Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
The St. James Hotel, has been a Red Wing symbol of hospitality since 1875. Immerse yourself in one of our 67 Victorian rooms, each exquisitely designed and decorated, with its own story to tell. Each luxuriously appointed, striking that perfect balance between traditional and contemporary. A boutique hotel with five wedding venues and ten meeting spaces set amid the iconic Mississippi River and majestic bluffs. Close to bright lights and big cities, yet truly a world away.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Business
Romantic
Languages Spoken
English
Location
406 Main St, Red Wing, MN 55066-2325
St. James Hotel
1,016 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The St. James Hotel captivates guests with its charming and historic atmosphere, and its cleanliness is widely celebrated, with guests frequently lauding the well-kept rooms and responsive housekeeping. While the staff receives commendations for their attentiveness and excellent service, there have been occasional mentions of service lapses.
Travelers enjoy the historical allure combined with modern conveniences in the rooms, though some have noted variability in room quality and amenities. Despite its elegance, the value proposition of the St. James Hotel has been questioned by many guests, who point to a perceived lack of amenities and overpricing.
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Attentive
Amenities
Limited
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This is not one of those bland chain properties. It's kind of like staying overnight at your grandma's. Each room has its own character, with antique furnishings and artwork. Our rooms were spacious and comfortable, with plenty of seating and several tables and a desk. Scattered throughout the building are displays, newspaper clippings, and photos that tell the history of the area. The restaurant on-site provided room service, and the food was all homemade and fresh. Every person we encountered was particularly friendly and helpful. Irma gave us lots of helpful advice to make sure we'd get the most out of our stay. The beds were very comfortable; my daughter said she had not slept so well in a long time, even at home! The bedding was new and clean, the bath towels were extra large and thick, and there were even robes in the bathroom for us!! We never had to move the car; there is plenty to do within walking distance. There are a lot of trains if you're facing the river, but they don't blow their horns at night, and there are 3 different window treatments available to help with the sound and light. We also turned on the fan for white noise and the trains did not bother us, and we heard very little from other hotel guests.
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Date of stay: March 2022
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Apr 1, 2022
Good morning - Thank you so much for sharing your experience! It sounds like you had a great time at the historic St. James. We appreciate the all-around compliments from the service to the guestrooms. We're honored to be able to preserve St. James history and uphold its commitment to superb dining and lodging. Thank you for staying with us. Sincerely,
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We had been told the St James was cool, with great history. We booked on their website, selecting the Victorian Getaway Package which includes 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts, and a drink. This turned out to be an exceptional deal! The Scarlet Kitchen was excellent. Every server there went above and beyond to make our stay romantic and perfect! We were in an older room named after a steamship barge from the 1800s. It had a Jacuzzi tub in a marble (it had to be original) bathroom. We had a view of the riverfront, but any view would probably be okay. We took a few walking tours of the historic downtown and West End Neighborhood. We visited the Red Wing Pottery museum (the original reason for this trip). The folks who curate and teach about this historic business were also amazing. We are already planning another trip with friends.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: October 2021
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Oct 12, 2021
Hi traveler - thank you for sharing your experience with us! We're so happy we exceeded your expectations for your fall getaway. The Victorian Getaway Package is a guest favorite. We greatly appreciate the compliments. We can't wait to welcome you back. Cheers and safe travels!
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This hotel has a lot going for it. The building itself is beautiful and interesting. There are some shops on the first floor, as well as the restaurant and bar. The location is great, we were in easy walking distance to all kinds of shopping and dining.
The room itself was decorated to suit the historic context. The beds are comfortable and the linens were very good quality. The AC unit in our room was older, but was more than enough to keep the room comfortable.
The bathroom did have a few issues. The hot water tap leaked onto the sink, causing a puddle every time you used it. This was unfortunate as it’s the only spot to set clothing or cosmetics. The tub was a little dingy, showing it’s age, but it was serviceable and clean.
