Kelly G.
Yelp
Overall a very weird experience, and certainly not worth the money. Stillwater used to be a favorite getaway for us, as we live in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, so it's only about a half hour away. But now it's crowded and really pricey for accommodations. Seems to be THE place for bachelorette parties.
As for Lora, it's an example of how pricey Stillwater has become. There's nothing in Stillwater that justifies a $400/night room that isn't a big penthouse suite.
I'd gone through some hoops to get the room I wanted--the Fireplace Room--for my wife and my anniversary. The website said it wasn't available, as did the travel sites. There was a snowstorm coming, so I thought I'd call to see if whoever had reserved it might have canceled. The agent on the phone was the best part of the trip. She was very friendly and accommodating and reserved the room for us. Apparently, no one else had reserved it, so it was a mystery as to why it didn't appear available.
When we arrived, walked in to find an odd assortment of people at the front desk and lobby, a young lady dressed professionally and another couple of guys in jeans and much less formal.
We decide to use the valet service for a night, which they ended up charging us for two nights. There's a free parking lot across the street that the woman at the front desk mentioned in passing without any details, like that it was free.
The Fireplace Suite itself was nice, but small for a suite. It is about the same size as a double room in most up-to-date average-priced hotels these days. It had floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, overlooking the main street. Unfortunately, that includes the entrance area to a restaurant next door where people would congregate (It has a firepit) to smoke or get away from the music, which meant loud conversations well into the night.
The gas fireplace was a nice benefit on a cold night. What was strange was that there was a firewood rack on the wall that held logs that appeared ready to be fed into a fireplace, although the fireplace was gas, so they clearly were for decoration. Unfortunately, people had carved their initials into the ends of the wood, which I suppose some people thought was cute, but it made for essentially a graffiti-look to the wall--not great for a $400/night room.
The bed was pretty comfortable, as were the shower and the bathroom. Nicely fragrant soaps, shampoo, conditioner, and hand cream. The robes they provided were a nice touch but too small. I'm an average-sized guy, and they were sized for a medium-sized woman. Too bad. I always enjoy hotel bathrobes.
The drapes for the windows were nicely blackout, but they did now seal on the edges, so the light pours in next to the walls in the morning.
The phone was weird as well. It was an old system that didn't correspond to the new phone system, so when you pressed "Front Desk," nothing happened. What was worse is that we couldn't answer the phone when it rang several times. We tried pushing all the buttons and the handset holder, but there was no way to answer, which was unfortunate because someone called our room several times.
The hotel has retained a lot of the original structure, so there is a lot of bare rock and support beams throughout, which was really enjoyable and gave the property a lot of character. We like to use stairs instead of elevators when we can, and the stairwell revealed a lot of the original structure. Really enjoyed that, until we reached the main floor, when there was furniture, boxes and bikes parked. Kinda cluttered, but not a big deal. Just, again, weird.
The restaurant and bar attached to the hotel are very nice with good food.
In short, I'd never stay here again primarily because of the cost. We certainly didn't feel like we were staying in a luxury hotel.