Graves 601 Hotel

Nice hotel for a weekend outing

by TripAdvisor Member CornDude

My wife and I just spent the weekend at the Graves 601 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The hotel has a sleek, “new wave” appearance versus the normal hotels we have come to expect. There were many amenities which were top notch. The beds and variety of pillows were very comfortable and the 42 inch flat panel TVs were assume. We also enjoyed the LCD TV in the bathroom and the walk-in shower with the assortment of spray heads.
Just a little over a block away is the train which takes you to the MetroDome and Mall of America, leave your car parked - this is great. The Skywalk system is convenient to get to the adjoining restaurants, which seemed safe at night, although we were in be midnight. The valet parking seemed steep at $28/night, and there should have been some signage indicating check-in is on the 4th floor. Lastly, go for a standard king room versus the next step up. They are the same size and only the showers are different, not worth an upgraded price. A previous contributor complained about the sirens at night, which was true, but bearable. Definitely recommend the Graves 601 for nice getaway weekend.

Amazing! The nicest in Minneapolis.

by TripAdvisor Member thegov

I travel a great deal for work and have stayed in many 5 star hotels and resorts. I would put the Graves 601 in my top 5 of nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. This hotel is amazing. The little details are very impressive. Every room has flat screen televisions in both the bedroom and bathroom, features awesome Hermes soaps and great hair products, VERY comfortable beds with plush duvet cover and a pillow menu for your choice of pillow. This even included the japanese buckwheat pillows. The rooms are decorated in a bright, clean, modern style with light colored wood flooring, halogen lighting, and an incredible marble bathroom with a huge walk in shower. All very top notch. The decor of the hotel is features very a very cool use of modern furniture, paint, lighting, colors, etc. The bar has every drink imaginable, and the service was great all around. We got a rate of $209 a night, which was in line with the other local Marriotts, Hiltons, etc. The hotel is right downtown and is pretty much within walking distance of all the local shops and restaurants.
All in all, I was impressed with the value of this hotel, and the small details really hit the spot. Every time I come to minneapolis, I am staying here.

Not your everyday hotel....

by TripAdvisor Member fredandkell

We stayed here at the beginning of August '06 for a girls' weekend.

The reason I didn't give it 5 stars:
Despite booking three rooms together, they were unable to give us three rooms beside each other - in fact one room was on a different floor entirely. Also the concierge had no idea about the trolley schedule and it stopped right in front of the hotel. The girls who went to Infiniti, the nightclub (which does give automatic access to hotel guests) said it was expensive and pretentious. Also there is NOWHERE to eat breakfast around here! There was an expensive brunch place that opened at 10:00 am and the Starbucks, but nothing else.

Other than that, I had a very positive experience with this hotel. It is really neat looking and attention is paid to all the little details. The beds were super comfortable and it was very quiet, despite being in the midst of a very busy section. It is two blocks from the light rail station, an easy walk (just get off at the last rail stop and go left). The hotel will make reservations for you for the Italian restaurant next door; indeed the restaurant only takes reservations from hotel guests and nobody else. And the food was good there. The hotel is definitely in the midst of the party scene - a lot of bars - and geared toward the younger crowd. It was extremely expensive to book on the hotel's website - I want to say $400/room/night, but we found another website where it was about half as much. I know I can't say the name of the website, but just know that the Graves 601 belongs to a very elite hotel organization which many of the world's top hotels are members of, and if you book it through their website, it is much cheaper. I think $400/night would have been a ripoff but we paid about $220 and I thought that was right on track for the kind of hotel the the Graves is. I would recommend staying here. Oh and as far as the hotel being in a "rough" area as a previous poster said - that's nonsense. I didn't see any "rough" areas in Minneapolis period!

Disappointed

by TripAdvisor Member jojo47

I was very excited to spend a few nights here because of all the great reveiws. The room is nice and the decor is hip. TV is great. Beware if Target center has a big event. It is loud. The Hard Rock Cafe next door also plays music for many hours of the night and early morning. Poor hotel sound-proofing and hotel is not very accomodating to area you wish to be located. Also, rooms can feel cold and not much room to adjust the temperature.

Pleasant Stay at Graves

by TripAdvisor Member CubbieBear

I stayed here for two nights, traveling for business and would definitely stay here again. The staff was pleasant; the room was clean, spacious, and comfortable. The Hotel is definitely modern and I enjoyed the two flat screen TVs. The only disappointment was the $10/day internet charge; it should be included in the room rate.

Unique Hotel in Downtown Minneapolis

by TripAdvisor Member Aurora100

This is a “cutting edge” design hotel. The rooms are quite different than you would find in other more traditional hotels. Rooms have maple hardwood floors and very Scandinavian looking maple furniture. There is a small LCD TV in the bathroom and a huge plasma TV in the bedroom! All amenities are very upscale. The rooms are very cheerful, even on a gray snowy day in Minneapolis.

The lobby is a little stark and the front desk staff seem very inexperienced. However, the concierge was very helpful.

Fitness room is small but adequate. You can buy a $15 pass to a big gym across the street that has a pool, but it seemed a hassle and overpriced to me.