The TV was out the whole time we were here, looking at the reviews this seems to be a fairly consistent problem. The staff seemed to treat it as something to be expected. It didn’t ruin our night, but a token offering of a small discount or voucher for a drink at the bar would have been appreciated. The WiFi is very strong, if I were to offer a suggestion it would be to set up service that allows guests to log into their streaming accounts.
There were some nice small touches- a wireless phone charger by the bed, usb connections in the outlets, and it’s a non-coffee drinker I really appreciate the inclusion of tea with the drinks amenities.
If TV is a dealbreaker you might want to look elsewhere, but overall it was a nice experience. If you’re ok with the quirks and character of an older building, I think you’ll enjoy your stay.
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Jun 14, 2021
Good afternoon traveler – We appreciate you taking the time to write about your recent stay with us. Thank you for compliments on the beauty and history of the property. Your comments were shared with the appropriate departments to learn and grow. We understand how upsetting it can be when technology does not work properly. We are working with our cable provider to fix the TV reception as quickly as we can. Thank you for choosing to stay with us. Sincerely,
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The hotel is beautiful, no doubt. We returned to the hotel for our two year wedding anniversary as we were married at the St James in Jan of 2018. I had requested roses petals on the floor, chocolates, etc. in the room upon check in to surprise my husband. I was very let down and bummed when nothing was in the room when we opened the door. The lady’s at the front desk were very kind but claimed it was out of their hands... they’d only be able to deliver the special requests in a few hours. They did give us a couple free drink coupons for Jimmys, so that was kind. The food at the port was very subpar. My husband and I both ranked it a 5. Granted, we live in Las Vegas and “fancy” dinners are quite extravagant (and more expensive). The jacuzzi tub in the room was awesome. The sheets were super soft. However, they smelled kind of like someone with sweaty undercarriage had slept in them prior to us... I’m not sure if the mattress protector needed to be changed or what? Honestly, the stay was nice, but we weren’t impressed. It’s worth checking out, and we are glad we did it! It just isn’t worth returning.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina G, Marketing Coordinator at St. James Hotel
Responded Jan 17, 2020
Hi Rihanna – Thank you for providing feedback of your recent experience at the St. James. Happy belated anniversary! Thank you for coming back for the weekend. I’m so sorry that you were let down by your accommodations. I shared your comments with the appropriate departments to bring this to their attention and to ensure better future guest experiences. Again, I’m so sorry that you were disappointed with your experience. Sincerely,
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I requested a specific room. The hotel staff was very clear that they could not promise any specific rooms but would do their best to accommodate upon arrival as it was not a busy evening. Understood. Upon arrival the room I requested (in the original, historic part of the hotel) was no longer available. The room that was reserved for me was in the new part... having never been to the hotel I did not know this until I carried all my stuff to the room. Disappointed already. As I am preparing for bed later that evening I find that the constant noise and rumble in my room was NOT the trains. It was that I was directly above a power and/or ventilation system directly below me (which is the hotel receiving dock) and combined with the same noise from the YMCA directly outside my window. It was almost midnight and I wasn't going to be able to sleep from this noise so I asked for a new room. The clerk happily accommodated and I was moved from floor 1 in the new section to floor 4 in the old. Much quieter. I awoke to have a copy of a bill under my door with someone else's name on it and a generic St. James gift card with $220 on it. Was this meant for me for having the disruption of having to re-pack and move rooms because of noise. No. It was meant for someone else. I turned it in at the front desk and they were excited the missing gift card was found. Any offer of a complimentary breakfast? Coffee mug? Anything? Nope. Inconvenienced by room selection, room noise, overnight move to new room, and returning a gift card put under my door by hotel staff = full price room and no gesture of appreciation or empathy from the hotel that was responsible. Sad.
