It is one of the first questions guests ask, and it usually arrives the night before check-in: where do we actually put the car? Anyone who has stayed downtown in an American city knows the feeling. You find a beautiful place to stay, and then you discover that the car costs another thirty or forty dollars a night and lives four blocks away in a concrete ramp.
At 300 Clifton the answer is short and, we think, one of the quietly lovely things about staying in a mansion instead of a tower. You park on the property, in a private lot behind the gardens, and then you mostly forget about the car until you leave.
The short answer: yes, there is guest parking on the property
Our frequently asked questions page puts it plainly: convenient guest parking is available, and the details and directions come to you in your pre-arrival information before you travel. You do not need to reserve a spot separately, hunt for a meter, or budget for a nightly ramp fee on top of the room.
That is unusual for this part of the city. 300 Clifton sits on a bluff above Loring Park, one block from the park itself and a short walk from the Walker Art Center, Eat Street and the heart of downtown. Most places with that address have no land left to park on. A nineteenth-century house sitting on a full mansion lot still does.
How arrival actually works
The instructions on our location page are the ones to follow, and they have not changed in years: turn off quiet Clifton Avenue, come down the drive, and park on the brick lot behind the gardens. From there you will see a prominent check-in sign above the door to the original stables.
That door is not a marketing flourish. The building really was the carriage house and stable for the Eugene J. Carpenter family, and the drive you are rolling down is the same one that carriages used. It is a strange and rather nice way to arrive somewhere.
Why on-site parking matters more downtown than it sounds
Downtown Minneapolis is a metered, regulated, and in winter an occasionally towed environment. The City of Minneapolis publishes the rules in detail, and they are worth a skim even if you never intend to use a street space: the street parking rules cover where you may and may not leave a vehicle, and the parking meter page covers hours, rates and how to pay.
The practical difference is not only money. It is the twenty minutes at the end of a long evening when you would rather be in a hot tub than circling a block. Guests arriving for a concert, a wedding or a game are often the ones most grateful for it.
One thing to know if you visit in winter
Minneapolis declares snow emergencies after significant snowfall, and the plowing rules change which streets you may park on and when. Our guests are parked off the street, so a snow emergency does not affect the car in our lot. If you have a second vehicle, or a friend dropping in for the evening, send them the City page on snow emergency parking rules first. It is the single most common way visitors to Minneapolis get towed.
You may not need the car much anyway
Loring Park is a block away. The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden are a walk across the pedestrian bridge. Eat Street, Nicollet Mall, Orchestra Hall, the Convention Center and the theatre district are all within a comfortable stroll or a very short ride. If you want to leave the car parked for the whole weekend, the Metro Transit trip planner will get you almost anywhere else in the Twin Cities.
Guests who are staying several nights often use the car exactly twice: once to arrive, once to leave.
Parking at our sister properties
If you are putting a group together across more than one building, the arrangements differ:
- Oakland’s on 9th is a furnished extended-stay building at 215 South 9th Street, right in the middle of downtown. Their FAQ says parking is available right at the door, in Parking Lot 215.
- The Pillsbury Club, in the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion on East 22nd Street, tells guests in its club policies that parking is available on nearby public streets where it is legal, and in the designated lot across the street from the Club.
- Minneapolis Trolley Tours departs from the Pillsbury Club, which means the easiest version of a tour night is to park once and let the trolley do the driving.
Ready to stop thinking about the car?
Have a look at our guide to every room in the mansion if you are still deciding where to sleep, or read about photo shoots at the mansion if you are bringing a camera. When you are ready, book directly with us, and your arrival directions, gate details and parking instructions will land in your inbox well before you pack the car.
Keep reading: Can You Rent a Whole Mansion in Minneapolis? Whole-House Buyouts at 300 Clifton