Breakfast is very expensive. I paid $16 for French toast and $8 for a glass of orange juice!! I think that is even more than what the Four Seasons would charge. On the other hand, I only paid $168 a night for the room. In NY, a hotel like this would be close to $500 a night, and in Chicago probably around $400.

Hotel is across from the Target Center and connected to the SkyBridge system so it’s very easy to get around. However because of it’s proximity to the Target Center and an entertainment center across the street, there are a lot of kids loitering around. To someone not from an urban area, this might seem kind of threatening.

Regardless, I really enjoyed my stay here and probably would stay here again the next time I am in Minneapolis.

Vintage Minneapolis

by dromosapien

"Minneapolis 1978, North-to-South"

Great Northern Depot

constructed: 1913
architect: Charles Sumner Frost (1856-1931)
address: 1st Ave & Hennepin Ave
razed: 1978, and the adjacent 24 On The Avenue bar and Berman Buckskin leather goods
currently the site of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank -constructed 1994-97. The nice bankers of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank threatened to move the institution out of the city where it has been located since its inception in 1914, if it could not build a riverside fortress on the premier land parcel that might have linked downtown and the Mississippi River.

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"4th & Hennepin Ave S"

Andrews Hotel

constructed: 1911
architect: H. L. Stevens & Co., Chicago
razed: 1984, and the Saddle Bar also

6th & Hennepin Ave S -right

Moby Dick’s Bar , -”A Whale of a Drink” (formerly the 620 Club -"Where Turkey is King"), Brady's Pub , Gary's Bar , two Shinder's Newsstands , La Casa Coronado Mexican restaurant site, Asuka Japaneese restaurant site, the World Theater (the Academy Theater a.k.a. Shubert Theater was moved and sits empty on 5th & Hennepin), Rifle Sport Gallery (former Rifle Sport Arcade ), the Rand Hotel , McDonald's and the rest of the block was razed in 1987 to construct Block E , an entertainment mall consisiting of a parking ramp, an adjoining Graves 601 Hotel , and Kerasotes AMC 15 cinema, Kieran's Irish Pub, Hard Rock Cafe , Shout House , Applebee’s , Snyder’s Drugs (closed 2004), Escape Ultra Lounge (closed 2007), Borders Books (closed 2008), Sega GameWorks (closed 2010), Hooter’s (closed 2010).

Block E , a McCaffery Interests development cost about $132 million with a city subsidy of $39 million when it was constructed in 2001. It was sold in 2010 for $14 million. (- ouch )

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Gopher Theater -left

constructed: 1911, as the Grand Theater
architect: Jacob 'Jack' Liebenberg (1893-1985) and Seeman Kaplan (c.1894-1963)
address: 619 Hennepin Avenue
razed: 1979, with the rest of the block, to construct ‘City Center’ a hotel, office building and failed shopping mall

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"7th Street S"

Nankin Café ,
- city’s prominent Chinese restaurant

opened: 1919, at 14 S 7th St -across the street from site in photo
moved: late 1950’s, to 15 S 7th St –site in the photo
moved: 1981, to the City Center
closed: 1999

"Forum Cafeteria"

constructed: 1914, as Saxe Moving Picture Theater , in 1929 it became part of the chain of Forum Cafeterias and finally Scotties on Seventh , a disco, moved into the building in 1975

architect: Gottlieb R. Magney (1884-1969) and Wilbur H. Tusler (1890-1985)
address: 36 South 7th Street
razed: 1979, and the rest of its side of 7th Street, to build ‘City Center’

* at this approximate site, which is now the City Center block, the art deco interior of the Forum Cafeteria has been reassembled behind the modern exterior glass walls and is currently called the Forum Restaurant and Bar (2010).

"7th & Nicollet Ave S -looking north"

Donaldson’s Department Store ,
the light colored building, just visible on the upper-right, behind the skyway** crossing Nicollet Ave.

constructed: abt. 1904
razed: 1982, with the entire block after arson during the construction of Northwestern National Bank *.

* Northwestern National Bank established 1929, renamed Norwest in 1983, merged with the weaker Wells Fargo bank in 1998, adopted the Wells Fargo name, and moved its headquarters to the city of San Francisco.

** Skyway since 1962, is the local term for the elevated, enclosed and climate-controlled pedestrian bridges that connect about 80 downtown blocks. Bring a jacket as the skyways are privately owned and access is unreliable on weekends, holidays and weekdays after business hours.

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"7th & Nicollet Ave S - looking south"

On the right, beyond the former Dayton’s Department Store, the 800 block of Nicollet was demolished abt. 1987 to build The Conservatory, a shopping mall labyrinth, which was demolished ten years later to build a financial services building along the former shopping avenue.

* Dayton’s Department Store , constructed 1902, architect: Charles S. Sedgwick (1892-1963) at 700 Nicollet Ave S, the flagship department store of Minneapolis, was established in 1902, merged with J L Hudson in 1969, bought Marshall Field's of Chicago in 1990 and alienated its customers when it changed its name to the nationally more prestigious Marshall Field’s in 2001. And it was all downhill from there. In 2004 the store chain was sold and renamed Macy’s.

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