United States · Minnesota
Where to Stay in Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington holds the Mall of America above the Minnesota River, the largest suburb of the Twin Cities and Minnesota's fourth-largest city.
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Where to stay in Bloomington
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
The mall decides most of it. Hotels cluster along the roads around the Mall of America because that is where the shopping, the rides of Nickelodeon Universe and the tanks of SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium all sit under one roof, and a stay there needs no car at all for whole days at a time. Water Park of America is close on the same side.
Airport traffic shares this quarter, so rooms fill and empty on flight schedules rather than on weekends. The river side is the alternative. Ground above the Minnesota River runs quieter and greener, with the Gideon H. Pond House and the John Harrington Stevens House standing among the older streets that recorded the settlement before the retail arrived.
Nights out there are calm. A car makes sense from this base, since the Minnesota Zoo, Valleyfair and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum all lie beyond the city and downtown Minneapolis is only 10 miles off. Neither base is more than a short drive from the other, which matters on a family trip.
Families with an early flight take the mall side. Anyone here for the houses and the river takes the other.
About Bloomington
What is Bloomington known for?
One building carries this city's reputation. The Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in the United States, and it works as an indoor town in its own right, with Nickelodeon Universe running rides under the roof and SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium tucked in beside the shops. Water Park of America adds another wet afternoon.
Beyond the retail, Bloomington keeps settler-era houses and a long frontage above the Minnesota River. Hennepin County surrounds all of it.
What are the main landmarks in Bloomington?
Rides account for a surprising share of the list. Nickelodeon Universe runs the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge, the Fairly Odd Coaster and the Pepsi Orange Streak inside the Mall of America, while SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium and Water Park of America fill the rest of the indoor day. Older Bloomington answers with houses.
The Gideon H. Pond House, the John Harrington Stevens House and the Jonathan Taylor Grimes House survive from the settlement century, and Church of the Incarnation and Calvary Lutheran Church serve the modern city. Wood Lake Nature Center lies close by.
What is the history of Bloomington?
Settlement here dates from 1843, on the terrace above the Minnesota River and its meeting with the Mississippi River. The Gideon H. Pond House and the John Harrington Stevens House both survive from that founding century, and the Jonathan Taylor Grimes House joins them as a record of the farming community that worked this ground before any suburb existed. Minneapolis was the neighbour that changed everything.
As the built-up area of the Twin Cities pushed outward, Bloomington filled with houses and then with the commerce that follows an airport, until it stood as the fourth-largest city in Minnesota. Retail wrote the final chapter. The Mall of America opened on the flats near the airport and grew into the largest shopping mall in the United States, drawing Nickelodeon Universe, SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium and Water Park of America into a single indoor economy that now defines the city to outsiders.
Congregations kept pace with the growth. Church of the Incarnation and Calvary Lutheran Church belong to that suburban expansion, while the Loren L. Chadwick Cottages and the Floyd B. Olson House record the older residential grain of Hennepin County. Two Bloomingtons now share one boundary.
Where is Bloomington?
Bloomington runs along the bank of the Minnesota River, on the ground above the point where that water joins the Mississippi River, and its 99 square kilometres make it one of the broader municipalities of Hennepin County. River bluff meets flat land. Downtown Minneapolis is 10 miles off, and the Interstate 494 and 694 beltway forms the far edge of the built-up area.
Wood Lake Nature Center keeps some green nearby.
What is the climate of Bloomington?
Minnesota winters are the reason the Mall of America works as well as it does, since a season of hard frost and deep snow pushes an entire metropolitan area indoors for months at a stretch. Summers turn warm and humid over the Minnesota River. The mild weeks are brief.
Spring and autumn pass quickly here, which is why Nickelodeon Universe and the water slides keep their crowds through the year rather than only in season.
How do you get to Bloomington?
Few suburbs are this easy to reach. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sits beside Bloomington, close enough that arriving travellers can be at the Mall of America within minutes of collecting a bag, and the Interstate 494 and 694 beltway carries the rest of the traffic in.
Ten miles of road link the city with downtown Minneapolis. Rental cars and shuttles do most of the rest.
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Updated August 2026