Lora

Most Recent Comments

• March 2024 by Nancy Lang
  Excellent boutique hotel full of history! Clean rooms and great service.
• September 2023 by Michele Dussault
  Great location in Stillwater. Service was excellent and rooms were stylish and fun.
• August 2023 by Floating-Doc
  Spent a lovely weekend here with my wife and visited with friends. Very unique architectural design in an old building with modern amenities. Very comfortable. Love the restaurant and the coffee shop. All the staff members were excellent and attentive.
• July 2023 by Scott Walmsley
  Currently the best coffee in Stillwater, MN. My metric is the Americano.
• June 2023 by lchjr
  We were here for only one night. The location is great---right on Main Street a block from the river and famous lift bridge. It's a pricey boutique hotel in an historical building that has been refurbished in a contemporary mode. Many good restaurants and shops are less than a 5 minute walk away. The best part of our stay was the restaurant (Feller). Very creative food done very well, and they have a lovely patio for dining. If not for the restaurant, my rating of this hotel would be lower. I have made about 400 Tripadvisor reviews, so have a lot of experience with different types of lodgings. Our king room on the 4th floor was fine---nothing that special, but comfortable with a sofa in front of the TV. The view was ugly, however. The best part of the room was the huge bathroom with a nice walk-in shower. Overall, I would say that the room and other qualities of the hotel did not justify such a high price in this small town. The restaurant doesn't serve breakfast, but there is a little coffee shop attached to the building where you can get pastries, oatmeal, etc. Unfortunately, the morning we ate there the proprietor was having some equipment issues, and our breakfast was not good. Our biggest issue here was related to the parking situation. There was only one person at the desk when we checked in around 5PM (and perhaps the only worker at the hotel at that time). There is a $30 valet charge for parking (high for Stillwater?). But the regular valet was off this night, so she volunteered to park our car on the restaurant lot up a hill behind the hotel. She gave me another option of parking a half block away at a city lot with a very low overnight rate. I took that option, but when I got to this lot, there didn't seem to be any way to pay, and luckily some workers saw me, and explained that the lot was being re-striped early the next morning. It took me 10 minutes to find out that I shouldn't be parking there tonight. So I drove the car directly to the hotel lot, so the desk clerk wouldn't have to do it. All of this was a 15 minute hassle, part of which my wife was waiting in the lobby. I had no issues with the desk clerk---she was very nice. But the next morning I dealt with a different person who appeared to be a manager. I told her about the parking hassle. Before I even could finish the story, she got very defensive and argumentative (which got me hot), but she finally agreed to waive the valet fee. There was another young lady at the desk that morning, and she did agree that I should have been able to at least finish the story. To clarify, the hotel staff was fine except for this one individual. The above was a lengthy comment, but it needs to be said given other reviews critical of the hotel staff or management. Overall, good room and great dinner. But the hotel offerings and service do not seem to justify the high price of staying here, and at least one staff member should be counselled to not be so argumentative with customers. The parking issue may have been an unusual situation this particular day, but could have been better handled by the morning manager. I'm not sure why they don't allow self-parking, but perhaps an insurance issue.
• May 2023 by Josh Malchow
  Fantastic hotel, not the cheapest place in town but you absolutely get what you pay for. Service is fantastic, beds are perfect, honor bar with local snacks and local beers. Building is so unique and cool.Walkability: Right at the end of the main drag in Stillwater. Dozens of eateries, bars, and shops within a 10 minute walk.Noteworthy details: Built into the side of a rock wall, so rooms have rock walls, there's caves/tunnels between buildings. Very cool. Very quiet.
• April 2023 by Julia P
  We’re here for a relaxing weekend, Can walk to everything. Staff was so friendly and accommodating. Stored bags as waited for airport transportation. Clean, comfortable, showers is amazing! expresso machine in room. Just beautiful, will return.
• March 2023 by Kelly G.
