DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St Paul Downtown
Getting Around
Find ground transportation options to/from the airport, local transportation to get around town and learn about the walkability of the area.
Looking for a potential ride-share? Check out our form below.
International Travelers
Lodging
We encourage guests to take advantage of the hotel room block procured. We are inquiring into dorm style rooms at the University of Minnesota.
Looking for a potential roommate? Check out the room-share forum link below.
Food and Beverages
2025 conference registration will include morning coffee/tea service plus access to fresh water daily. Evening receptions will have small bites. Guests will have the option to purchase meals in/around the hotel. The Conference Committee is developing a list of eateries that will be posted below.
For Families
For guests traveling with family members, please review the family info section below.
Conference Contacts
Carolyn Anthon
AESS Managing Director
canthon@aessonline.org
for questions related to sponsorship, exhibiting, or AESS membership
General Inquiries
events@aessonline.org
for questions related to venue, lodging, and local transportation
André Butler & Naciba Chassagnon
AESS Program Chairs
events@aessonline.org
for questions related to proposals and sessions
Sustainability at AESS
AESS strives to meet benchmark standards for sustainability at our events. However, we are often limited by the capabilities of our site hosts and financial constraints. We welcome feedback and suggestions on our events and hope you appreciate efforts that go into making our event as sustainable as possible. We look forward to improving our environmental footprint year-to-year. For 2025, we plan to address sustainability through our food choices, proximity to public transit, invited guests and field trip experiences.
Lodging and Travel Details
Hotel Room Block
An event room block has been arranged at our event venue, the DoubleTree Hilton Downtown St. Paul. We know you have many choices and appreciate your considering our room block.
Disclosure: the date we signed our event booking made AESS eligible for a cash incentive sponsored by the Visit St. Paul Official Convention and Visitors Bureau. Groups with 25-99 room nights will receive $500; groups with 100-199 room nights will receive $1,000 and so on. These funds, if awarded, will be used to offset the cost of the event.
- $199/night + tax (single and double)
- $224/night + tax (triple)
- $249/night + tax (quad)
- plus applicable state and local taxes, currently 16% per night occupancy tax.
Reservations are the responsibility of individuals. All reservations must be accompanied by a deposit or guaranteed with a major credit card individually. Hotel will not hold any reservations unless secured by one of the above methods. Reservations must be received by June 16, 2023.
Book your group rate for AESS+ASLE 2023 Conference
Individual reservations are made by clicking the link above of calling the hotel directly at 971-222-1234. To receive the established group rate, individuals must identify themselves as members of the ASLE conference group initially when making the reservation. All reservations must be received by the cut-off date and guaranteed with a credit card.
Once the room block fills, the hotel will honor the group rate only if rooms are still available prior to the cut-off date.
See Hyatt Regency website for full list of hotel amenities and policies.
Want to try and find a roommate? Check out our forum padlet.
Campus Housing – TBD
Want to try and find a roommate? Check out our forum padlet.
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is only eight miles from downtown Saint Paul. The airport is a Delta Air Lines hub, operates an average of 1,250 flights daily and serves 163 markets (136 domestic, 27 international).
Metro Transit offers a network of bus routes for easy travel around Saint Paul and throughout the Twin Cities.
To reach downtown Saint Paul from the airport, take Metro Transit Route 54. Board the bus outside Terminal 1 Transit Station, on Level 1 of the Blue and Red parking ramps. From Terminal 1, passengers can access the Transit Station via the tram on the Tram Level or via the Concourse Connector between concourses C and G.
There is no Metro Transit bus service at Terminal 2 Terminal. Airline passengers arriving at Terminal 2 must take the METRO Blue Line (or another means of transportation) to Terminal 1 to access city buses. Trains operate 24 hours a day between airport terminals. Travel between airport terminal stations is free and no ticket is needed.
For bus fare and route information, speak to a transit representative at 612-373-3333 or visit Metro Transit’s website.