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Date of stay: October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Nov 1, 2021
Dear guest - We sincerely apologize for your experience at our hotel. I shared your feedback with the appropriate departments to ensure better future guest experiences. We appreciate you returning the gift card to the front desk. We will look into this situation. Thank you for staying at the St. James Hotel. Sincerely,
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NO television for the first 50 of the 60 hours stayed at the hotel. I grew up in this city of Red Wing and I worked at the St James in 1982 - only 5-6 years after totally renovated. VERY PROUD to bring my family to stay here after 30 years in Cincinnati. It was mediocre!! We had our breakfast for 5 100% comped after it taking 68 minutes to get our food after being seated……..they offered 50% off meal, I gave them room number (had 2 rooms) and they turned to me and asked if I were “Greta”? I’m John Doyle, 59 year old male. Since they couldn’t find me in their system to charge things to they gave me the 100% discount…….nice shell of a facility! Bar closes at 11:00 p.m……..last call at 10:10. Not very inviting nor practical unless you are one of the workers who wants to go home or out at some other establishment.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: June 2021
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Jun 18, 2021
Good morning – thank you for choosing to stay with us. Your comments were shared with the appropriate departments to ensure better future experiences. We apologize for the TV reception. We are working with our cable provide to resolve their issue as quickly as possible. We hope to have it resolved soon. Our restaurant, Scarlet Kitchen & Bar, closes at 10 pm daily and The Port lounge at 11 pm, Thursday – Saturday. We’re thankful that we’re open and able to provide guests service at both our restaurants and the hotel as the hospitality industry is getting back on its feet. Safe travels and well wishes. Sincerely,
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My wife and I have always enjoyed staying at the St. James Hotel. A beautiful historic hotel with upscale accommodations and 3 restaurants. Due to Covid, only 1 restaurant was open during this stay, Scarlet FKA The Veranda. Our junior suite was very nice and the the bed was very comfortable except for the pillows. There were 4 pillows on the bed, 2 large over stuffed hard pillows and smaller hard pillows. We weren’t sure if they removed the soft feather pillows due to Covid or if they have permanently switched over to these hard pillows? I would suggest bringing your own pillow from home if you don’t like hard pillows.
We had breakfast at Scarlet and the food and service was very good. The prices were fair and the atmosphere was very pleasant. The only issue we had was when we arrived to be seated. The staff, in our opinion were being quite rude and harsh to patrons in asking if they had a reservation, and when they made it etc. They also were being abrasive to anyone that wasn’t wearing a mask properly on their face. After being seated we had to listen to this echoing across the restaurant as they were almost shouting at patrons. They were grilling them on proper mask wearing, when they made a reservation, why they didn’t make a reservation, why they didn’t request outside seating to begin with, on and on and on! I think they need to be a bit more pleasant to patrons and welcoming instead of integrating them. Just a friendly suggestion. All in all, we had a very nice stay and great time at the St. James Hotel and will be back again.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Aug 24, 2020
Hi traveler - thank you for choosing to stay with us again and sharing your experience! We're sorry to hear that you did not like the pillows in your room. We appreciate you informing us about your thoughts on some staff interactions. We are all trying our best to support the restaurant industry during these fluid, unprecedented times. Thank you for your suggestion. There's no reason to be harsh and rude. We can't wait to welcome you back during your next trip to Red Wing! Safe travels, Celina
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I'll start by saying that I booked a handful of rooms for a wedding, one of them being the Ironworks Flat.
When booking these spaces, I asked for confirmation numbers and offered to pay in full, but was told that the system was down at the time and that I could pay upon arrival. I called back multiple times over the next YEAR for confirmation and was told each time that the system was down, but was assured by the staff that I had indeed booked the rooms. Two weeks before my arrival, I called for a third time. At this point I was told that one of the rooms, the Ironworks Flat had been double booked. Sadly, because the other party had booked the room for a longer number of nights, they decided to honor their reservation and I was out of luck.
Nothing was done to compensate my loss. A simple heartfelt apology would have been sufficient. The director of rooms was cold and rude when I spoke to her on the phone. I would have cancelled all of my rooms after speaking to her, but since it was so short notice, no other hotels had rooms available.
