<p>I would agree with staying near the Mall of America - lots of nicer places to stay in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities. We stayed directly across from the Mall over parent weekend - managed to squeeze in a visit to Macalester with our junior daughter - as well as other Twin City sights and visits with old friends. The drive to Northfield is not a big deal - unless you’re driving through a white-out blizzard in the middle of January. 
My husband adds - if you’re visiting Carleton in the middle of January, you are demonstrating extremely poor judgment and are probably the victim of “brain freeze”. (He can say this because he survived twenty years in Minnesota).</p>