A new boutique hotel is making its way to the North Loop in downtown Minneapolis. Hotels in Salt adds The West Hotel, a property near the North Loop riverfront, to its list.
The West will house 123 luxury bedrooms, rented outlets, a fireside lounge, library, stone-built cocktail lounge and rooftop bar, communal workspaces and a new award-winning chef’s restaurant James Beard Tim McKee (whose credits include La Belle Vie, Solera and Barrio to name a few).
Salt’s National Hotels bring a breath of fresh air to their corporate buildings, with properties in Los Angeles, Miami, Nantucket and the Hudson Valley. The West will be Salt’s first venture in the Midwest, continuing the brand’s legacy with the restoration of four historic 19th-century downtown Minneapolis buildings on 1st Street and 2nd Avenue where the switch building (which opened as a hotel and was a longtime brass foundry) is located.
“My partners and I are thrilled to bring these iconic historic buildings back to life, while setting a new standard for excellence in design and hospitality in Minneapolis,” said David Wilson, partner at developer Commutator, LLC, based in Minneapolis, in a press. Release. “With Salt Hotels’ gracious management style, The West will be a welcoming community gathering place for locals and an inspiring destination for visitors from around the world.”
The exterior of the hotel is designed by Snow Kreilich Architects, while the interior architecture and furnishings are designed by internationally renowned Neri&Hu, which is completing one of its first hotels in North America. Each room will offer a compilation of custom wood cabinetry and furniture, original commissioned artwork, lush fabrics, and amenity-filled bathrooms. And a short elevator ride will invite visitors into one of the hotel’s most intriguing features: the new McKee’s restaurant.
Although few facts have been firmly established regarding the acclaimed chef’s next spot, it has been confirmed that the dishes will be entirely Basque-inspired and revolve around northern Spanish cuisine, with a particular focus on San Sebastián. , Bilbao and Pamplona. Everything will be cooked over charcoal, and there will be an extensive vermouth program and a gin and tonic program. But beyond that, Spanish-inspired cuisine remains a mystery.
“Maybe I’m broken and can’t function like I’m supposed to anymore, but I need the chaos of restaurants. I love them, I miss them,” McKee said in a interview with Mpls.St.Paul earlier this year while teasing the restaurant.
Chef McKee will also launch an Eastern Mediterranean-inspired bakery with a wood-fired oven, and he will manage the culinary program for the event spaces and the hotel’s in-room dining program.
“We look forward to growing in this vibrant city and collaborating with these amazing and talented partners,” Salt Hotels CEO David Bowd said in a statement. “I fell in love with Minneapolis the first time I visited. The people are amazing and the beautiful architecture, along with its strong creative culture and appreciation for service and design – two cornerstones of Salt Hotels – have solidified Minneapolis as Salt Hotels’ latest venture, we are excited to grow here at a time when such transformational developments are taking place.
All will be revealed when The West opens in summer 2023.
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