January 2023

In January in Minnesota, winter is still fun – a bit of a novelty after a hot, green summer and a cool, orange fall. And this winter has brought lots of snow, which can make parts of the Twin Cities feel like a ski resort town, sans the mountain views. To live happily in the “Bold North,” it’s important to get out in the cold and snow, and there’s more than enough to do. We may not have mountains, but the hiking, cross country skiing, snowperson building, winter beer gardens, ice fishing and snowmobiling (the latter two are not our thing, but still a big part of MN life) can make winter tolerable and even enjoyable.

During this three-day weekend in mid-January, we were determined to do all the winter things we love but also to get out of the house and try something new. The Hotel Excelsior, which we have had our eyes on since it opened in spring 2021, had a vacancy, and we saw it as an opportunity to see Lake Minnetonka in January.

The verdict: charmed.

All we needed and more

Hotel Excelsior is a small hotel – four rooms that sit atop a coffee shop and a Faribault Woolen Mills store – without traditional guest services. On the day of arrival, guests receive a text (or email) with entry codes, check-in/out information, and a phone number with an offer to help with whatever is needed. We asked for some restaurant recommendations and got a prompt reply. We typically prefer hotels to VRBOs or Airbnbs, and Hotel Excelsior’s approach seemed a little more like a vacation rental than a hotel, but as we relaxed in our room with a cocktail after a seamless “check-in” and before heading out to one of those restaurant recommendations, we reflected on what we really need from a hotel. In this case, a lobby with 24-hour guest assistance and services like daily housekeeping didn’t seem important.

In our estimation, the best feature of our room – the Smithtown Bay Suite – was the six windows that run the length of the space; the view down to Water Street was terrific, and two suites in the hotel – ours and the St. Alban’s suite – have this orientation. (We did hear from another guest that she prefers the other two suites because they have a separate bedroom. To each their own.) Beyond the windows, our room had a full kitchen, a spacious seating area, a king-sized bed and a roomy bathroom with an even roomier shower. One of us described the room’s décor as “lakey.” It did, admittedly, have lots of references to Lake Minnetonka, including a few coffee table books that we had fun paging through. We also appreciated the “Hotel Excelsior” pillow on the bed, which, upon closer inspection, was a reference to Hotel Excelsior in Milan (maybe this one?). After recently returning from northern Italy, it was a welcome déjà vu.

In our short stay, we experienced just a few hiccups. We found only one robe in the room for the two of us. The hot water in the shower was only marginally hot. The kitchen sink was a little slow to drain. And the keyless entry to the room was a little hard to see at night. But these are minor quibbles and easily remedied. All in all, we appreciated the evident care and attention to detail given to the room since the hotel’s opening.

A new weekend getaway

For a getaway that feels much more “away” than it really is, we semi-regularly head east from our house to Stillwater, Minnesota, and stay in either the Lora or the Crosby. We more rarely go west from central Minneapolis, mostly because there seem to be fewer options. And while we’ve stopped by Excelsior on our way to other destinations, before this stay, we had never lingered for more than an hour or two. With Hotel Excelsior, we now have a new go-to when we want a change of scenery and a special treat within our hometown.

Stay details

Hotel Excelsior ~ Suites on Water Street
1-night stay, Jan. 15, 2022
Smithtown Bay Suite

What we did, where we ate

Walk along Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail
Shopping on Water Street
- Golden Rule Gallery
- Luya Shoes and Other Fine Things
Beer at Excelsior Brewing Company
Coffee (and breakfast) at The Lobby Coffee and Leisure
Dinner at The Suburban (change of plans when Coalition closed early)

Back to HOTELLING home

December 2022

During our visits to New York City, we’ve come to love SoHo, and we have a favorite place to stay — the Crosby Street Hotel — but an Architectural Digest article on 11 new design-centric hotels in NYC described ModernHaus as “a case study in color and an homage to the postwar Bauhaus movement.” As lovers of all things concrete, we couldn’t resist.

It’s about the building…and the view

One of us grew up in a concrete house — designed by an architect dad — so modernist/brutalist/Bauhaus designs have always held an attraction. When we arrived at ModernHaus we pulled right up to the front door and didn’t get a look at the building itself. It wasn’t until an hour later when we headed out for a walk and saw the structure sitting in juxtaposition to the more classic SoHo cast iron facades and rising decidedly skyward. In fact, the front door of ModernHaus in on the intimate Grand Street, and it adjoins its neighbor on that lane, but two sides of the hotel are surrounded by small parks, big avenues (Canal Street and Sixth Avenue), and an approach to the Holland Tunnel. That makes a view of the whole building possible from the outside and the view looking out from inside just about as “storybook New York” as you can get.

Almost everything in ModernHaus is oriented vertically. The small lobby is all that occupies the first floor. Up a handful of steps in the restaurant, Veranda, and then the hotel’s lobby and bar occupy the second floor. Up top on the 18th floor, is the rooftop bar and long-time neighborhood staple, Jimmy’s. Even with its relatively small footprint, the hotel features more outdoor space per room than any other hotel in downtown Manhattan, according to a Forbes article on ModernHaus. We’ll admit that we didn’t take time to thoroughly explore these spaces, even though the New York City weather was amazingly mild for late-December.

Our room, a skyline king studio on the 11th floor, had stunning views of the financial district to the south (including the World Trade Center buildings), but also west toward the New Jersey skyline. The only thing obstructing the two walls of windows in our corner room was a TV mounted to the concrete pillar. While it did interrupt the scene, we understand that hotel guests expect a TV, and all the glass in the room really didn’t allow for another spot.

Nice touches but a few distractions

We arrived in our room to a bottle of chilled Cava, a cream puff (which was delicious even two days later when we finally got around to eating it), and a welcome note from the guest services manager. (As an aside, we’ll say that the staff was attentive and helpful and got us an on-the-spot booking at a restaurant where we could satisfy our paella craving.) When we managed to pull ourselves away from the view, we found a room that was well-designed and functional, and it offered more breathing room than many NYC hotels. The wrap-around windows, the high-ceilings and glass wall into the bathroom (with a mechanical blind) made the room airy and light-filled. We also appreciated that we could open the windows each night to allow in the fresh air; that — in combination with the Beautyrest “Black” mattress and Frette linens — made for a very good night’s sleep.

While we have much good to say about ModernHaus, there were a few misses. Perhaps because we’ve stayed in some truly exceptional properties, we were disappointed to see the wear-and-tear on the room and its furnishings, particularly considering the hotel opened as the ModernHaus fewer than two years ago (it was formerly the James Hotel but went through an extensive reimagining after being acquired by urban-development firm Thor Equities in 2017). The nicks and dings were visible reminders that many people had come and gone in the room, and then when we found both a pillowcase and a towel with stains, a sink that didn’t drain properly, and white duct tape securing something around one of the windows, the illusion of luxury faded. We know how hard it must be to keep hotels in pristine condition — and we know how carelessly guests can treat things that aren’t their own — but we’ve seen high standards maintained. Modern design leaves little room for scratches and dents; anything short of perfect detracts from the aesthetic.

All in all, the bones of ModernHaus are solid; a property with so much going for it deserves the constant attention a top-notch hotel requires.