  Overall a very weird experience, and certainly not worth the money. Stillwater used to be a favorite getaway for us, as we live in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, so it's only about a half hour away. But now it's crowded and really pricey for accommodations. Seems to be THE place for bachelorette parties.As for Lora, it's an example of how pricey Stillwater has become. There's nothing in Stillwater that justifies a $400/night room that isn't a big penthouse suite.I'd gone through some hoops to get the room I wanted--the Fireplace Room--for my wife and my anniversary. The website said it wasn't available, as did the travel sites. There was a snowstorm coming, so I thought I'd call to see if whoever had reserved it might have canceled. The agent on the phone was the best part of the trip. She was very friendly and accommodating and reserved the room for us. Apparently, no one else had reserved it, so it was a mystery as to why it didn't appear available.When we arrived, walked in to find an odd assortment of people at the front desk and lobby, a young lady dressed professionally and another couple of guys in jeans and much less formal. We decide to use the valet service for a night, which they ended up charging us for two nights. There's a free parking lot across the street that the woman at the front desk mentioned in passing without any details, like that it was free.The Fireplace Suite itself was nice, but small for a suite. It is about the same size as a double room in most up-to-date average-priced hotels these days. It had floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, overlooking the main street. Unfortunately, that includes the entrance area to a restaurant next door where people would congregate (It has a firepit) to smoke or get away from the music, which meant loud conversations well into the night.The gas fireplace was a nice benefit on a cold night. What was strange was that there was a firewood rack on the wall that held logs that appeared ready to be fed into a fireplace, although the fireplace was gas, so they clearly were for decoration. Unfortunately, people had carved their initials into the ends of the wood, which I suppose some people thought was cute, but it made for essentially a graffiti-look to the wall--not great for a $400/night room.The bed was pretty comfortable, as were the shower and the bathroom. Nicely fragrant soaps, shampoo, conditioner, and hand cream. The robes they provided were a nice touch but too small. I'm an average-sized guy, and they were sized for a medium-sized woman. Too bad. I always enjoy hotel bathrobes.The drapes for the windows were nicely blackout, but they did now seal on the edges, so the light pours in next to the walls in the morning.The phone was weird as well. It was an old system that didn't correspond to the new phone system, so when you pressed "Front Desk," nothing happened. What was worse is that we couldn't answer the phone when it rang several times. We tried pushing all the buttons and the handset holder, but there was no way to answer, which was unfortunate because someone called our room several times.The hotel has retained a lot of the original structure, so there is a lot of bare rock and support beams throughout, which was really enjoyable and gave the property a lot of character. We like to use stairs instead of elevators when we can, and the stairwell revealed a lot of the original structure. Really enjoyed that, until we reached the main floor, when there was furniture, boxes and bikes parked. Kinda cluttered, but not a big deal. Just, again, weird.The restaurant and bar attached to the hotel are very nice with good food.In short, I'd never stay here again primarily because of the cost. We certainly didn't feel like we were staying in a luxury hotel.
• March 2023 by Odyssey16006957289
  Beautiful hotel in a great location. Rooms are unique as they have different features with the hotel being built into a cave. Loved the restaurant- great brunch and cocktail menu. Staff is friendly and accommodating!
• February 2023 by Joe Z.
  I had an opportunity to stay at this establishment and it is a nice lobby. They have a lot of white birch little LED lighted trees. Right in the lobby little short things and cute. We first got there we were served cocktails right at the check in desk that was so cool. Behind the check-in desk I found out later like the The next day is a tunnel that goes to the little coffee shop next door. When I say tunnel, it was a carved tunnel carved out of stone through a mountain and a little coffee shop is set in a mountain. At least the back part is. Very unique place. They had the outside fireplace Going to 24 seven at least the whole time we were there. When we were there It was very cold, so it was nice to have that little fire all the time if you're standing out there waiting for a cab or our Bus that was taking us everywhere. The room was excellent had a little rabbit door knocker on the door and a fireplace, three windows overlooking the street and the river. The room had everything you could want and everything that you would need stacked refrigerator, coffee ,snacks. the bathroom gorgeous. Now let's go downstairs and have breakfast. Unfortunately, staff doesn't get in till 8 o'clock very unusual for a hotel. But eventually we had breakfast and then we were on our way. If I'm ever back in that state, I think I'm definitely going to stay there again. Oh yeah almost forgot take a look at that photo of the 20 ounce steak. That was excellent. Oh yeah, I finish that s****
• November 2022 by Mackenzie Johnson
  To say this hotel is pet friendly Is just not enough. They are amazing. We arrived and there were food and water dishes, treats, a dog bed, and cute little tags for the dogs collars w the hotel address in case anyone got lost during our stay. This type of detail made my day!There was a happy anniversary note for my husband and me along w two yummy truffles. A perfect snack before we took the 5 mile loop walk.The room was fabulous. We got exactly what we asked for and more.We had family photos taking place inside and outside hotel and the manager was amazing. She listened to what I was looking for and showed me great spots for the pictures. The front desk staff was already briefing our photographer on the location when we arrived in the lobby.We had dinner and breakfast In The attached restaurant- and all was fantastic.I have nothing but positive notes for our entire stay. I highly recommend the Lora and especially if you are traveling with your fur kids!Special shout out thanks to Lauren for helping us start to finish and making our trip special.
