Twin Cities Hotels Prep For Massively Busy Super Bowl Week
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With less than three weeks until the Minnesota Super Bowl, it's crunch time for Twin Cities hotels.
Tens of thousands of guests are expected to pack rooms ahead of the Big Game at U-S Bank Stadium later this month, but you don't need a hotel reservation to partake in the fun.
The average cost of a room in the downtown area around the Super Bowl varies from five to 10 times higher than the average rate.
But that's OK -- if you couldn't cough up that cash, there are still several events at hotels if you're looking to experience some of the Super Bowl fun.
When the view outside your hotel room stares down U.S. Bank Stadium, you can bet it'll be busy come Super Bowl weekend.
"We will see our largest occupancy in the January-February time slot that we've ever seen," Troy Whelan of Aloft Minneapolis said.
ALoft Minneapolis, just two blocks from the stadium, has been in full planning mode for the Super Bowl for the last six months, making room upgrades, planning a public concert series and heightening security.
"We will have 24-hour security," Whelan said. "We'll have securtity team members in the evening hours, we'll have courtyard monitors."
Hotels in the Sister City are preparing for a massively busy week, too.
"Already we can feel the excitement in the hotel. The staff is excited," St. Paul Hotel general manager Brian Schmechel said.
The historic St. Paul Hotel booked up years ago, almost immediately after Minneapolis was announced as the host city.
"We're focused right now on staffing levels, because we know it's sold out," Schmechel said.
The St. Paul Grill within the hotel got a liquor license extension just for Super Bowl weekend, to be open until 4 a.m. The restaurant will include new "Bold Nort"h menu items, including a specialty cocktail and a massive, one-of-a-kind, 18-liter bottle of Jordan Cabernet.
"Eight bottles produced in the country this year, and Minnesota was offered one for the Super Bowl," Justin Spano of Morissey Hospitality Companies said.
If you want to try it, go ahead! The lobbies, lounges, and restaurants at the St. Paul Hotel and Aloft are both open to the public.
Just be a little more subtle if you're hopping to catch a famous face
"Whether it be local talent or national talent, I do expect that, yeah,"
If you are going to be in downtown Minneapolis, the Aloft lobby and bar will be open with four nightly concerts leading up to the big game that will end with a Prince-themed night.
St. Paul Grill inside the St. Paul hotel has a kickoff event next Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. where you can buy a glass of that very rare wine.
