Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul

(Last Updated On: April 25, 2018)

Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul delivers a superlative experience for Twin Cities visitors in a newly-renovated, close-in location.

Disclosure: We partnered with Visit Roseville and TPI Hospitality during our visits to Roseville, Minnesota and couldn’t have been more delighted by the experience.

Our Experience: We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul at midnight local time after a lengthy and somewhat harrowing 24 hours of travel in four different countries. Rising at about 5:30AM Stockholm time on the overnight ferry from Helsinki, we had nabbed the Arlanda Express train to the airport outside Stockholm, changed flights after an hour delay in Reykjavik, and finally landed in Minneapolis just ahead of a massive thunderstorm which caused flash flooding and flight diversions to Rochester. Needless to say, we were exhausted after our day of boats, trains, and planes. We probably looked a sight when we showed up! Not that you’d have suspected a thing from the smiling night manager who greeted us warmly and had keys in our hands after about 30 seconds.

It’s times like these when branded hotel franchises can really shine, and the Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul delivered an awesome experience from the get-go. This hotel was purchased and totally revamped by local TPI Hospitality group in accordance with the Formula Blue renovations profile after about a six months renovation. It is easily accessible from Interstate 35W and is situated equally between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

According to Lodgings Magazine, Formula Blue is meant to appeal to the self-sufficient and independent “smart traveler.” Well, howdy! We’re your guest! Formula Blue has mandatory parameters for all renovated and new Holiday Inn Express hotels: open public spaces for self-sufficiency and minimal noise transfer between rooms for restful sleep being top priorities.

The impression we got was that this property is new from the ground up. Not so, we were told by General Manager John Rivera, who confirmed that they’ve only been open a couple months since the renovation was completed. Finishing touches have all been made, with the exception of the hotel’s indoor pool, which is in the process of being constructed as we write.

All of the rooms at Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul sport new decor and furnishings as part of the transformation. Room amenities such as refrigerator, microwave and small electrics – coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron – are new. The bathrooms have been completely remodeled. Check out the video we shot upon arrival to our room:

Favorite Details: The bed is one of the most comfortable we’ve ever slept in. A variety of pillows – pillows are definitely my thing – for different types of sleepers were very much appreciated. We lowered the sleek blackout shade, collapsed into bed and slept soundly. The next morning, I had a conversation of several minutes with a staff member who had participated in the bed selection process. How happy we were with his results!

The mini-market is a nice touch, right off the lobby. Assorted snacks, drinks, frozen food and items you may have forgotten to pack are conveniently available. Here, cold bottled water is free for guests to take with them. So appreciated on hot days! Every time we passed through the lobby, in or out, someone on staff reminded us to grab a bottle of ice-cold water. So thoughtful!

TPI Hospitality knows how important connectivity is to every kind of traveler. This is the kind of stuff you shouldn’t have to even think about, yet we find so many hotels are often lacking. We did see this commitment to convenience when we previously stayed at one of TPI’s other properties in Roseville. We were excited (and let’s face it, grateful) that we could plug in and charge multiple devices at the work desk, as well as either side of the bed. Each location was equipped with electrical outlets and USB ports. Wifi was free and fast. Task lighting could be adjusted a variety of ways, including at the bed. Who doesn’t like to work from bed?

Can we talk about the breakfast amenities? So many times the free breakfast offering in branded hotels falls short. Not here! Every day there was something different, prepared on site and piping hot: scrambled eggs or omelets, bacon or sausage, or my personal favorite: biscuits and sausage gravy! Seriously, the best. Add fragrant hot cinnamon rolls to swoon for, a really fun one-button pancake machine, hot and cold cereal assortment, fruit and juice, as well as the 24 hour coffee and tea station, complimentary national and local newspapers, and you have the recipe for the start of an awesome day. Or an excuse to linger, which we did.

As we had laundry to do after our trip to Europe, we were glad to see coin laundry facilities are conveniently on site. I think I may have been the first to use the machines. John changed my paper money from a roll of shiny new quarters at the front desk, but I overestimated. The machines here are so large I got everything into two loads, instead of the three or more I anticipated. Wash and dry cycles were speedy, too. So nice to come home to compared with European machines. It was fun hanging out in the lobby waiting for my laundry to get done (so much so that I wouldn’t have minded a longer cycle)!

Lastly, we were so impressed with every single person on staff at the Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul. TPI Hospitality is 100% employee owned, and each team member is enthusiastic, cheerful, and just plain nice! Maybe it’s the aroma of fresh-baked bread from the bakery plant next door that puts everyone in such a great mood!

Hotel Particulars: Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St.Paul, 2715 Long Lake Road, Roseville MN 55113. Tel. 651-294-7200

Pricing: Our King Room with Sofa Bed begins at around $136 per night. Standard rooms with 2 Queen or 1 King begin at around $125 per night. Suites are available for approximately $170 per night. All prices checked at the time of this writing.

Our Rating: *****There is no way we’re not going to give this hotel five out of five stars. It’s billed as a two-star hotel by Google in terms of amenities, and true, Holiday Inn Express is a mid-range option popular with families, road warriors and service people. But Google is understating things here, big time. Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul is sparkling clean, everything you’d expect is delivered effortlessly, and atmospherically the vibe is so upbeat and positive, you can’t help but enjoy every minute.

Pinnable Image:

 

Disclosure: Our stay was compliments of Holiday Inn Express – Roseville-St. Paul and Visit Roseville. We’re lucky to have them as business partners and everything we’ve said about this place is the honest truth.

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