Price Key

Best Hotel for Art Lovers: Downtown Minneapolis’s Chambers Minneapolis ($$$, 901 Hennepin Ave. S., 612/767-6900, www.chambersminneapolis.com)prides itself on its multimillion-dollar art collection and even opens a small gallery space to the public.

Best Downtown Value: In an expense-account world, the Hotel Minneapolis ($, 215 4th St. S., 612/340-2000, www.thehotelminneapolis.com)offers value and oodles of style for guests paying their own way and watching their budget.

Most Romance within View of the Downtown Skyscrapers: It’s easy to forget that the Nicollet Island Inn ($$, 95 Merriam St. S., 612/331-1800, www.nicolletislandinn.com), on an island in the Mississippi, is within an easy walk of the central business district.

Best Way to Relive the Gilded Age: The W Minneapolis–The Foshay ($$$, 821 Marquette Ave.,612/215-3700, www.starwoodhotels.com) is where 21st-century swank meets 1920s verve.

Best Place to See the Mississippi: The best place to see the river is right on it, in the floating Covington Inn Bed and Breakfast ($$, 100 Harriet Island Rd., St. Paul, 651/292-1411, www.covingtoninn.com).

Best Place to Impress Your Guests: One of the oldest hotels in Minnesota, the St. Paul Hotel ($$$, 350 Market St., St. Paul, 651/292-9292, www.saintpaulhotel.com) is the classic embodiment of all that a high-end hotel should be.

Best Hotel for Families: The Marriott Residence Inn, Edinborough ($, 3400 Edinborough Way, 952/893-9300, www.marriott.com) in Minneapolis’s southern suburb of Edina comes with the best amenity of all: a three-story indoor play structure.