RNC reserves 16,000 metro hotel rooms

St. Paul Hotel
The St. Paul Hotel in downtown, one of the four distinctive buildings that border Rice Park. It will house the Arizona delegation to the Republican National Convention in September.
MPR Photo/Bo Hakala

Officials with the Republican National Convention announced Monday that they have blocked off more than 16,000 rooms in 101 hotels across the Twin Cities.

The RNC takes place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in September.

Thirty-five of those hotels will house state delegations. The farthest is in the northwest suburb of Maple Grove, where delegations from South Dakota, Connecticut and Puerto Rico will stay.

But Maria Cino, president and CEO of the RNC, said all the hotels are within a 40-minute drive. Cino says with less than five months to go, this is a key milestone in the planning of the convention.

"What you'll see is the delegations working very closely with the hotels with regards to their room needs, with regards to the types of parties or meetings they'll be having in the hotels," said Cino. "In addition, they'll also start coming to town and looking at other venues for the particular parties or the things that they want to do for their delegation, when they come to town."

The Hilton Garden Inn in downtown St. Paul will house the Minnesota delegation. The Hyatt Regency Minneapolis will serve as the headquarters hotel during the convention. Officials expect about 45,000 people for the convention.