HotelChatter

1. For $9, you get a cup of the Ritz’s homemade Venezuelan Xocopili hot chocolate. (Admittedly, though, almost ten dollars for cocoa, no matter how divine, still strikes us cheapos as a little steep.)

2. Cozy up by the Seasons Lounge’s fireplace for roasted chestnuts and a holiday cocktail like the Fireside Martini or Mistletoe Veev-ito ($13).

3. Mimic your restful hotel slumber at home by picking up some Ritz-Carlton goose feather down pillows or a Ritz terrycloth robe. The full line of bedding starts at $24.

4. Take afternoon tea at the Ritz’s stately Greenhouse (from $27).

5. A spa attendant from the Ritz’s Carlton Club will draw you a bath (or a bubble bath for kids!) complete with soothing oils and an eye mask, loofah, bath pillow, and tea ($60).

6. Shoppers weary from the Magnificent Mile might want to recharge with a little foot pampering—for $65, you get a sea-salt-and-oil soak and foot massage.

7. Pampering kicks into high gear with the Four Season’s chocolate spa treatments, which includes things like the Chocolate Chip Mint Scrub, the Swiss Chocolate and Caramel Body Wrap, and more silliness like that. Each treatment ends with a chocolate martini and truffles. Mmmm. Prices start at $65.

8. And for $72 apiece, pull up a seat to the Four Seasons brunch, which was named the top Chicago brunch by the 2008 Zagat guide.

The other four holiday specials include your more typical Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton hotel packages (girlfriend getaways and the like, costing in the $300s). While these perks are hardly bargains, well, a little pampering at the Four Seasons and Ritz never hurts.

[Photo: Four Seasons]