Hyatt Centric Downtown Minneapolis

The coastal provincialists may approach it with skepticism, but the Hyatt Centric Downtown Minneapolis is grand indeed, just like its underrated upper-midwest hometown. The décor is old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, not dusty or dated, but full of sumptuous, classic materials — marble bathrooms, rich leather sofas and chairs, deeply varnished dark hardwood furniture — that never go out of style. They also do some things that, regretfully, have gone out of style, like nightly turndown service and even complimentary shoe shines. In short, there’s not a lot of corner-cutting in evidence.

For business and leisure alike, the location could hardly be better. The hotel is set right in the heart of downtown, in America’s second-densest theater district. That puts it just blocks from the Walker Art Center (one of the top modern art museums in the U.S.), equally close to the offices of the city’s (and some of the world’s) largest businesses, and an easy hop from the convention center. It’s also connected to Minneapolis’s skyway system, a seven-mile network of enclosed elevated walkways connecting various parts of downtown — no small thing during the frosty northern winter.

If braving even the skyway sounds a bit too much, there’s plenty to explore at the hotel itself. You could get your exercise by merely touring the athletic club. It spans some 58,000 square feet and contains, beyond the standard modern workout machines, the likes of a boxing studio, a track, racquetball and squash and handball courts, and an indoor lap pool. The hotel also holds a fine restaurant and bar, plus all the business facilities you could need, but even if you’re here on business, it would be a shame not to get out and explore Minneapolis. It’s a worthy city, with a hotel to match.