If you need somewhere to live in downtown Minneapolis for a few weeks or a few months, you’ll quickly run into two very different options: a furnished month-to-month studio, or an extended-stay hotel. They can look similar from the outside, but they’re built for different kinds of stays. Here’s a friendly, no-pressure breakdown so you can pick the one that actually fits your life right now.
What each one really is
An extended-stay hotel is still a hotel. You get a room (often with a small kitchenette), daily or weekly housekeeping, and a front desk, but you’re typically paying a nightly rate with taxes layered on top, and longer stays can add up fast.
A furnished month-to-month studio, like the ones at Oaklands on 9th, is closer to having your own apartment, just without the year-long lease or the empty-rooms-and-no-furniture problem. You move into a fully furnished space with a real bed, a full kitchen, and your own front door, and you can stay a night, a week, or several months with no contract to sign.
The differences that actually matter
The kitchen
This is the big one. A kitchenette with a microwave and a mini-fridge is fine for reheating takeout, but it’s a tough way to live for a month. A full kitchen lets you cook real meals, keep groceries, and stop eating every dinner out, which is better for your budget and, frankly, for how you feel after a long week. Every studio at Oaklands on 9th has a full kitchen for exactly this reason.
What’s included
At Oaklands on 9th, WiFi, all utilities, heat, and laundry are included, so there’s nothing to set up and no surprise bills. There’s no separate internet account to activate or power company to call. For a short or medium stay, that “everything’s already handled” feeling is worth a lot.
Cost and flexibility
Hotels are priced by the night, which is great for a weekend and expensive for a month. A month-to-month studio is built for the longer stretch, with no lease, no deposit drama, and the freedom to extend or wrap up as your plans change. If you’re not sure whether you’ll be in town for three weeks or three months, that flexibility takes a lot of pressure off.
Which one fits your situation?
A few common reasons people choose a furnished studio downtown:
- Travel nurses and medical staff on multi-week assignments, who want a real kitchen and an easy commute. Oaklands on 9th is close to Hennepin Healthcare (HCMC) and the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
- People relocating to Minneapolis who need a comfortable home base while they apartment-hunt, without committing to a lease sight unseen.
- Corporate, project, and insurance/displaced stays where plans can shift week to week and flexibility matters more than a fixed checkout date.
- Remote workers and longer visits who want space to actually work, cook, and settle in rather than live out of a suitcase.
An extended-stay hotel still makes sense if you want daily housekeeping and a front desk and you’re only staying a handful of nights. For anything in the weeks-to-months range, a furnished studio usually wins on comfort and value.
Getting around once you’re here
One quiet advantage of staying downtown is that you may not need a car at all. Oaklands on 9th sits at 215 South 9th Street, steps from the Minneapolis Skyway, the climate-controlled network of enclosed walkways that links roughly 80 downtown blocks over about nine and a half miles, so you can reach offices, restaurants, and shops without stepping outside in January. Metro Transit light rail and buses are close by, and you’re walkable to Target on Nicollet Mall, the Armory, U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center, Target Field, and Orchestra Hall. For the lay of the land, Meet Minneapolis is a good place to start.
If friends or family come to visit during your stay, the neighborhood has some fun options worth knowing about. The owners of Oaklands also run 300 Clifton, a historic bed & breakfast in nearby Loring Park that’s ideal for a romantic weekend, and the Pillsbury Club, a speakeasy-style club inside a historic mansion. For a relaxed way to see the city, Minneapolis Trolley Tours runs vintage trolley sightseeing tours downtown.
Come see for yourself
If a furnished month-to-month studio sounds like the right fit, we’d love to host you. You can check rates and book online, or call us at (612) 314-5124 and we’ll help you find the right studio for your stay. Whether it’s a night, a week, or a few months, Oaklands on 9th is an easy place to call home in downtown Minneapolis.