Tucked away in a strip with an independent movie theater and chain stores like Jamba Juice is an unassuming hotel with a bad-boy rock 'n' rolla past. The Days Inn Lincoln Park is nicknamed the Rock & Roll Days Inn for its musician clientele, which includes Sean Lennon, Twisted Sister, Nelly Furtado, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dave Matthews, KRS One and the Foo Fighters.

It's rumored to be the place where Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain conceived their child, says Stefanie Hrejsa, general manager of the hotel. Years later, Love allegedly walked out of the hotel and said she couldn't stay there because of the painful memories, Hrejsa says. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-11-05T09:12:43-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/4/113358/015

Room 1433 at Hotel Sax Chicago.

We received a couple of tips lately that there was something brewing with Thompson Hotels and usually when more than one tip comes in, we know something's up. But today we have confirmation that indeed The Hotel Sax in Chicago, best known for its RockBand studio and where we recently shacked up the other week, is turning into a Thompson Hotel.

The conversion will officially happen on December 1st and while the hotel was recently renovated a few years ago, we fully expect the place to get "Thompsonized."]]> juliana 2009-11-04T13:10:52-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/4/23943/2556

The lobby of theWit buzzes with businessmen chatting, workers scurrying about and people wandering in and out, but head to the second floor of the hotel and you'll find some peace in the library.

But it's not a library per se. Yes, the table in the middle of the room has small stacks of oversized coffee-table books on everything from fashion to architecture to music that you can peruse. (The most popular one among library visitors is Frank Lloyd Wright Complete Works, Vol. 3: 1943-1959.) But it's more about the atmosphere. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-11-04T09:08:47-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/29/221652/63

Since the W considers itself the purveyor of cool, it makes sense that the chain would decide to redo the W Chicago-City Center. It was the first W hotel to come to the city in 2001 and it was looking a little shabby.

The $35 million makeover targeted the W Living Room, a.k.a. the lobby, and the hotel's 235 guestrooms and suites. What was hot back in '01, aside from 'N Sync, was dark decor with oversized furniture. The hotel tried to get away from that dated look throughout the hotel with bright, airy spaces.]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-10-30T09:29:19-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/28/51658/001 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/34094/cibomatto.jpg" class="top"> <p>If you want to check out Chicago's hottest restaurants, you'll have to to go a hotel. Whether it's the cool atmosphere or the delish food, <b>hotel restaurants have become the big trend</b> around town. We'll give you three of the best new hotel restaurants in Chicago: <p><b>Pelago in Raffaello Hotel</b><br> This Italian restaurant adds seafood to the mix with dishes like from-scratch ravioli filled with Dover sole and caviar. It also offers an affordable yet yummy lunch menu of dishes like tagliolini with organic spinach, crab meat and roasted garlic. But whichever meal you choose, you know it'll be good since Chef Mauro Mafrici snagged a Michelin star at his former Tribeca restaurant Lo Scalco. But the Jennifer Kester 2009-10-28T09:09:17-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/