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Review of Rand Tower Hotel in Minneapolis: Maximizing Marriott Free Night Award

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Ehsan Haque

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Ehsan is an avid traveler who has traveled to 100 countries, diligently using points and miles to fund his journeys. Currently, he holds 32 active credit cards and earns over a million points and mile...
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Minneapolis is one of my favorite cities in the U.S., and for good reason. The city has a lot to offer, including numerous tourist attractions, natural beauty, and excellent cuisine.

Although I frequently traveled to Minneapolis during my college days, it had been a few years since I last visited. Since I would be passing through Minneapolis on my drive home to Chicago, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to plan a stay.

Better yet, I had a Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Award certificate expiring in the coming days, so it was time to redeem it. Fortunately, there are a lot of excellent Marriott hotels in Minneapolis (a few of which I had already stayed at).

With so many interesting options, narrowing down which hotel to stay at was more difficult than I expected. Ultimately, my wife and I stayed at Rand Tower Hotel, Minneapolis, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, and I am glad we did.

Here’s my full review and take on why you should consider this property if you are traveling to Minneapolis.

Booking Rand Tower Hotel

As a frequent traveler, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card is one of my favorite credit cards. The Marriott Boundless card has a solid earning rate (particularly when spending with Marriott), provides complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status (with a fast track to Gold Elite status) and 15 Elite Night Credits.

However, the Marriott Boundless card‘s most defining perk (and the reason why I keep this card in my wallet) is that it provides an annual Free Night Award certificate each year.

The Free Night Award certificate is valid for Marriott hotels up to 35,000 points per night. However, you can also add up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to the value of your certificate to redeem it at a more expensive property.

Although I could have added Marriott Bonvoy points to the Free Night Award certificate, I did not want to for this stay. I began by visiting Marriott’s website to see the available properties. Since I wanted to maximize the free night certificate, I narrowed the search to hotels around the 35,000-point threshold.

Although several highly rated properties were in the area, I ultimately selected Rand Tower Hotel, Minneapolis, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, thanks to its incredible location in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.

A 1-night stay at Rand Tower Hotel could be booked for 34,000 points, meaning I could redeem my Free Night Award certificate.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis booking
Points and cash rate for Rand Tower Hotel, Minneapolis. Image Credit: Marriott

After confirming my date and the award space, I was ready to book the hotel. I chose a 1 King, City View Guest Room, which was considered to be a standard room.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis booking options
Points booking options. Image Credit: Marriott

After receiving the reservation confirmation, I noticed a message stating that I could use a Nightly Upgrade Award to upgrade to a better room. A Nightly Upgrade Award is a 1-night, confirmable upgrade to a premium room or suite.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Nightly Upgrade Award
Use Nightly Upgrade Awards to upgrade to a better room.

Once you ask to use your Nightly Upgrade Award for a stay, Marriott begins to search for upgrade availability 3 days before arrival. Since I had a few to use, I thought I might as well try and see if the request would go through. To increase my odds of success, I selected multiple options.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Nightly Upgrade Award options
Nightly Upgrade Awards options.

Fortunately, the Nightly Upgrade Award was approved hours after I made the reservation. This was a relief, as the last 3 upgrade requests I used were not (though I did make the requests for luxury hotels during busy times).

Hot Tip:

When using a Nightly Upgrade Award, you can select all the room types you would accept for an upgrade. This increases the odds that you’ll receive an upgraded room.

Rand Tower Hotel Location

Rand Tower Hotel is in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. It is near many of the city’s major sites, including the Target Center, Target Field, The Commons, Hennepin County Medical Center, and U.S. Bank Stadium.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis a Tribute Portfolio Hotel location
Rand Tower Hotel location. Image Credit: Google Maps

The property is less than a 20-minute drive from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) and Mall of America.

Checking In at Rand Tower Hotel

After arriving in Minneapolis around 3 p.m., I pulled out the SpotHero app to look for nearby parking. The hotel offered hotel guests parking for $37 per night, but I thought that was quite expensive. Within a minute, I found a parking garage less than 4 blocks away for $10 for 24 hours.

After parking, my wife and I walked to the property, which took just under 10 minutes. The hotel has entrances on both South 6th Street and South Marquette Avenue. Since we walked down South 6th Street, we entered the hotel from this entrance.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis exterior front
Exterior of Rand Tower Hotel.

