Jean-Claude's place is a good choice. Especially if you want to see downtown St. Paul. A lot of great things to see and do, are within walking distance. It's a relatively short walk to take the green line to downtown Minneapolis. (Jean-Claude had a supply of maps, guides, and public transit info available)
An extra nice touch, for us, was the coffee pod machine in the kitchen. We brought along our box of pods from the cottage and made good use of it. (Jean-Claude supplied a decent selection of pods !) but we brought our own even larger selection.
We could easily have cooked in the great kitchen, but the large number of great restaurants around the area won out, and we only used it for making beverages and snacks.
More than a few times, we sat on the couch, drinking hot cider in front of the gas fireplace, while reading.
Our only regret is that Jean-Claude wasn't there when we stayed. We would have loved to meet him.