Nicollet Island Inn, Minneapolis

Not a hotel review, was attending a wedding reception recently. Cool building. I would definitely give it consideration for a stay, but!....we were required to pick from three "fancy" dishes for wedding dinner, specific per person. Fortunately, the wedding included appetizers in the lobby before dinner or my teens would have had us stop on the way back to our hotel for some fast food. We chose our entrees. 3 fish, one meat, one pasta. The placecards had a code indicating the desired choice. I asked our waiter about the codes and discovered that we had only 1 of the 3 fish requested. I told him about the error before we were served and his reply.... "after all the meals are served, we can then see if there's a seafood plate left over". I didn't get the fish I requested. The meat dish was very good, but I can't believe they would cut the profit margin that close and not even have one extra of each entree when 180 or so guests are dining. Unbelieveable. I don't want to think what happens if there's an accident in the kitchen and a piece of meat or fish falls on the floor (?). I didn't complain to the establishment or the goofy wedding planners, since it wasn't worth bringing up to the family on their daughter's wedding day.

My new wife and I decided to go to the Nicollet Island Inn for our first Valentines Day together. We made a reservation for 7:45 and showed up at 7:40. We were told they were running a little behind and it would be about 15 minutes. We went to the bar to have a drink, and there was only one bartender on staff on what has to be one of the busiest nights of the year. It took forever to get drinks. 45 minutes later we were seated. It was very cozy as the table next to us was about 6 inches away. We ordered the 6-course meal for $65 dollars per person. We also started with two drinks. After about 10 minutes we got our drinks, but they were wrong. We realized this after the waiter was gone, but we didn't see him for the 25 minutes. We drank the wrong drinks waiting for him to come back and when he did we explained and he got us two more drinks (one of which was wrong again). When the food came it was room temperature and mediocre. The NII was concerned about one thing that night, and that was making as much money as they possibly could, and they sure did off of us, $220 dollars later. The least they could have done is apologize for over booking and terrible service, I don't even care that they charged us for things we didn't order. I had always heard good things about the inn, and maybe if we had gone another night we would have had a different experience. Overall based on my one experience I certainly won't go back.

It was magical!!!! It was very romantic....and wonderfully decorated. The service was superb...and the meal was fantastic!!!Having our own waiter whose attention was totally on use added to the experience. We will come back again and again!!!

We went there to celebrate two big family events and we very disappointed by the restaurant service and some of the food. The service was very slow - we often waited 20-25 minutes after we were finished with 1 course before the next one was brought out - even dessert. 1/4 of the dishes were either cold or inedible - we mentioned it to the server and she said " oh, well no one else has complained". The final problen was the server taking 3 tries to get a correct bill - the first two bills had double charges on them. We will plan on looking elsewhere for a really nice brunch - sad when 1-2 of the items were great.

The service was welcoming, the room was charming, the views were gorgeous, the food was excellent. Quiet location, four minutes from downtown Minneapolis. A world away, and yet right in the center of things.

I LOVE THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND THIS PLACE AND THE BEAUTIFUL HOUSES ON THE ISLAND,IT'S LIKE GOING BACK IN TIME, I ALSO LIKE THE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE RIDES,THE HOTEL IS ALSO BEAUTIFIL AND VERY TASTEFULLY DECORATED.THE SERVICE IS GREAT THE STAFF TREATS YOU LIKE YOU REALLY DO MATTER!!