When the Radisson finally opened just before Christmas 1909, only the Minneapolis City Hall extended farther above the growing Mill City skyline. Most of the Radisson Hotel rooms had baths, and all had cold drinking water pumped from an artesian well 975 feet below the ground. The well, drilled under the supervision of expert geologists, penetrated the Hinckley Sandstone ledge that lies beneath downtown and, more than 70 years later, still furnishes pure and delicious drinking water for Radisson guests.
Initially, the hotel boasted two restaurants. The first was the Chateau Room off the main lobby. Seating about 250 guests, this elegant establishment featured decorations and furniture patterned after the dining rooms of the Chateau Blois of the Francois-premiere period. The room was done in Circassion walnut with a gray finish. The facility’s other restaurant was the Viking Cafe in the rear of the hotel, which seated 100 diners. This room was finished in dark stained oak and featured a silver scale-model Viking ship created for the hotel by Edward Caldwell.
– A History of The Radisson Hotel
Radisson Hotel Corp. January, 1998