State Fair Preview: Roseville Hotels Are Packed

During the 12-day run of the Minnesota State Fair, out of town visitors are going to find little or no vacancies at Roseville’s eight hotels.

The city’s inventory of 1,167 hotel rooms is typically 80 to 100 percent occupied during State Fair time, according to Carrie Donovan, 
director of sales and marketing at the Roseville Visitors Association.

“The Minnesota State Fair is the busiest time of year for the Roseville hotels,” Donovan noted.  At an average nightly room of almost $100, she estimates the combined hotel revenue at about $1.1 million with an approximate $4 million total economic impact for the Roseville area.

At the Radisson Hotel in Roseville, sales director Susan Sommervold said her facility’s 256 rooms were already totally booked for several nights of the Fair.

“We are always busy,” she said. “We have a lot of the same groups returning to the Fair because we are so close.”  Those include 4H competitors, students, exhibitors and vendors, she said

“We house a lot of (Fair) judges for groups such as the Midwest Dairy Association, Sommervold added.

Sommervold said the Radisson provides free daily shuttle to and from the Fair.

Meanwhile, the Country Inns & Suites in Roseville also reports brisk business during the State Fair. That hotel has 81 rooms.

“We are just about filled up for every night,” sales manager Lisa Tschida said in an interview at the end of last week. 
Tschida said the peak days are weekends. adding that many people book their accommodations a year in advance of the Fair.