Want to try and find a rideshare? Check out our forum padlet.
Walkability of Conference
More information coming soon!
Venue
Meals Information
- Coffee and tea service be provided in the morning Monday-Wednesday.
- Fresh water will be available throughout the event. Please bring your preferred refillable drinking bottle.
- Cafe and eateries are within walking distance.
- The area is also serviced by various meal-delivery services like Instantcart, GrubHub and Door Dash.
Local Restaurants in and around St. Paul – coming soon… a list compiled by locals —
Rideshares, roommates, ISO padlet below. Use the website LINK if you cannot view it here.
AESS is committed to expanding inclusivity and that includes attendees traveling with their child(ren). We recognize that finding suitable childcare can be quite a challenge and barrier to attendance. To that end, we hope all attendees feel welcome to bring their child to the event as they are comfortable.
Please note that we are unable to sponsor any on-site care due to lots of legalities, but we acknowledge and support how difficult it can be to be a single-parent academic, parent of a young child or infant, or one of many other complex family situations that are part of our attendees lived experience.
We will update the lists here as we find more local resources. Plus, consider connecting with other attendees by using the padlet forum or reaching out to a local chapter for any national groups you belong to, e.g. sorority, society, etc. Please note: AESS is not directly affiliated or contracted with any of these services, we are providing information only.
Do you know of another resource? Please tell us by emailing event organizers or posting to the padlet.
Jovie - formerly College Nannies and Sitters
Jovie.com (formerly College Nannies and Sitters) can offer individual care on an as-needed basis for conference attendees. Families are responsible for paying the company directly.
Visa and Letters of Invitation
Thank you for your interest in attending AESS+ASLE 2023 in Portland, OR. We hope your travel and visa process goes smoothly and have created this page as a source of information.
Conference attendees who reside outside the United States may need to apply for a visa at the American Embassy, consulate, or other visa-issuing office in their country of origin. Please begin your visa application process as soon as possible, as applications may take several months to process. For information on obtaining your visa, go to: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html
Understand that presenters are responsible for their own travel and visas. We are happy to provide a letter of acceptance as documentation, once you have been notified that your proposal has been accepted. Please see directions below to obtain this document.
Many visa issuing offices require that you present a letter of invitation to the conference, proof of conference registration, and airline ticket confirmation, along with your visa application. If you need a letter of invitation to the conference, please email events@aessonline.org the following information:
- Your full name as it appears on your passport
- Your professional or academic title
- The name of your school, department, institution, lab, or business
- Your full mailing address
- Are you the author of a paper that has been accepted for AESS 2023?
- If you are an author, please provide the title of the paper.
Important Venue Information
All AESS sessions will be held in conference rooms at the Oregon Convention Center. The space also has onsite restaurants, cafes and outdoor seating, with many other food choices right nearby. There are walking options and parks in the neighborhood. Public transportation stops right at the OCC to make exploring the city easy. We are reserving hotel blocks in adjacent facilities to minimize driving, and planning on securing dormitory space at nearby Portland State University, which is only a 20-minute MAX light rail ride away.
Please review the lodging websites specific to your reservation to review all amenities and transportation options to/from the Convention Center and in/around Portland.
AESS has committed to the following Green Initiatives for in-person events.
Please note that 2023 might require modifications due to state/local policies and protocols.
- Providing only vegetarian meals, with an emphasis on local sourcing.
- Reducing waste through:
- Use of digital program
- Eliminating use of single-serve, pre-packaged food items
- Collaborating with host site sustainability office
- Reducing food waste by collaborating with catering.
- Reducing plastic waste by:
- Asking all participants to bring their own reusable water bottles.
- Not offering plastic bottles.
- Requesting that caterers reduce plastic packaging, when possible.
- Collecting and reusing plastic badge holders from previous AESS conferences.
- Encouraging environmental education through:
- Including a sustainability tour in our field trip options.