We proceeded to the check-in counters to the left of the hotel entrance. A friendly front desk representative welcomed us to the hotel and requested identification so we could begin the check-in process. 

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis check in desk
 Hotel check-in counters.

Elite Benefits

After some small talk, the front desk agent thanked me for being a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member and informed us that we had been upgraded to a 1-bedroom suite on the 22nd floor.

With Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, I was eligible for several benefits, including an enhanced room upgrade (based on availability), a 4 p.m. late checkout, and a welcome amenity (Marriott Bonvoy points or a breakfast credit). I chose the $18 breakfast credit, and since my wife was with me, we received a total of $36 for breakfast or brunch.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis breakfast voucher
Room key cards and breakfast credit voucher.

The hotel staff member then provided us with pertinent information regarding the hotel’s amenities, on-site food, and the hours for both breakfast and brunch. After thanking the front desk agent, we were ready to go.

Bottom Line:

I was thoroughly impressed by the efficiency of the check-in process. Within 2 minutes, we were checked into the hotel and were provided with a ton of information about the property. The front desk representative was also incredibly friendly and constantly smiling, which was a nice welcome.

Lobby

After getting our key cards, we explored the relatively simple hotel lobby. To the left of the check-in desks and near the South 6th Street hotel entrance was a small conference room-style seating area that could fit up to 6 people.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis lobby dinner table
Main seating area near the check-in desks.

A small hallway led to the hotel elevators directly across from the check-in desks. To the right of the hallway was a small seating area with 2 identical armchairs.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis lobby armchair seating
Seating area near the elevators.

The entrance to the hotel bar, Bar Rufus, was directly to the right of the check-in desk — more on that in the Food and Beverage section.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bar entrance
Bar Rufus.

As mentioned, the hotel’s guest-floor elevators were in a small hallway across from the check-in desks. There were 3 elevators for guests.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis elevators
Elevators to the guest floors.

Walking through the hallway, we saw another small seating area. Walking left, we reached the hotel’s entrance on South Marquette Avenue.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis lobby back seating
A statue near the elevators.

An intricate staircase was to the right. Taking the stairs down led to the hotel’s several meeting rooms.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room lobby stairwell
I loved the design of this staircase.

After looking at everything the lobby offered, we were ready to go to our room. We took the elevators to the 22nd floor.

1-Bedroom Suite

After exiting the elevators, we followed the signs to room 2204, our corner 1-bedroom suite. As I entered the room, I saw a large foyer leading to an open-concept living room.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room foyer
The foyer of the 1-bedroom suite.

Immediately to the right of the entrance was the room’s living room, which featured varied seating. The main option was an incredibly comfortable 2-person sofa. A large coffee table was in front of the sofa, and a lamp was to the right.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room living room
Living room area.

There was a separate suede armchair to the left of the living room, which was also quite comfy. Next to the armchair was a small ceramic side table, which I utilized several times throughout the stay.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room armchair
The armchair was extremely comfortable.

Directly across from the sofa was the wall-mounted television. Below it was a storage cabinet.

To the right of the television was a large bronze-and-wooden multipurpose storage unit with plenty of shelves. An ice bucket and 2 complimentary water bottles were on one of the shelves.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room tv and storage unit
Living room television and storage unit.

The room’s minifridge was in a cabinet at the bottom of the unit. Although it was relatively small, it met our needs perfectly.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room storage unit
Minifridge.

There was also a coffee station with a Lavazza coffee machine in one of the other cabinets.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room coffee station
Lavazza coffee machine and pods.

Lastly, another large storage closet was on the far left of the living room. The entrance was to the right of the closet.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room closet unit
Large closet with ample space.

The closet unit was spacious and featured hangers, a bathrobe, a steamer, and the room’s safe.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room closet unit opened
Contents of the storage unit.

The bedroom was opposite the closet unit, to the right of the entrance to the bathroom. Walking into the bedroom, I immediately noticed the nice corner unit layout.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bedroom
Entrance to the bedroom.

The room’s workstation, which featured a large metal desk and a pink swiveling chair, was directly against the back window.

Although the chair was not ergonomic and had no armrest, I still found it quite comfortable.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room workstation and chair
Although not ergonomic, the chair was comfortable.

