Yes, and for a lot of business travellers it is the better choice. If your trip to Minneapolis involves the Convention Center, a downtown office, a hospital campus or a run of meetings near Nicollet Mall, 300 Clifton puts you a few blocks from all of it, in a historic mansion where the WiFi reaches every room, the parking is at the house, and the evening ends in a garden hot tub instead of a hotel bar. Here is an honest, practical look at how a working trip goes at a bed and breakfast in Loring Park, and where a B&B is and is not the right fit.
Where you are, relative to where you need to be
300 Clifton Avenue sits on a bluff just outside the downtown skyscrapers, a block from Loring Park. The Minneapolis Convention Center at 1301 Second Avenue South is a few blocks’ walk, close enough that you can go back to the house between sessions. Nicollet Mall, Orchestra Hall and the office towers of the central business district are the same short walk in the other direction. If your meetings are further out, Metro Transit’s trip planner will route you from the stops around Loring Park, and the airport connects to downtown by light rail (check Metro Transit for current service); the MSP ground transportation page covers the details. We wrote a separate guide to downtown parking for anyone who needs to drive to a client.
The practical questions, answered straight
Is there WiFi? Yes. Complimentary WiFi runs throughout the mansion, in the guest rooms and the common areas, so a video call from your room or a laptop session in one of the parlours both work.
Is there parking? Yes. Guest parking is at the house, and the directions arrive with your pre-arrival information. If you have a rental car, that alone removes the ramp fees and the morning walk to retrieve it that a downtown hotel stay usually involves.
What are the check-in and check-out times? Check-in is from 3:00 PM and check-out is by 10:00 AM. If your flight lands early or your last meeting runs late, an early check-in or a late check-out can be added for $25 each, subject to availability. Ask when you book rather than on the day.
Is there a front desk? Not a 24-hour one. 300 Clifton is a privately operated historic mansion, so there is no lobby desk staffed round the clock. Staff are on site during the day, your check-in details are sent before you arrive, and you have a phone number to reach someone after hours. In practice this means you let yourself in after a late dinner without waiting behind a tour group.
Is breakfast included? Breakfast is not served on site. Complimentary coffee is in the common area, which for most working guests is the part that matters at 7 AM. Downtown breakfast and lunch options are a short walk away.
Is every room air-conditioned? Yes. Every guest room has air conditioning, which is worth confirming at any historic property, and here you do not have to.
Which room for a working stay
There are eight room types across the main mansion and the carriage house, and our room-by-room guide walks through all of them. For a solo business trip on a per-diem, the Estate Rooms are the most affordable in the house; they are queen rooms that share a bath down the hall, and they are the only rooms that do. If you want a private bath and space to spread out papers, the Georgian Room is the premier main-house room, en-suite with a king bed and a large sitting area with a couch and an electric fireplace, and the Grand Edwardian is the en-suite queen room the house calls its penthouse, with an overstuffed sofa. In the carriage house, the Coachman’s Room is an en-suite queen with its own character. Whichever you choose, book direct: every direct booking comes with a $20 dining voucher for the Pillsbury Club and a $20 voucher for the Minneapolis Trolley, per stay, and both are explained on our vouchers page.
What the evening looks like
This is where a mansion beats a hotel. The garden hot tub is open in all four seasons, and a soak under the stars after a nine-hour conference day is the thing to look forward to on the walk back. Downstairs, Gertrude’s Cistern is a speakeasy-style lounge, and the haunted movie room has leather stadium seats that recline, heat and massage, which is a better place to decompress with a colleague than a hotel lobby. Dinner can be at the Pillsbury Club, the private-club dining room inside the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion, where your voucher applies. And if you have a free evening, the Minneapolis Trolley runs ghost, true-crime and scenic tours that make a good team outing.
When a B&B is not the right call
Be honest with yourself about the trip. If you need a 24-hour desk, a business centre with a printer, and a hot breakfast buffet at 6 AM, a convention hotel does those things and we do not. If you are travelling as a large team that needs meeting rooms, ask us about a whole-house buyout instead of individual rooms; a mansion to yourselves is a different proposition from a block of hotel rooms. And if your assignment is a month or longer, a furnished studio with a kitchen may suit you better than any nightly stay. Our sister property, Oakland’s on 9th, does exactly that on South 9th Street downtown, with no lease and monthly rates.
For everything in between, a two-night sales trip, a three-day conference, a week of client meetings, a historic house a few blocks from the Convention Center is a good way to make a work trip feel like something other than work. We have written more about how a B&B differs from a hotel and what to expect on arrival if you have not stayed at one before.
Book your working stay
Check availability and book direct at 300clifton.com. Mention your dates and any early or late arrival when you book, and we will do our best to make the logistics as easy as the hot tub.
Keep reading: Does 300 Clifton Allow Pets? Meet the Two Great Danes Who Already Live Here