions of Clifton Avenue, and a sitting area with a couch and an electric fireplace. The wardrobe was built by J.W. Davis, who won the furniture competition at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Crystal Mansion was the childhood room of Olivia Carpenter, on the front corner of the house with windows facing two ways, out over the rose garden and down Mansion Row along the top of Lowry Hill; it has a king bed and its own bath. Something Special is the third-floor room, with dormer windows seventy feet above the street at eye level with the church steeples below Mansion Row, a queen bed and a bathroom of its own. Every room in the house has air conditioning, and only the Estate Rooms share a bath.
The romance add-ons, and how they work
Because there is no front desk selling upgrades, the extras are added when you book and are waiting when you arrive. There is a private soak in the garden hot tub, reserved so nobody else is out there, and a version of it with a chilled bottle of sparkling wine set out beside the water. There is a private movie night in Gertrude’s Cistern, the speakeasy lounge under the house, with heated reclining seats, popcorn and drinks. And there is a romance package that puts champagne, chocolates and fresh flowers in your room before you walk in. Ask for the one you want at booking and we will have it ready.
A two-night minimoon, hour by hour
Check-in is at 3:00 PM. Drop the bags, walk the loop around Loring Pond while the light is still good, and come back up the hill for dinner. Evening one is the hot tub: steam rising into the dark, the garden lit, nobody else around. On the second day, cross the park to the Sculpture Garden and the Walker, or take the short ride to Mia, where general admission is free. Late afternoon, use your dining voucher at the Pillsbury Club in the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion, which is also where the Gilded Age Mansion Tour boards if you want to see how the neighbours lived. Evening two is your choice: a concert at Orchestra Hall, or the movie lounge under the house with the film of your choosing. Coffee is set out in the common area in the morning; there is no breakfast service on site, which is a good excuse for a slow walk to a café. Check-out is at 10:00 AM, and a later departure can be arranged for a small fee if you ask ahead.
Practical notes before you book
Guests who book directly receive a $20 dining voucher for the Pillsbury Club and a $20 voucher for Minneapolis Trolley Tours, one of each per stay; the details are on the vouchers page. Parking, arrival instructions and the house rules are on the FAQ. If your whole wedding party wants to stay under one roof, or you would rather marry here than merely honeymoon here, read about renting the whole mansion. And if the proposal has not happened yet, we have thoughts on where to do that, too.
Fall weddings fill the calendar from now through October, and the rooms couples ask for go first. Check availability and book direct at 300clifton.com, then tell us it is a honeymoon. We like those.
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