Minneapolis' new 255-room, 21-story Le Meridien Hotel in the theater district is the chain's first Art + Tech hotel — similar in concept to Starwood's “W” properties. Behind the dimly lit registration area floats a stunning wall-length mobile. Every guest room is fully wired, and comes with a huge flat-screen TV as well as a down comforter and Egyptian cotton sheets and bathrobes. One huge suite has a baby grand piano. The contemporary-style ballroom accommodates up to 750 people.

A longtime emblem of the city's stature is the Walker Art Center. During a hard-hat tour of the Walker's expansion project, I got a preview of what will be one of the city's most popular party venues when the project is completed next year. The dedicated special events space, handling 450 for receptions, will have stunning views of the city through huge windows. Also on site: a new Wolfgang Puck restaurant and an intimate 300-seat performance theater.

Another one-of-a-kind special-events space can be found at the city's newest museum: The Mill City Museum, built on the site of one of Minneapolis' many long-defunct flour mills.

The Minneapolis Convention Center has grown to 476,000-square-feet of exhibit space. And the skywalk system now links much of the downtown area.