The smell of the architecture alone is so inviting! It smells like old pine and memories of long…read moreago. I didn't have a chance to tour inside the home - must make a reservation at this time of year (winter). Although I look forward to coming back for a self-guided tour available June - August on Wednesdays from noon to 6. The grounds are available to the public each day and are so gorgeous! It's a wonderful nature retreat in the middle of a little city, a perfect escape to be alone with the trees and squirrels.

Pretty gardens and interesting historical building. We walked up the hill from a nearby…read moreneighborhood and walked all around the grounds. It's kind of a shame that the house is all closed up. And that the view from the top is of a dying old shopping mall. I bet the view of the river was once wonderful

Just look for the big yellow water tower that looks like an ear of corn and you will find the…read moreFairgrounds. They have events here practically all year round. A winter's farmer's market, hockey games, bull riding, flea markets just to name a few...but the big event every year is the Olmsted Country Free Fair and it is always a wonderful event to take your family to. You can get up close and personal with different breeds of pigs, cows, sheep, goats, horses...and talk to the people that are involved in raising them....I enjoy this very much. There is always a very competitive talent competition that will entertain and delight you....and let's not forget the corn dogs, lemon-aid and cotton candy.....oh yeah.....

We've been to this county fair about 5 times. Everything is pretty typical of every other county…read morefair around the state. They call many of these county fairs "free fairs" but you have to pay to get in. The money probably is for parking but no matter how you look at it it's not free. But it's a fun way to kill some time and the look at the exhibits.

We came for New Years Eve and were totally impressed. Upscale, modern American dining. Prices ate…read morevery reasonable/- great value for great food. The service was fantastic, from the ease of booking online through Open Table, the prompt warm greeting from the hostess, and the wait staff -- all were friendly and attentive. The food was outstanding- I had the mixed greens salad, followed by the wagyu roast with grits and roast carrots (forgot to get a picture of this because I couldn't wait to dig in!), and the mini dessert (triple chocolate cake for me and creme brûlée for the hubs) with cappuccino. The mini dessert option was great-- much nicer than being served a huge portion I wouldn't eat and at a much more reasonable price too! The ambiance was lovely - updated decor, soft lighting, with live music (pianist) tonight. Noise level was quieter than many of the other restaurants in town, even as more guests trickled in. A welcome addition to the Rochester restaurant scene!

THIS IS A MUST TRY IN ROCHESTER, MN! RUN! DON'T WALK!…read more The single best priced, most refined feeling happy hour in Rochester Minnesota. Located in the place, formerly held by Pescara, Mill Valley Kitchen is a true hidden gem. Not a lot has been said about this restaurant other than its excellent standards, particularly for seafood in a landlocked state. It isn't super well known and that's a damn shame because it is easily in competition with Terza as one of the top 2 finer dining experiences certainly in this corner of the state. Drinks first - we started with a gin and tonic and the house white wine. For me, the wine was too sweet, but I have a major preference for dry and citrusy white wine. We moved on to the MVK Martini - a dirty martini you get to construct to your own preference. This is a genius idea as again there is a lot of focus on fresh foods that meet dietary restrictions due to medical conditions people come to Mayo Clinic for, so you decide the salt ratio. My husband had the house made ginger beer with a wedge of lime. This is all about the ginger! Strong and crisp. Excellent. We moved on to some of the amazing cuisine deals that they have for happy hour. We started with the fresh oysters. 3 Pink Moon oysters from PEI, a perfect blend of a sweet and salty small explosion for the taste buds. We also got 3 South Bay Blondes from Massachusetts. A larger, creamy oyster with a minerally finish just as described. Outstanding freshness and loved the mignonette with shallot and the cocktail sauce. The Pink Moons are amazing alone or just a tough of lemon. I have spent a lot of time in the south and east coast trying oysters and these were just as fresh as those. Then we had the Peach, Ricotta, Basil, Prosciutto and Balsamic flatbread. A happy hour serving is half a flatbread or 4 larger pieces. This was excellent - crisp house made flatbread with the perfect mix of sweet and savory. Next was the Fellers Ranch Wagyu Burger done medium rare. Delicious grilled brioche bun just added to the great taste and texture of this burger. The special sauce truly was special! For the finally we had the Trio of Mini desserts - choosing Orange Cardamom Crème Brûlée, the Maple Panna Cotta with volcanic salt and the Triple Chocolate. These are about 4 bite desserts thus perfect for a couple to have 2 smaller bites of each - again showing a healthy respect for sugar intake. The crème brûlée was amazing - the crisp brûlée has orange zest in it and the caradamom crème was so smooth with that cozy spice. A standout item of all Brûlées iterations I have had and it's a favorite of mine so that's a lot. The Maple Panna Cotta was so wonderfully silken and clearly excellent quality maple syrup was used and the salt added an almost slight smokiness. Tasted like the best day of Fall. The Triple Chocolate was very good, but given the outstanding nature of the others it seemed almost too common - though excellent for common. Last but not least we shared a decaf espresso martini - fresh made espresso and excellent with just a tiny hint of sweet but strong flavor to cut through the desserts. The amazing bartender let us try what was left in the shaker of a Fig Old Fashioned. This is an amazing drink and would be an excellent dessert of its own accord. The regular happy hour runs every night from 4 PM to 7 PM, but for Mayo Clinic employees they actually have extended hours up to 8:30 PM with your employee ID. My spouse is a physician at Mayo so we can take advantage of these extended hours. I fear for this amazing place as its location is in the lobby of what was a hotel and is now the U of M Rochester dorms and campus. This puts it at a location disadvantage. It should have been very busy but was not at all. People need to flock to this restaurant. It must survive or it's truly a big loss to Rochester's Culinary scene.

