A colleague tried to find a hotel room for a friend without air conditioning last night. The brutal heat and humidity makes it nearly impossible to sleep. She called 18 to 20 hotels in the Edina, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park and Mall of America Bloomington areas and found no rooms available.

In my own search Wednesday morning, I found a few rooms available at higher-priced downtown hotels such asthe Graves 601 ($479), Hotel Minneapolis ($359) and the Westin Minneapolis ($359), but I found a few cheaper rooms at the Holiday inn Crown Plaza ($149). All of the prices are without discounts or tax. Check with a reservationist for AAA, senior or other discounts. Making matters worse, these hotels will also charge a pretty penny for parking, unless you can find a spot that is free from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

If you're need cool but cheap, try Motel 6. The Roseville location has rooms available for $49, and the Brooklyn Center and Richfield locations are $56 for a queen bed or two double beds. Reservations are filling up quickly for tonight, said the reservationist.

Worried about your pet in these conditions? Some hotels allow pets (with some limitations).Here's a link to Twin Cities hotels allowing pets. If your dog is too large or you have multiple pets, consider boarding them if you can't bring more than one along to the hotel.

The good news? The heat and humidity are supposed to break by tomorrow. But if you want a room for tonight, don't delay or you'll be sleeping in a pool (of sweat).