Our Family Vacation: A Series on Twin Cities Family Fun

Imagine this…

You take a step through wide glass double doors into a bright white foyer with a sitting area on the left and to your right you are greeted with a smile and your room keys. Walking into the large center court you find sounds of the ocean surrounding you as water cascades down two fountains mimicking a window pain in the rain. As you look up your eyes follow 8 floors of rooms and their outer balconies toward the bright, enormous windows lining the ceiling shedding the day’s light into this indoor sanctuary. Glass elevators rise and fall on either side. The sounds of children playing in the pool ring a familiar tune, willing sentimental memories from your mind. Laughter and friendly conversation echo around the court begging you to join in the camaraderie. Smiling faces from staff greet you at every turn. As you find your way to your room, you open the doors into a suite that feels like home. Comfortable furniture, a bed that sleeps better than your own, and towels that are luxurious to the touch … this is more than just an overnight hotel stay, this is an experience you won’t soon forget.

Over Labor Day weekend, we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, Minnesota for at least the fifth time over the last 8 years. It was recently fully renovated so it looked entirely different than I am used to, but it was a good change. The furniture and fixtures looked like something I would want to decorate my own home with. The new modern and sleek design was balanced with a level of comfort that the average hotel does not bring. The Embassy Suites is no average hotel.

Building Memories

I have very special memories tied to this hotel. When our second daughter was born she had a condition for which she had to be life-flighted to the Children’s Hospital right there in Minneapolis for surgery and a stay in their NICU. During that time we had family coming in and out. It was difficult to say the least. After just giving birth and going through a whirlwind of travel and chaos, I found myself sitting in a suite at the Embassy taking one evening away from our brand new baby to eat pizza, visit with our 1 year old and see my mom and sister who had flown in from down south. The Embassy Suites served as our home away from home and an oasis in the midst of turmoil. Those memories are a bit blurry but they are ingrained.

Our extended family always chooses the Embassy Suites when they go for Twins Games. We personally love to stay there when we go to the Renaissance Festival. This was our primary reason for visiting Minneapolis over Labor Day Weekend. There are so many things to do in the cities and surrounding area during the late summer and early fall. The Renaissance Festival is one of our favorites. If you are looking for a fun area to road trip, I would urge you to consider traveling this way with the kids. During our stay we also visited the Sea Life Aquarium, Mall of America, Como Zoo (which is FREE!), and even though we didn’t go, the State Fair is a really fun family affair as well.

You all know I am really big on keeping to a budget and living a frugal lifestyle. We all have our things that we are really careful to save money on, and those things that we feel comfortable splurging on just a bit. For me, hotel stays are that little splurge. I like a comfortable hotel if we are able to afford it. We rarely go on vacation, so when we do get to do something as a family I like to go the extra mile.

Not So Itty Bitty Living Space

Also, since we do have a larger family with 5 children, we have to look for a large enough room to accommodate us, particularly if we are spending multiple nights. The Embassy Suites has large rooms. In our room, the front room that includes your full seating area with a couch that folds out into a full size bed. It had a sink and fridge included in it as well as a television and desk. The room does include free wi-fi (a big deal for a blogger). Further into the suite, you enter a small hallway that can be closed off by a door. On one side is a spacious bathroom, and in the back of the suite was our bedroom complete with two full size beds, wardrobe, vanity, dresser and another television. Our room was big enough to comfortably fit 2 children in the front room, 2 children on the full size bed, and even a pack n’ play up in the corner and not feel like we were on top of each other. There was not a lot of noise from the hallways even though it was a busy holiday weekend and they were booked solid. I count it is as a victory when no children wake up in the middle of the night because there are noises coming from outside the door.

This Takes the Cake

What is my favorite part about the Embassy Suites? You wake up to breakfast. This is no average complimentary breakfast. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bagel and cream cheese but what if you could pair that with a custom made omelet and hot breakfast items? The Embassy Suites doesn’t just throw some breakfast out there for you, you are presented with a smorgasbord of options and it is all complimentary with your stay. Each morning you will find a fully stocked buffet of items and a hot omelette grill with a couple of very efficient chefs who take your order.

In fact, Embassy Suites does a lot of complimentary things, such as FREE root beer floats on Fridays and Free Manager’s hour with drinks and appetizers every evening. I can totally support a hotel that likes to give me free food. I am all about free and food.

What is surrounding the Embassy Suites that makes it such a convenient destination? I didn’t mind the fact that it had a Target next door. The Mall of America and Ikea are just down the road. Restaurants are easy to find. It was right in the area we wanted to be in for everything we had planned on our vacation.

The Details

What is the price of an Embassy Suites room? For the room we stayed in on the hotel website it runs about $180. I have seen it as low as $130 on TripAdvisor.com. Most of the less expensive hotels that we have stayed in still range about $100-$120. In my opinion, just the breakfast itself with Embassy Suites makes the stay worth it for a frugal person like me. If I were to get the amount of food we feed our family in the morning at that hotel out at a restaurant we would be paying over $50 each morning. When you add up the hot breakfast, a large pool and hot tub, all the amenities, a comfortable and large room for us all to fit into, and a kind and helpful staff, the sum outweighs the negligible difference in price.

I hope you will consider staying in the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, Minnesota the next time you visit the land of a thousand lakes. It is such a beautiful area with so much to do and see. Check back with me Monday as I go into detail about the Renaissance Festival and my new favorite restaurant to frequent in the Minneapolis area. I know we will be attending again next year, and of course we will be staying at our favorite hotel there once more.

Our Stay

Home Sweet Home for the weekend!
My children are obsessed with the glass elevators. They might as well be a roller coaster ride at a theme park for them.
The kids loved these fountains.
Isn't the new decor cute? I would totally do my house in these colors!
They served us root beer floats as we arrived! They do this every Friday!
I think my daughter liked her root beer float!
They added more space to fit more people for breakfast in the morning! I can't wait to try it!
Lots of space for in the evenings to sit out front if you want to order in a pizza.
Can you see how deep the room goes?
I love the kitchenette and it comes with everything I needed for my morning coffee and hot tea at night.
Yeah, my husband had to watch a game or two while we were there. We don't have cable.
Did I mention the comfy beds and how there is a sink and mirror in both the front and back rooms. This comes in handy!
I love the counter space in these bathrooms. I am a girl so I have to have all the room for my stuff.
I love this seating area with the pull out couch. We put all the kids in the back room while we stayed up late playing games in the front room with family. Lots of memories to be made!
Pool and hot tub, completely relaxing and fun.
A cousin being silly.
My girls loving the pool.
Busy Labor Day morning breakfast. Lots of sitting room for everyone even though it is a packed house.
Breakfast of champions!
I love the hot breakfasts!
This man makes the best omelets. He works nearly every morning and is so nice.

Bio
Latest Posts

Lindsey

I am a wife to a wonderful husband and mother to four beautiful children five and under: three girls and one boy. I am a disciple of Christ and I am fulfilling my role to my husband and family as a homemaker. I began The Road to 31 almost two years ago in an effort to focus more as I studied the Word of God and researched those things which were important to me. I found that God used The Road to 31 within my own life to bring community to my front door and allowed me to minister and be ministered to by other women who are walking along the same road as I.