DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Minneapolis, Minneapolis

We stayed at this hotel in late August 2004. We were dismayed at the first room we were shown - dark, horrifying mustard-yellow decor, and not very clean, clearly hadn't been thoroughly dusted or cleaned in some time. The king-sized bedroom was dwarfed by the bed, hardly any space to unpack. We decided to ask for another room. The clerk was polite and accommodated us, but was surprised that we found it dark, since as a corner room it had the most windows. Our second room was better in one way, it had 2 double beds which made the bedroom a decent size, at least. It was indeed a darker room. And it was even filthier! There was hair in the bathtub, the whole room smelled unfresh, and someone had clearly used a wineglass as an ashtray (in this nonsmoking room) and housekeeping had just plopped a paper cap back on top of it, ashes and all! The "kitchenette" was a dirty, old bar fridge and a microwave that looked older than my 30 years. No utensils or anything. I wouldn't have minded that so much if it hadn't been advertised as an actual kitchenette, not just mini fridge/microwave. When my husband complained to housekeeping the next morning, the maid on duty did see to it that the room got properly cleaned, but the grossed-out damage was done. The hideous mustard-yellow decor was present in the 2nd room, too. The rest of our stay was okay. The beds were comfortable enough, at least. But when we checked out, we were charged for long-distance calls we didn't make (which they straightened out quickly, but still, didn't make us confident in their billing abilities). We don't drive at home and so were surprised to have to pay to park our rental car. This is probably standard in a downtown hotel, but $14/night seemed excessive when we were already paying so much for the room. (Perhaps it's the standard rate for downtown hotels, but it definitely added insult to injury.) If we hadn't pre-paid through Expedia, we would've been out of there after seeing the first dirty room.