My Fiance and I thought we would get out of the cities for a change of pace. Neither of us has ever stayed at the St James before so we thought we'd give it a try. We booked their ""Victorian"" package which included a $10 coupon for ""Jimmy's"" bar, three course dinner (our choice) from the regular menu in the ""Port"" restaurant, and full breakfast in the ""Veranda"". The rooms were adequate although we half expected a King rather than a Queen bed. Don't worry about the view, the windows are too small to really get much chance for a good view anyway. The best part of the entire experiance was the dinner. Executive Chef Julian Grainger, formerly of Hilton's ""Carvers"" has been given somewhat of a free range of the kitchen to prepare what he wishes. Many of the items on the menu are recognizable from ""Carvers"" and were wonderfully prepared. Our appetizer, one of the specials for that night, was Twice Baked Lobster Tail and was superb. Both the listed Wild Mushroom Soup and the special Asparagus Soup were excellent as were the Breast of Duck and the New York Steak. So were the Mandarin Chocolate ""crunch"" Creme Brulee and the Peach Melba Cheesecake Sundae. In short, GO FOR THE FOOD!! A short drive, even from Eden Prairie!!
Pros: Port restaurant was superb. Good parking, comfortable bed
Cons: Sparse furnishings, closet in bathroom, bathroom nearly as big as bedroom, no counter space in bathroom for toiletries, etc..
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