<p>We are visting Macalester and Carleton next month, by car from Michigan.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on where to stay? Macalester in is St. Paul, so that would be preferable.</p>
<p>Thank You!</p>
<p>The Holiday Inn River Center, or Crown Plaza in Downtown St.Paul , or any of the chains in Roseville (St. Paul suburb). You could even stay near the Mall of America and visit both schools. Even downtown Minneapolis, is 15 minute drive from Macalester.</p>
<p>Macalester also has a bed and breakfast on campus that you might try:</p>
<p>Macalester Alumni House*
(on-campus Bed & Breakfast)
1644 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
651-696-6677</p>
<p>Forgot to mention, we are traveling with a 7 year old. DS is staying overnight one night at Macalester, one night at Carleton.</p>
<p>My son and I will be there Oct. 19 & 20 to visit Macalester and Carleton. We tried the The Holiday Inn River Center, and the Crown Plaza in Downtown St.Paul, the Macalester Alumni House, and others in St. Paul and all were booked. We ended up reserving at the Marriott Courtyard in Mendota (8 mile drive to Macalester).</p>
<p>Looks like I can get something at the Holiday Inn River Centre, unless anyone has bad things to say about it.</p>
<p>You are in for a treat with those schools. I regret my son can choose but one school to attend.</p>
<p>If you stay at a hotel near the airport, you're not too far from Macalester. It's just a quick drive on highway 5 across the river, then a somewhat longer drive up Snelling. I'd say 15 or 20 minutes at most to get there. The airport hotels also have the advantage of being right by the Mall of America, if that's something you're into.</p>
<p>Carleton is in Northfield, significantly farther south. It's a bit of a drive either way, but Bloomington will be slightly closer than St. Paul.</p>
<p>Downtown St. Paul has a great childrens museum and a wonderful science museum that your 7 year old would love. Also there is a new hotel near Mall of America with a water park. Mall of America has an indoor amusement park and lego land. Also the Marriot Depot would be a good choice, also has water park. . When we visited colleges out east, we found staying at one place for a few days and driving a little bit more easier than repacking every morning.</p>
<p>My older d. lives in Minneapolis and when we visit we stay at the Best Western Normandy Inn right downtown for half the price of other downtown hotels. The rooms are clean, large and they have a very substantial nice free continental breakfast. There is also free milk and cookies each night at 10 p.m. My d. who went to Mt. Holyoke is glad to revive the M&C tradition. Many of the guests were European tourists. Reservations are essential since it fills up fast.</p>
<p>We stayed this summer at $89 per night. Minneapolis is a much more student-friendly place than St. Paul and the nightlife and cultural activities are wonderful.</p>
<p>My H and D are visiting Macalester on the 7th and are staying the night of the 6th at the City Centre hotel in St. Paul. They have a good Macalester rate. Didn't have a lot of choice, the entire town seems to be busy that weekend. Hope it's ok.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion of staying in Bloomington near the airport and Mall of America. Lots of national chain hotels. It's about 15 minutes to Macalester (no traffic), and only 35-40 minutes south to Northfield (you're going against traffic if you drive to Carleton in the AM and return in the PM).</p>
<p>You will drive right by St. Olaf a mile before you get to Carleton. If you tour the capmus be sure to ask to see the "Pause" in the Student Center. It was built to emulate a very popular music club in Minneapolis, only it is clean and doesn't smell like stale beer. Have lunch or dinner there, being from Boulder your child may appreciate the healthy and delicious food, some of which is grown on an organic farm (on the campus) run by students. Of course the main event is the academics, and their stats for sending kids on to post graduate schools rivals the "top" LACs in the country. Their Intl. Studies program is at the top of the list for sending kids abroad. If nothing else, stop for the food, you won't be disappointed and its a great way for you both to see what kind of student goes there. Our tour leader had been accepted at Colorado College and chose Olaf.</p>
<p>My D goes to Macalester, though I've only been out there a couple of times.</p>
<p>If you want to splurge a little, stay at the Saint Paul Hotel downtown. Certainly its one of the best hotels in town (I'd compare it to anything upscale here in San Francisco) with a fairly reasonable rate and an 8 minute drive to Mac. It might be all of 15 minutes from the airport.</p>
<p>I agree with momof3D that a stop at St. Olaf is easy and worthwhile - the campus is quite dramatic. It's a good school with a religious bent, and the food is MUCH better than Carleton's!</p>
<p>I'll second the St. Paul hotel - I had my wedding reception there. It's one block away from the Children's Museum, the Ordway Theater and the Science Museum which is featuring the "Body World" exhibit right now. It's supposed to be amazing.</p>