If you are coming to Minneapolis for a convention this fall, the answer to “where should I stay” depends on how long you are here. For one night, a downtown hotel is fine. For the three, four or seven nights that a real show takes, especially if you are an exhibitor who arrives for set-up and leaves after tear-down, a furnished studio with a full kitchen and free laundry a few blocks from the hall is a better week. Oakland’s on 9th is that studio: an 1889 brownstone at 215 South 9th Street, a straight walk down 2nd Avenue South to the Minneapolis Convention Center at 1301 2nd Avenue South, rented by the night, the week or the month with no lease.
What is at the Minneapolis Convention Center this fall
These are the larger multi-day events on the Convention Center’s own calendar between now and Thanksgiving, checked against each organiser’s site. Dates can shift, so confirm with the organiser before you book travel.
NACAC Conference 2026, October 8–10. The National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference, the largest gathering of college admission professionals in the world, expects more than 6,500 attendees and 200-plus exhibitors. The Convention Center’s calendar holds the building from October 7 for preconference events.
JADPRO Live 2026, October 15–18. A four-day continuing-education conference for advanced practitioners in oncology, with 1,600-plus attendees and more than 50 exhibitors and sponsors. This one lands on MEA weekend, when Minnesota schools are out and downtown is busy with families, so book early.
MD&M Midwest and FiltXPO, October 28–29. The medical-device and advanced-manufacturing expo runs alongside the filtration industry’s FiltXPO in the same building. MD&M alone brings more than 5,000 attendees; expo hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, and registration opens Tuesday, October 27, at 8:30 a.m., which makes Tuesday the real arrival night. The organiser’s FAQ notes there is no attendee shuttle from the official hotels.
AIChE Annual Meeting, November 8–12. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ five-day annual meeting, with a University of Minnesota program chair this year. Its negotiated hotel blocks close October 14, after which attendees are on their own for rooms.
Also on the calendar: the Minneapolis Gift & Art Expo, November 6–8; the MNCPA Tax Conference, November 16–17; the Minnesota Buildings & Facilities Management Trade Show on November 19; and Twin Cities Con, November 20–22, which our sister property 300 Clifton has written up separately for a one- or two-night stay.
Getting to the hall from 9th Street
Walk out the front door, turn onto 2nd Avenue South and keep going; the Convention Center’s domes come into view within a few blocks. In bad weather the skyway system is a block’s walk from the building (Oakland’s is not connected to it), and the skyway reaches the Convention Center. Metro Transit also runs Free Ride buses on Nicollet Mall between Grant Street and Washington Avenue, seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., which puts you at the Convention Center’s front door without paying a fare; use the trip planner for current routes. If you drive, Parking Lot 215 is right at our door, and the Convention Center partners with four city ramps for show days.
Why exhibitors and long-stay attendees pick a studio over a hotel
Exhibitor crews are the guests who feel the difference most. Set-up days start early and tear-down ends late, and a hotel room is a bed and a bad chair. Every studio at Oakland’s has a full kitchen with a refrigerator, stovetop, microwave and dishes, so you can eat a real breakfast before an 8 a.m. registration line and reheat something after the booth-crawl reception. Free 24-hour on-site laundry means a five-day show does not need five suits. WiFi and wired ethernet, all utilities, and individual heat and air conditioning are included. Check-in is contactless with a personal keycode, so a crew arriving at 11 p.m. after a late flight is not standing at a desk. Three furnished tiers, Good, Better and Best, mean a team can put its people in a row of studios at different price points, and monthly stays carry the lowest rate if your company is in town for the whole fall show season. One honest note: this is an 1889 building and access to the studios is by stairs, with no guest elevator, so heavy display cases are better sent to the hall than carried upstairs.
After the show floor closes
Target on Nicollet Mall is two blocks away for whatever you forgot to pack. For a client dinner that is not another hotel bar, the Pillsbury Club serves dinner and cocktails inside the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion a short ride south, and Minneapolis Trolley Tours runs evening ghost and true-crime tours from its front door if a visiting team needs an outing. Our October and November guides list what is on at Target Center, the Armory and Orchestra Hall on the nights you are here, and if you are flying in, here is how to get downtown from MSP without a car.
Convention weeks fill downtown fast, and the Convention Center’s fall calendar is already busy from the first week of October. Check dates and book a studio at Oakland’s on 9th, or call (612) 314-5124 if you are placing a whole crew and want to talk through the tiers.
Keep reading: Who Supervised the Restoration of Oakland’s on 9th? Meet Madonna, the Great Dane Who Worked the Scaffolding