Graduate Minneapolis

This is an update to my review. I stayed at The Graduate Minneapolis in June 2025 as part of a group with four rooms reserved under one reservation. The hotel’s location is ideal, steps away from a Metro Transit train stop and within walking distance to a variety of restaurants ranging from fast food to fine dining. The decor throughout the hotel is charming and quirky in the best way, and the rooms were clean, comfortable, and well-maintained. Unfortunately, the customer service experience did not live up to the quality of the accommodations. The front desk staff, while friendly, seemed disorganized and overwhelmed. At check-in, our request to separate room charges by individual business cards was met with confusion. Upon checkout, the billing was incorrect, and a large credit remained pending on my card. When I contacted the front desk for assistance, the staff seemed unsure how to help and suggested sending me a credit card authorization form, which made no sense in the context of the situation. I left a voicemail for Assistant Manager, Chelsea Heggelund, who chose to respond via email rather than return my call, asking me to email her instead. I also called General Manager, Michael Berk, and left a message but, a week later, I still have not received a response. (I did receive a response several days later from Mr. Berk. I had already resolved the issue through other means. He was apologetic but did say the email rather than a phone response is typical for them.) To make matters worse, despite staying at a Hilton-branded property and booking multiple rooms, my Hilton Honors account reflects zero points for the stay. (I resolved this through Hilton.) While the property has great potential and the location is excellent, the disorganized management and lack of follow-through left a disappointing impression.

We had a conference here with about 150 attendees. The venue was very nice with multiple areas for breakout sessions. The staff were uniformly friendly and helpful. The Metro train station is diagonally across the street and there are several restaurants within walking distance.

Very disappointed in the Graduate Hotel by Hilton, located on the U of Minn campus. First of all, although the location was convenient for my conference at the McNamara Alumni Center (lovely facility), the reported tunnel between the two buildings was like a scavenger hunt on the set of “2001: A Space Odessey”. Repeated inquiries at the hotel front desk produced quizzical looks or vague instructions to “go that way”. Signage was ambiguous or lacking entirely (see photo). The hotel was virtually the only option unless you had your own transportation, and the food/drink options were abysmal: homophobic fast food, undergrad college beer bars or vegetarian salad bars. The hotel charged $18 for a glass of house wine and almost 50$ for a bottle of plonk. That’s tolerable if you’re “dining out” but very pricey if it’s your only daily option. Public transportation appeared to cater primarily to the homeless and drug-addicted, although I was encouraged to report them to the police for eventual intervention. No thanks for the first impression. Parking was a ridiculous 20$+ a day- for hotel guests! The room decor- apparently meant to be ironic- was without comparison, the all-time worst (see photos). Not humorous, uncomfortable and downright UGLY. I mean, who in their right mind puts a picture of Lonnie Anderson in every room?! None of the charging outlets worked and had to be repaired, housekeeping only showed up once and only when specifically requested, and the room thermostat was set permanently at 65 degrees. The hallway temp had to be 40 degrees and was frigid. The Graduate charges a “Destination” fee but it does not explicitly show up on your bill, although the MULTIPLE tax charges are specifically itemized. It is unclear what justifies the Destination fee, but it apparently covers WiFi (which the non-resident student population apparently uses for free while they park themselves freely in the hotel lobby), use of bikes, and I can’t imagine what else. Supposedly you receive a 10$ credit in the restaurant but no one could tell me if that was a one-time credit or daily. Neither was it evident on my itemized receipt. The front desk staff acted as though they had just started their job 10 minutes ago. Someone (?) communicated with me via text regarding my requests for repairs and housekeeping, but I have no idea who/what/where they were. On the plus side, the food in The Beacon was very good, although limited, and the staff were fantastic. I certainly won’t be back, however, as I felt marooned at The Graduate, on the Island of Sophomoric Bars and Fast Food. Yuck!

We stayed here for one night to attend a U of M event. The location is perfect. Students and traffic are crazy, of course, but you can't beat the location! Parking was $27 right behind the hotel. We booked the double beds but that was a mistake. My husband and I were pretty squished. Next time we will upgrade to a queen room. The hotel was super clean. We ate at the restaurant twice. The menu isn't huge but the food was good.

Loved this hotel. So premium. It felt like a way more expensive hotel. I would have expected a luxury brand name because it was really really high class and clean and nice. Improved my perception of Hilton overall. I loved everything from the shower to the desk setup to the shared spaces downstairs, and I loved the parking garage being connected by skyway because it was a very rainy weekend. The gym, meh, just okay. They need more weightlifting equipment and they need to maintain it better. But everything else was perfect. I think this is probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in that was under $500 per night. It compares really well to those $500+ hotels. I will be back.