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In The Shadow Of The John Hancock Building At The Raffaello Chicago

Where: 201 East Delaware Place [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60611

Sometimes you stay in hotels because you're on a vacation, and other times you stay in hotels because of a business trip or special occasion, but you never plan for emergencies when you need to stay in a hotel, such as in the case of electrical problems at home. During our recent visit to Chicago, this is exactly what happened to friends of ours, and so we ended up next door in the Raffaello Hotel, a small but four-star property a block off of Michigan Avenue and cuddled right up to the rear of the John Hancock Center.

The hotel, for all its vintage charm and excellent location, is about as under-the-radar as you can get; there were no tour groups checking in, or really any tourists or groups for that matter. The clientele skews older and more sophisticated, like these are the people who have been coming here for years and years, desire a comfortable room and proximity to the lake, prime shopping and downtown, and yet aren't willing to pay Four Seasons prices for it—our king room was $139. You won't find a bar scene—although they do have a small bar off the lobby—and you will not miss the traffic noise of Michigan Ave, since the Raffaello is tucked just far enough back to miss out on that hubbub.

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