I had my wedding here this past spring, and I can't say enough positive things about the venue,…read moreHaylee, or the staff there. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, even before everything is in bloom. The Carriage House is so naturally pretty and had everything we needed that we didn't have to decorate much. The staff were always willing to work with us and answer questions. They seriously could not have been better. Highly, highly recommend for any event but especially for weddings.

This is a really lovely place---pretty grounds with large trees and flowering plants and a cute…read morelittle house that does have some gift items inside. I know you can rent it and host a small gathering here like weddings. I recommend taking the drive out the back road and checking it out.

I've stayed at a Staybridge Suites before in another state and it was an excellent experience so I…read morehad solid expectations before checking into this Rochester location. It did ***not*** disappoint at all. There's so much to rave about - let's start with the A+ location - you have so many conveniences within very close walking distance - Costco Aldi Cub McDonalds and 2 sit down restaurants. And there's even more food options a short walk away. Hands down one of the best things about this hotel. Upon check in, I noticed live music from the lobby and was informed there's hospitality weeknight Monday-Wednesday where a modest offering of food and entertainment is free to guests. Now is it extravagant food? Of course not. But the fact that any FREE hot food in the evening is almost unheard with other hotel chains. I think it's a tremendous offer for guests checking in around the dinner hour to have a light snack, if they choose, without having to immediately seek out dinner options. It's a really nice way to settle in first. The property is well maintained, as are the rooms. I found my king suite to be spacious with more than enough room for work and personal needs. The only feedback I have is sound between floors. I was woken up in the middle of the night by routinely loud neighbors upstairs, which was disruptive. I remedied it by turning the central fan on auto to drown out the sound. Breakfast offerings are decent and pretty standard for free breakfast. But seeing fresh blueberries was a treat and a welcome change. I also appreciated the to go boxes set out for those who needed breakfast on the go. I never see that at other hotels. I think it's the small and meaningful gestures that make Staybridge Suites a personal favorite of mine and why it's one of my hotels of choice when I travel. If I'm back in Rochester again, I'm staying here.

Good- newer hotel w good happy hour M-W and complementary breakfast…read more Bad- although close to Mayo w road work it's 30 mins in traffic. Garage gets filled up and also road parking. Service at front desk is terrible. Good in restaurant inside is limited and okay.

We stayed a few days recently when the temperature hit below 0 degrees and it was quite icy out…read more The various staff who greeted us each day were all nice and friendly. We were looking forward to the free underground parking they advertise as it was freezing, icy and snowed everyday during our stay. Unfortunately the underground parking garage was conveniently closed during our entire stay. Perhaps it wouldn't have been as terrible if they snow plowed the parking lot but that didn't happen either. Even though the hotel is right off the freeway, we didn't really hear much traffic, only the street plows. The lobby seamed clean and they do provide a free breakfast as coffee brewed all day. The room as clean. Bed and pillows comfortable. Shower appeared to be recently renovated. Soap & lotion provided as well as shampoo & conditioner. The sink vanity was pretty beat up. I think more from the cleaning staff bumping the wood when they mopped. Plenty of towels but we were only provided with 1 roll of toilet paper so had to ask for more. Full wall mirror and closet. Coffee provided in room but have the powder creamer/sugar. Wall air conditioner/heater ran pretty loud. The walls are fairly thin. We were there at the same time as a cheer team and were awoken in the mornings by loud cheers, screaming, running up and down the halls and jumping around. It was annoying although I know it's the parent's fault, not the hotels. Overall, for the price, we had a decent stay. The hotel was clean and pretty nice. They should fix the underground parking situation as it would be really helpful to have access due to the freezing temperatures as well as the ice & snow in the parking lot.