During our stay, I wasn't impressed with the accommodations. Many fixtures were broken and falling off the wall when we arrived. For the price, I would expect a 5 star stay. Overall, I would not recommend staying at the St. James Hotel. If you're booking this hotel for the experience, I would recommend just dining at the restaurant instead and then staying at one of the other local hotels.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Jun 21, 2021
Hi traveler – Thank you for choosing to stay with us. We sincerely apologize for your experience. We are in the tail end of recovering from a system wide outage and are navigating through the process. I shared your comments with the management team to ensure better future guest stays. Again, we are so sorry for your experience and encourage you to give us another chance. Sincerely,
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Loved the stay. A few things I noticed was we booked a king suite with a jetted tub assuming it’s the one by the window because the picture showed that. But the photos were not accurate so we were disappointed when we got there to find out it’s not the room we were looking at. I’d recommend calling them and booking the room you’re looking at until they update their photos that goes with each room. Found hair in the bath tub. It gets pretty loud at night due to the train but that’s something the hotel has no control over. Otherwise everything else was great! Loved the feel of the historic building and Red Wing is such a beautiful city during the fall. Just breathtaking. Would definitely recommend to someone for a getaway weekend. The scarlet kitchen had amazing food. Flight of mimosas were great. Definitely booking here again for a future weekend getaway. This time with a whirlpool tub by the window.
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Date of stay: October 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
My husband and I stayed at the St. James Hotel the first weekend in October 2020 ( a modest excursion among the c-virus limitations). The hotel and our room was beautiful and very comfortable. We knew we would be hiking during the day and enjoying the room in the evening, given the limitations of social distancing. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in enjoying a relaxing movie as the reception was horrible!!!! We called to the front desk about the issue. We were told we were the only complaint regarding this, so they would send maintenance. Five minutes later they said it was not just our TV (no maintenance will come). Next day talked to front desk again. Were told that happens every weekend. Asked to speak to the Manager. The manager was "busy" for the next THREE days of our stay. We left a message to ask her to call us. 2 days after our departure, I get a message from the manager (she stated she wasn't sure why she was giving me a call). She left two phone numbers (one was the hotel number) the other a direct line. My husband called the direct line, a woman answers in a sleepy voice and says he has the wrong number. We confirmed that was the number the manager provided. He called the main hotel number and she was once again busy!!! Although our issue was a minor detraction from the full enjoyment of our stay...it is the customer service of the hotel manager that solidifies that we will not return to that establishment in the future.
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Date of stay: October 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Celina Grimes, Marketing at St. James Hotel
Responded Nov 11, 2020
Good morning - Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We appreciate the compliments on the beauty of the property and your accommodation. We sincerely apologize for your experience and the miscommunication from our team. At the time of your stay, we were working with HBC, our cable company, and Samsung to resolve the TV reception issue as quickly as they could. We understand how frustrating it is when technology does not work properly. Our team tries to respond to every guest in a timely manner to turn around the experience. Your feedback was shared with the Director of Rooms to learn and grow from your experience to ensure better future ones. Again, we are deeply sorry for the miscommunication. Sincerely, Celina
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Hi Janet – we cannot guarantee specific rooms, however, if you request to be placed in a specific section or room, we will do our best to accommodate your request. Sincerely,
Hi Robin - thank you for your question. To clarify, we do not have cats. No pets are allowed on the property. You may be thinking of a different organization that had this luxury back in the day. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Best,
The hotel should be able to answer that. Automobile parking was adjacent to the hotel in a parking ramp that was partially covered. I didn't notice any bicycle racks and the elevator was small.
In the past we had one floor that was dog friendly. This has been discontinued and we are no longer pet friendly. We do still have existing pet friendly reservations that will be honored but no new pet friendly reservations are being taken.
There are more places to choose from in the Red Wing area.
PRICE RANGE
$155 - $183 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
st james hotel
LOCATION
United StatesMinnesotaRed Wing
NUMBER OF ROOMS
68
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including any mandatory fees. Taxes not included. Please see our partners for more details.
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