The room’s defining feature was the king-size bed between 2 identical side tables. There were hanging light fixtures with modern designs above each of the side tables.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room bed
I admired the modern light fixtures.

The bed featured a plush, padded headboard with mounted reading lamps. There were also interesting art pieces above the bed.

The bed was extremely comfortable and featured several pillows of varying thicknesses and a bolster pillow. I’m not sure if it was just because I hadn’t slept well the night before, but I found this bed surprisingly relaxing.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room bed and lights
The bed was extremely comfortable and provided great sleep.

The bedroom television was mounted to the pillar between the 2 sets of windows.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room mounted tv
I loved the placement of the television.

Since we had a corner room, the rooms offered excellent southern and western views of the city.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room south views
Views of downtown Minneapolis.

From the windows, we could see various buildings across downtown, including other Marriott-branded hotels, such as the W Minneapolis – The Foshay and The Westin Minneapolis.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room west views
I like the architecture of the buildings in the area.
Bottom Line:

Overall, I was very impressed with the room. I liked how spacious it was and loved the living room and bedroom layout. I also loved the furniture design choices and artwork, as they exuded a modern and luxurious vibe.

Bathroom

The bathroom was across the foyer from the suite’s entrance and featured a sliding wooden barn door.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room bathroom entrance
Barn doors are always a nice touch.

When I entered the bathroom, the toilet was the first thing I noticed, as it was in the center of the room.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bathroom toilet
Toilet.

The vanity was directly to the left of the toilet. A large, modern LED mirror hung on the wall, along with an intricate hanging light fixture. I loved the dark blue vanity backsplash.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bathroom
More excellent design elements.

The vanity featured a deep sink and standard hotel toiletries. There was also an LED vanity mirror.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bathroom vanity
The vanity was large and spacious.

The shower included wall-mounted bottles of luxurious Aromatherapy Associates toiletries, including shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis bathroom shower
The shower was quite relaxing and had excellent water pressure.
Bottom Line:

I loved the aesthetic of this bathroom. From the materials to the color palette, the design felt luxurious and visually appealing. I also appreciated the motion sensor lighting.

Amenities

Rand Tower Hotel offered several amenities for guests, including a fitness center and several meeting rooms.

Fitness Center

The hotel featured a fully equipped fitness center that was open 24 hours a day. The fitness center was large and boasted several types of Technogym equipment.

The right side boasted several cardio options, including 2 unique stationary bikes and several treadmills.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center cardio
Different cardio equipment.

There were also 3 ellipticals.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center ellipticals
Ellipticals.

An entire section of the fitness center was dedicated to strength training with various different machines, including a leg press machine.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center leg press
Strength training equipment.

The gym also offered a chest press machine, which provided me with a nice workout.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center chest press
Chest press machine.

There was a vertical traction machine in the corner of the room. Additionally, a storage unit contained kettlebells and yoga equipment, including yoga mats, medicine balls, and resistance bands.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis yoga equipment
Additional strength and yoga equipment.

The gym also offered a single Peloton bike.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center peloton
Peloton bike.

Lastly, the gym had 2 benches and a good selection of free weights, some as heavy as 50 pounds.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis fitness center bench and dumbbells
Free weights and benches.

Meeting Rooms

The hotel also offered over 2,700 square feet across 4 individual meeting rooms and event spaces, with the main one, the Executive Club, a level below the lobby. Guests could access the Executive Club from the staircase near the hotel entrance on South Marquette Street.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis meeting room
Executive Club seating.

All of the hotel meeting rooms offered state-of-the-art audio-visual and presentation equipment.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room meeting
Tech options in the Executive Club.

Parking

The property offered valet parking for $52 overnight. There were special $10 parking rates for those visiting the hotel restaurant.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis parking rates
On-site valet parking rates.

Food and Beverage

Rand Tower Hotel featured a restaurant, cocktail lounge, and a bar.

Blondette

The hotel’s primary restaurant, Blondette, is on the fifth floor. It was open daily between 5 and 9 p.m. and for weekend brunch between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The restaurant serves classic French dishes prepared by chef Daniel del Prado, the Twin Cities’ most prolific restaurateur. It features an extensive menu with items such as tuna crudo, duck à l’orange, and beef tartare.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Blondette
Bar seating at Blondette.