We checked in and we had a reservation. The room that they gave us had the air conditioner blowing…read morethe first week of December and it was like a beer cooler. We could not get the heat to work or to turn on.. We requested another room and were given another one down the hall. The room had very few towels and washcloths.. The bed was worn out and incredibly soft. The worst part about the whole experience was when I went to plug in my iPad. The electrical outlet would not hold the plug! In the morning, I asked the woman at the desk about the Internet as I could not connect in my room. She did not even glance at me and said, "I will tell the manager when he gets in." This is unacceptable for a Holiday Inn! It was comparable to a Super 8! I did go to the computer area and went to plug-in and charge my phone and again the outlet was so worn out that I was unable to plug my phone in! In conclusion! If you stay here do not leave anything behind! They charged us $36.19 to return a small deflatable pillow! Avoid this place!!

I've stayed here once before, however this stay was not so great. The bathroom was not spotless,…read morethere were ants on the bedroom and bathroom floor and the coffee cups were super old(not covered in plastic). They did provide a refrigerator but no microwave. I guess this a good place to stay with the convenience of having a restaurant in the hotel.

The best part of our stay was the Hotel Indigo's proximity to Crave, an excellent restaurant on the…read morepremises. That aside, we found our experience at Hotel Indigo to be disappointing. Here are the reasons why: 1) PARKING: The booking information said there was a parking ramp attached to the hotel, and the lobby entrance was on the 2nd floor of the ramp. GPS took us to the front of the hotel, on Broadway, but there was no signage directing us to where the ramp entrance was located. We stumbled and fumbled our way to 6th Street and saw the parking ramp entrance. We proceeded to the 2nd floor and parked close to the entrance door of the hotel. To our surprise, we had to walk up a half flight of stairs and then began a long walk that ended at the reception desk Only then did we learn that the lobby entrance was located on 2W, not 2E where we parked. 2) RECEPTION: The reception clerk did not greet us, welcome us to the hotel, and never once looked at us. Her eyes were glued to a computer screen. She gruffly asked for our credit card and stuck out her arm more or less in our direction to receive it. She did the same with our room keys. We had to ask about parking payment and received a "Are you parked in the ramp?" response. We had to ask where the elevators were to get to our room and did not get any information about checkout time, onsite food options, wifi passwords, or even an "Enjoy your stay." 3) ROOM: It's cold in Minnesota in the winter. Planked flooring is also cold; it is uncomfortable in bare feet. The metal window frames acted as an A/C device blowing cold air into the room. We are not fans of in-room heating/A/C units as they, as this one did, NEVER maintain a reasonably consistent temperature. They turn on until they reach the set point on the thermostat and then turn off. When the temperature dips below a predetermined number, it kicks on. 4) BATHROOM: There was no place to hang wet bath towels to dry. There was only one kit bag hook (on the door), which is a problem when two people stay in the room. 5) HOUSEKEEPING: On day two, we returned to our room late in the day to find that it had not been made up. The wet towels we had placed on the floor because there was no place to hang them were still there, and the waste basket was full. 6) CHECKOUT: A different person was behind the reception desk when we checked out late morning on day three, but her behavior was identical: with eyes glued to her computer, she never once made eye contact, was brusque, and, when asked why our room hadn't been tidied up, replied that "You have to request that." THAT was a surprise. I've been traveling worldwide for five decades; that was the first time I heard about that policy. We had to ask whether we keep the key card to exit the ramp, and we never heard a "Thank you for staying with us." Suffice it to say that we were quite disappointed in the Hotel Indigo. It was not up to the IHG brand I thought I knew.

I didn't think to take any pictures unfortunately but I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. I…read moretypically stay at Hilton brand hotels- Hampton inn, garden inn, etc but my sister booked this stay for me for her son's baseball tournament in Rochester. Like I said- I'm used to Hilton hotels and I was quite surprised by the spaciousness, but especially the comfort of the bed! I typically don't sleep well at hotels just because the bed is so uncomfortable but this bed was just as comfortable if not more than my $8k bed at home. The suite was nice- a pull out sofa, sink, dishwasher, stove top, closest, large desk, private room with a king size bed, plus the shower and bathroom were separate with a closed door from the sink and additional closet. The room also got super cold which I appreciated because I like my hotel rooms to be at 60 degrees in the summer (crazy I know) and this was way cold even at 65! Also, free breakfast is always a plus. The only criticism I would have is that the workout facility is practically right in the lobby with windows for walls for everyone to see but I didn't plan on using it this time around so it wasn't that big of a deal but if I had I may have felt a tad uncomfortable but not because the clientele, just feeling like everyone can see in. I would stay again.

The check-in process was easy. The room looked new. It was appointed very well. The beds were firm,…read morebut comfortable to us. Probably one of the best layouts I have experienced. The breakfast was simple but good. The shuttle to Mayo was extremely convenient. If required to come back we will definitely stay here.