No. Oakland’s on 9th is a historic 1889 brownstone, and access to the studios is by stairs; there is no guest elevator. We would rather you know that before you book than discover it with a suitcase in each hand, so this post lays out what the stairs mean in practice, what we do to make arrival easy, and who should call us first.
The short version
Every furnished studio in the building is reached by the stairs. That is the honest answer to the question in the title, and it is the same answer you will find on our FAQ page. If stairs are a concern for you or for anyone travelling with you, please contact us before you book, at (612) 314-5124 or info@oaklandson9th.com, and we will talk it through with you. We would rather lose a booking than have a guest arrive to a surprise.
Why an 1889 building has no elevator
The building was designed by Harry Wild Jones and went up in 1889, and it was restored in 2019 as a small furnished-studio hotel. Restoring a building that old means working within its walls, and a modern elevator shaft is a large intervention in a small historic structure. The National Park Service’s Preservation Briefs are the standard reference for the trade-offs involved in adapting historic buildings, and they are worth a look if you are curious about why old buildings keep their stairs. What the restoration did instead was put the staircase back at the centre of the house.
The staircase is the point
The grand staircase you climb to reach your studio was salvaged and restored during the renovation, with turned mahogany balusters set against white wainscoting. We told the story of that work, along with the 65 windows and the four thousand pounds of lime mortar, in our restoration post. In a downtown of glass towers, walking up a wooden staircase that predates the Foshay Tower by four decades is part of what makes a stay here feel different. It is also, on a January morning, warm; we wrote about what it took to heat this building properly, and the answer includes individual heat and air conditioning in every studio.
How we make arrival easy anyway
Park at the door. Parking is available right at the building, in Lot 215, so the distance you carry a bag is from the car to the front step rather than from a ramp three blocks away. Our parking guide has the details, and the parking page has current rates.
No front desk to stop at. Check-in is contactless. You receive a personal keycode for the building and your studio before you arrive, so you go straight from the car to the stairs to your door, any hour of the day, without juggling luggage at a counter. We explained the whole sequence in how check-in works. Staff are on site day and night and reachable by phone or message if you need a hand or have a question.
Pack lighter than you think. The studios are fully furnished, with full kitchens, and the rate includes all utilities, free high-speed WiFi and ethernet, and free 24-hour on-site laundry. Free laundry in the building means a month’s stay needs a week’s clothes. Our packing list goes through what is already in the studio so you can leave it at home, and fewer bags means fewer trips up the stairs.
Come and go without a car. Once you are in, most of what you need is on foot. Target is two blocks away, the Skyway system starts a block’s walk from the door (the building itself is not connected to it), and U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center, the Armory, Orchestra Hall and Nicollet Mall are all walkable. For anything further, Metro Transit’s trip planner covers the rest, and we wrote a full post on getting around downtown without a car.
Who the stairs suit, and who should call first
For most of our guests, travel nurses on assignment at Hennepin Healthcare or the university medical center, people relocating to Minneapolis, remote workers, and fans in town for a homestand, the stairs are a non-issue and the staircase is a highlight. Pets manage them fine too; we have designated pet-friendly studios for cats and dogs, and the Great Dane sprawled across the staircase in the photo above seems to have no complaints.
If you use a wheelchair or a walker, have a recent injury or surgery, or are travelling with someone who finds stairs difficult, please call us before booking rather than after. We will be straight with you about whether the building works for your situation, and we would rather help you find the right place than have you struggle here. Choosing between the Good, Better and Best studios is a separate question, and our guide to the three tiers covers what each one has.
Book with your eyes open
Stairs, a keycode, a parking spot at the door, and a studio with a kitchen at the top: that is the arrival. Stay a night, a week or a month with no lease and no contract, and the monthly rate is the lowest of the three. Check availability and book online, or call (612) 314-5124 with any question about the building, the stairs included. We will always give you a straight answer.