This super-swanky, gay-popular hotel is across the street from the Brass Rail nightclub and next to the Art Institutes International of Minneapolis campus. The hotel contains more than 250 works of mostly cutting-edge, contemporary art (including pieces by controversial artist Damien Hirst) hung throughout the 60 guest rooms as well as in public areas. Rooms (like the one pictured here) are airy and refreshingly simple in color scheme and design - they all have large bathrooms with rain-showers, heated floors, and flat-screen TVs; and the rooms themselves are outfitted with plush bedding (including feathebeds), plush robes, free Wi-Fi, and iPod docking stations.
Another change since the hotel opened has been the installation of the city's revered D'Amico Kitchen Osteria & Bar into the lobby dining space, which had originally housed Chambers Kitchen, part of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten empire. D'Amico, the flagship of an expansive dining empire based in Minnesota and with branches in Florida as well, seems to be a better fit with the local market - and it's certainly a beautiful space. The hip lobby lounge is a popular spot for nattily dressed locals to mingle, and there's a spacious outdoor space, the Gorilla Bar, that's popular year-round (during warmer months for obvious reasons, and in winter because it's outfitted with a stunning ice bar made of 12,000 pounds of ice blocks and sculptures).
