Directions
Here’s a Map, in case you want to plot your own route or otherwise get the lay of the land.
There’s a lot of road repair going on in the Twin Cities these days. We’ve actually found one route from south Minneapolis to the hotel that is free of road construction. Here it is:
South on Cedar Avenue
Cedar Avenue turns into Highway 77
Stay on 77 until you . . .
exit on Lindau Lane
Continue on Lindau Lane (which runs between Ikea and the Mall of America) until you
turn left on 24th Ave S
then turn right on American Blvd East
take American Blvd across 34th Ave S
take the first right after you cross 34th Ave– that’s the driveway to the hotel.
Another option would be to take Penn Avenue or France Ave or some other street south to American Blvd, then go east on it ’til you get to the hotel.
A look at the map linked above while you read those directions may make it all a bit clearer.
Here are the directions the hotel provides:
From the North:
Take 35 W South To I-494
Go East On I-494 To 34th Ave Exit 1b
Turn Right On 34th Ave
1 Block to American Blvd.
Turn Left – Hotel Entrance On Right.
From the South:
Take 35 W North To I-494
Go East On I-494 To 34th Ave. Exit 1b
Turn Right On 34th Avenue.
1 Block To American Blvd.
Turn Left – Hotel Entrance On Right.
From the East:
Follow I-494 West To 34th Ave. Exit 1b
Turn Left On 34th Ave.
Go 2 Blocks To American Blvd.
Turn Left – Hotel Entrance On Right
From the West:
Follow I-494 East To 34th Ave. Exit 1b
Turn Right On 34th Ave.
Go 1 Block to American Blvd. – Turn Left – Hotel Entrance On Right.
The Route We Sometimes Use (an alternate route from the north)
35W south; go east on 62/crosstown (exit 11B, it’s a left exit); go south on 77 (a.k.a. Cedar Ave south); exit on Lindau Lane / Killebrew drive; exit on Killebrew Drive and then just take Killebrew past the Mall of America. You’ll go through three stoplights by the Mall of America and then the road winds around a bit and will no longer be called Killebrew but East Old Shakopee Road and later 34th Ave S. Eventually you’ll come to two traffic lights: the first is Appletree road (which can take you in the back way to the hotel), the second light is American Blvd, turn right on it and the Holiday Inn is the first right. Note that there’s road construction on Old Shakopee Road right now, a better bet might be the route we mentioned first on this page where you exit on Lindau Lane from 77.
If you’re staying at the hotel, you may want to temporarily park near the front door to unload your stuff because the walk from the ramp to the elevators is longer than average.
Parking
If you’re approaching the hotel from American Blvd, you should see a sign directing you to the parking ramp (it’ll be on the left once you’ve gone under part of the hotel).
If you’re approaching the hotel the back way, from Appletree, the ramp will be on your right (and you won’t see a sign for it unless you’re looking at the ramp).
You’ll want to go to the top of the ramp to park, there’s a door to the hotel up there. You can park in the Holiday Inn parking area that isn’t quite at the top, you’ll just have to take stairs up to the level that’s at the top of the ramp. There are handicapped parking spots near the door to the Holiday Inn at the top of the ramp.
Yes, the ramp can be confusing. Sometimes it seems easy and we’ve had no trouble getting where we want to go, other times we may have driven around in a few circles. Whoops. Just head up; there are signs and arrows to help.
Enter the hotel from the ramp and you’ll walk past the pool and down a long hallway past some offices and meeting rooms; the elevators will (eventually) be on your right. Take the elevators up to 13 to the convention or down to the first floor which is where you’ll find the front desk, hotel bar, gift shop, and restaurant.
If you’re entering the hotel from the ramp after 11pm and don’t have a room key, you may have to hit the intercom button to get someone at the front desk to open the door for you.
Getting There by Bus and/or Light Rail
The hotel is 3 blocks from a light rail stop (Bloomington Central Station on the Hiawatha Line).
Seth Breidbart reports these directions for getting to the hotel from the Bloomington Central Station Light Rail stop:
Get off the train, walk back (assuming you’re coming from the downtown direction), turn left when the street ends. The hotel will be on your right, not necessarily visible so check the signs at driveways.
There are light rail stops at both the airport and Mall of America (those links are to pages with info about the light rail stops).
The 54 Bus will take you close to the hotel (on the map with the bus schedule you can see Appletree Square, which is where the hotel is).
Lots of bus routes have stops at the Mall of America, the Mall of America rail station page lists them. It should be easy enough to take one of those buses to the Mall and then take the hotel shuttle or transfer to the 54 bus or Light Rail.
Free shuttles run regularly between the hotel and the airport; and between the hotel and the Mall of America. Shuttles leave the hotel at the top of each hour for the Mall of America between the hours of 10am and 10pm most days and 11am and 7pm on Sundays. Shuttles leave for the airport every half hour, 24 hours a day. (These schedules were current a few months ago, you may want to doublecheck with the hotel to be sure they’re still current.)