• October 2022 by Nicole R.
  The hotel building and location is 5 stars. The customer service was 2 stars, so I am giving this 3 stars. Beautiful building, great location to walk around downtown stillwater. They also offered Aveda shampoo/conditioner. We had a 4 night stay and they did not offer any cleaning services. When we arrived around midnight, the guy running the desk was not friendly. He looked very sad and unhappy to be working. He didn't seem to know what he was doing. He would continue asking us questions about our reservation and seemed to not care about our concerns. During our stay almost every person working at the front desk seemed sad and unfriendly. This is not why I am giving 2 stars for customer service. I definitely understand being sad at work. I'm giving 2 stars for customer service because the manager was very rude. We were told that we could park in the front of the hotel in a designated area. We had parked there the first 3 nights. The fourth day when we had come back from exploring our time in Stillwater, the manager comes running out with another working demanding us to move. We politely told her that we were advised the first night that we could park there. She was very rude and told us we needed to leave that parking area. She had no customer service skills at all. We politely left only to see that someone else started parking there over night. This place is good if you don't run into problems with the manager. She is very rude and shouldn't be a manager at a hotel.
• October 2022 by Paul C.
  Really enjoyed this little hidden gem. Great service, beautiful rooms. Restaurant menu is amazing and unique. Great service as well. Can't wait to go back!
• September 2022 by Dave B
  This hotel was very expensive, as in $506.00 for one night in a nice king room, but not a suite or anything extraordinary. Much more than I had ever paid for a hotel room and I've stayed at many high end hotels with extensive amenities, rather than a nice, but simple king room with one small window looking into the side of the adjacent building. However, it was a landmark birthday for my wife and we brought 14 friends for an expensive evening of dinner and drinks at their high end restaurant, so we booked the $506.00 room. My wife wanted to bring our dog along, which is allowed with a $75 fee on top of the $506.00. I asked the desk manager if, considering the significant outlay of $506 for a room and probably another $2000 with the guests with us if they would waive the pet fee. The pet fee included treats and a special bed, which I told them we didn't need. The desk manager said they wouldn't charge the pet fee. The next morning when checking out they added the $75 pet fee. I told the desk manager, who was different than the night before, that it was agreed to be waived. She then responded, "There was a note that they told you it couldn't be waived but you were very loud about it." That accusation/description is absolutely false. I talked privately to the desk manager and explained that I thought it would be a good gesture to waive it and she seemingly agreed. Nothing loud or even within earshot of any other guest. Best that I can figure out is that she was not supposed to waive it and her only way out of the circumstance was to lie about what had really happened. Long and short is very overpriced and awful service and management. If I ran my business in this fashion I would struggle to survive. I don't see this place surviving unless changes are implemented.
• June 2022 by Christina Z
  I had an absolutely LOVELY two nights at Lora this week. The staff was so kind and greeted me every time I popped in and out of my room. The hotel is built into the side of the rock. The rooms are super cool - reminded me of The Hewing in Minneapolis. Gorgeous shower and bathroom in general. Aveda products (thank you!!) They have a great patio on main street and neighbor businesses include a coffee shop and restaurant. They valet for $30/night (I stayed 2 week nights) but instead, I parked across the street in a pay lot for $20 for 2 days ($5 per 12 hours). You can't pay with an app so I had to physically go to the surface lot 4 times. But back to the Lora, I HIGHLY recommend!