Embassy Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Airport

The honest review

Embassy Suites has a consistent format that family travel writers praise and chain-hotel skeptics overlook: every room is a two-room suite. Not a standard room with a sofa bed stuffed in the corner. Two actual rooms — a bedroom with a door that closes, and a living area with a pullout sofa. This room configuration, combined with included hot breakfast every morning and a complimentary evening reception, makes Embassy Suites the most quietly family-functional hotel brand in the mid-range tier.

The Bloomington location near MSP Airport sits about 10-12 minutes from Mall of America by the covered walkway through the parking structure (cold in winter, but not outdoor-cold). That's the tradeoff versus the JW Marriott and Radisson Blu, which are skyway-connected. The Embassy Suites saves families $60-$100/night — over a 3-night stay, that's $180-$300 in room-rate savings that partially or fully offsets the added friction of the 10-minute walk.

**The two-room suite advantage**

This genuinely matters for families. Here's why:

A standard hotel room with a king bed and a rollaway cot means adults and children are in the same space all evening. Kids who want to sleep at 8pm and parents who want to stay up reading or watching TV are in conflict. Young children who wake at 6am immediately wake everyone.

Embassy Suites' two-room layout puts children in the bedroom (door closed) and adults in the living room, or vice versa. For families with a toddler on a crib who needs to sleep at 7:30pm, this is the difference between parents whispering in the dark and parents actually having an evening.

The Two-Queen suite variant puts two queens in the bedroom plus a queen pullout sofa in the living room — sleeping five people without a rollaway cot. Large families or multi-gen groups traveling on a budget can do a lot with this configuration.

**Breakfast: the real value story**

Embassy Suites' included breakfast is cooked-to-order, not continental. An employee stands at an omelet and egg station taking orders. Kids get their eggs how they want them. Adults get omelets. There are also hot items (pancakes or waffles, sausage or bacon) plus standard buffet items.

For a family of four, this replaces $50-$80/day of breakfast spending. Over a 3-night stay, that's $150-$240 effectively included in the room rate. When you're doing the actual total-trip math comparing Embassy Suites to the Radisson Blu or JW Marriott, the breakfast inclusion narrows the gap or closes it entirely.

**Evening reception**

The complimentary evening reception — two free alcoholic drinks per adult, free non-alcoholic for kids, light snacks — is a vestigial Embassy Suites tradition that still functions as a good pre-dinner cost reduction. Not glamorous, but $20-$30 saved on the first drink of the evening adds up.

**Mall of America access**

The covered walkway to MoA is approximately 10 minutes on foot through the parking structure. It's covered — you won't get wet from precipitation — but it's not heated the way the JW Marriott and Radisson Blu's indoor skyway is. In November through February, this means you're in cold-ish air for 10 minutes. Families with school-age kids generally find this manageable with a coat. Families with toddlers in strollers in December may prefer the heated skyway hotels.

In April through October, the temperature difference is irrelevant and the Embassy Suites' location becomes a clear-cut value win.

**Indoor pool**

Standard Embassy Suites indoor pool — heated, functional, adequate for daily use during MoA trips. Not an exciting pool, but it's there and it works. Whirlpool on-site as well (adult territory, not a family pool feature).

**Airport convenience**

The Embassy Suites offers a complimentary airport shuttle to/from MSP International, which is 10 minutes away. For families arriving or departing via MSP, this saves $15-$25 on rideshares and makes the property genuinely convenient as a first/last-night option.

**Who this works for**

Budget-conscious families who want suite-style rooms and included breakfast without paying JW Marriott prices. Families in summer or shoulder seasons where the 10-minute walk to MoA isn't a cold-weather issue. Families of 5-6 who need the two-queens + pullout sofa configuration to avoid booking two rooms. Hilton Honors members accruing points.

**Who should look at the skyway hotels**

Families with toddlers doing a December or January Bloomington trip — the heated skyway at the JW Marriott or Radisson Blu is a genuine logistical advantage worth paying for when kids are under 4 and MN winter is at full force.