The restaurant had a cozy feeling to it.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Blondette seating
Wall seating at Blondette.

Hotel guests could have breakfast at Bar Rufus any morning or brunch at Blondette on weekends. Since we were staying over the weekend, we decided to take advantage of it.

Blondette brunch menu
Blondette brunch menu.

Since we did not want to spend too much, my wife and I agreed it would be best to use the $18-per-person credit we received for the welcome amenity. My wife and I had the French toast, which cost exactly $18.

The food arrived less than 10 minutes after we placed our order. The French toast was delicious, among the best I ever had.

Blondette brunch food
The French toast was fantastic.

Miaou Miaou

Miaou Miaou, a cocktail lounge, is near the entrance to Blondette. It was open Mondays through Wednesdays and Sundays from 5 to 10 p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays from 5 to 11 p.m.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Miaou Miaou
Bar at Miaou Miaou.

Miaou Miaou had a relaxing atmosphere. Against the walls were dedicated sections with plush chairs and sofas that invited a sociable energy.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis room Miaou Miaou
This seating area provided an intimate, cozy vibe.

Miaou Miaou also featured a separate seating area designed like a living room, complete with a television for a more relaxed, homey vibe.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Miaou Miaou seating
Other seating options at Miaou Miaou.

The lounge offered an extensive drinks menu, particularly for a cocktail lounge. The menu included sliders, burgers, chicken wings, and nachos.

Miaou Miaou menu Rand hotel
Miaou Miaou food and beverage menus.

Bar Rufus

The hotel also had a bar next to the check-in desks in the lobby, Bar Rufus. Named after the patriarch of Rand Tower Hotel, Rufus Rand, the bar was said to imitate a French café.

The lobby bar was open Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. and on weekends from 7 to 9 a.m.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Bar Rufus
Bar Rufus had a nice aesthetic.

Bar Rufus offered several seating areas, including a section with sofas and armchairs, all extremely comfortable.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Bar Rufus lounge seating
This seating area was great for meeting new people.

It also offered more restaurant-style seating with tables and sofas.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Bar Rufus seating
More seating at Bar Rufus.

Hotel guests could have breakfast at Bar Rufus, but we had weekend brunch at the restaurant. The menu at Bar Rufus was broad and offered a variety of foods and specialty coffee.

Rand Tower Hotel Minneapolis Bar Rufus breakfast menu
Bar Rufus breakfast menu.

Service

Although I didn’t interact with the hotel staff often, every encounter was positive. They were consistently friendly and helpful. The staff seemed to enjoy their jobs and worked hard to ensure I had a positive experience at the property.

Final Thoughts

Rand Tower Hotel is a fantastic Marriott property in a prime location worth considering when visiting Minneapolis.

The 1-bedroom suite was fantastic, boasting ample space and intriguing furnishings. I loved the interior design and place it among the best of any hotel I have ever stayed at.

The property offered a fine dining restaurant, a cocktail lounge, and a lobby bar, and the weekend brunch meal was quite delicious.

I loved the artwork, décor, and furniture across the hotel, which created a luxurious and intimate experience. The hotel also had an array of modern touches and 21st-century amenities. I would definitely stay at Rand Tower Hotel again the next time I find myself in Minneapolis.

The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far is Rand Tower Hotel from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport?

Rand Tower Hotel is approximately a 20-minute drive from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Does the Rand Tower Hotel have a pool?

No, Rand Tower Hotel does not have a pool.

What benefits do you get as a Marriott Platinum Elite member at the Rand Tower Hotel?

As a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite, you are entitled to several benefits at the Rand Tower Hotel. These include:

  • Welcome gift choice (points or breakfast offering)
  • 4 p.m. late checkout (upon request)
  • Enhanced room upgrade (including select suites)

Check out our in-depth guide on Marriott Bonvoy elite status.

How far is the Rand Tower Hotel from the Target Center?

The Rand Tower Hotel is less than a 10-minute walk from the Target Center.

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About Ehsan Haque

Ehsan is an avid traveler who has traveled to 100 countries, diligently using points and miles to fund his journeys. Currently, he holds 32 active credit cards and earns over a million points and miles annually, primarily using them for luxury hotels and long-haul premium cabins.

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