60601 Travel Guide
Hotel Technology / Hotel Renovations / Hotel News / Hyatt Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
Chicago's Hyatt Regency Renovates & Gets All 'Tech'ed Up
Signing over a check for $168 millions dollars to refresh their rooms, the Hyatt Regency Chicago has created a haven for the most tech-savvy travelers. The hefty cost is not just for new coats of paint and a few new pillows, it creates an oasis for those that need to stay connected from check-in to check-out.
Not only the largest hotel in Chicago, the Regency is the largest in the Hyatt portfolio. With these milestones, it makes sense to roll out the flashest of technology in this flagship hotel.
Mimicking the check-in hall of the world's largest airports, Hyatt's lobby with offer guests plenty of ways to collect room keys and start the unpacking process. In addition to the traditional face-to-face check-in, the hotel will offer iPads to track your arrival. If you prefer to be a little less futuristic, self-service check-in kiosks will be available too. Of course, we just discussed whether customers want this kind of non-personalized service.
Hotel Openings / Virgin Hotels / Hotel News / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Delays / → All Tags
Will Virgin Chicago Ever Lose Its Hotel Virginity?
Among Chicago’s — and possibly the world's — most eagerly anticipated hotel openings is Richard Branson’s first ever Virgin Hotel, originally slated for Chicago. But rumors are swirling that it’s not going to happen. We cringe and die a little inside whenever we hear it, but more than anything, we're just anxious to get to the bottom of things.
In 2011, Branson first announced plans to open the hotel in a 27-story Art Deco gem, the Old Dearborn Bank building located in Chicago’s Loop. Construction was set to begin in May 2012 with a tentative opening date of fall 2013.
Well, that got pushed to a more ambiguous late 2013/early 2014 opening. And then, just yesterday, Virgin CEO Raul Leal confirmed an early 2014 opening with Hotel News Now. So what exactly is the deal with this place?
Hotel Sale / Chicago Hotels / Batman Hotel / Wyndham Hotels / → All Tags
Chicago's Hotel 71 to be Sold and Eventually Managed By Wyndham
Didn’t we go on and brag about how you could live it up like Bruce Wayne at Hotel 71 in Chicago, and now has the hotel gone and been sold? Yep, Hotel 71 is set to be purchased by Hospitality Properties Trust with plans for Wyndham Worldwide to manage it. The hotel underwent a $15 million dollar renovation back in early 2011 which lifted the face of the lobby and rooms.
Since opening, it's had an unfortunate round of luck that started with an owner (Robert Falor) and his dream-turned-nightmare of a condo hotel plan. Defaulting on over $125 million in debt, the hotel was then sold to Canyon Capital Reality Advisors back in 2009 for $34 million. The official word isn’t out yet on what HPT is now paying to aquire Hotel 71, but one insider estimated about $87 million.
Movie Set Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Batman Hotels / Hotel Rooftops / Sweet Suites / → All Tags
How to Stay Like Bruce Wayne in Chicago at Hotel 71
Bruce Wayne makes a grand entrance in "The Dark Knight" (2008), filmed in this penthouse ballroom atop Hotel 71
Ed. Note: The opening of The Dark Knight Rises movie was eclipsed by the senseless shootout in Aurora, Colo. This post was written before the tragedy and while the movie and the shootout will be forever linked, we thought giving you some behind-the scenes info on the first Dark Knight movie might separate the two...if only for a little bit.
Next time you visit Chicago, add Hotel 71 to your sight-seeing itinerary as this is where Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) fought the good fight in The Dark Knight and where Transformers ran amok for the movie's third franchise.
Take the elevator up to the hotel’s 39th floor penthouse ballroom and it will all come back to you. Formerly staged as Bruce Wayne’s penthouse apartment in “The Dark Knight,” the penthouse ballroom is simpler now, but the floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic city views are unmistakable. Take a closer look out the windows, spy the adjacent balcony and some of the best scenes from “Dark Knight” are sure to come flooding back.
Hotel Pools / Chicago Hotels / Summer Hotels / Radisson Blu Hotels / → All Tags
Summer is Swimmingly Good at Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago
Finding a really great outdoor pool at a Chicago hotel used to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Sure, plenty of beautiful indoor pools abound, but where were the sparkly, sceney big pools in which to soak in all that summer sun? As if an answer to the sun seekers prayers, Chicago’s Radisson Blu Aqua now shines like a mirage in the middle of this big city, literally around the bend from Millennium Park, the Mag Mile, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.
We recently stayed at the hotel and after one look at Blu Aqua’s huge recreation deck and pool, bailed on our room and jumped in for a swim. Situated on the third floor across 80,000 square feet, the very green deck is something to behold in Chicago. There’s the pool and cabanas plus a Jacuzzi and kiddie pool. Further beyond sits another large deck with gardens, gazebos and a 1/5 mile walking trail, grills and a fire pit, even a lower-level Zen garden complete with a rake. Everything is first come first serve.
Hotel Rooftops / DoubleTree Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel News / → All Tags
Bikini-Clad Babes Will Be Dancing Past Midnight Under theWit’s New Retractable Roof
Police cars barricading streets, helicopters hosting steel 280 feet into the air, sexy girls in hard hats – a whole new kind of commotion construction is hitting one of Chicago’s most coveted rooftop scenes. And come May 9, ROOF, theWit hotel’s rooftop lounge, is upping the ante with the big reveal: a brand-new, all-glass-and-steel retractable roof that will turn this swanky, spacious outdoor bar into a year-round, rooftop destination.
Who knew those dancing babes could weather hard-core construction so well?
This is Chicago, folks, and that means rooftop season is impossibly short or fickle. A local ordinance also calls for outdoor patios across the city to close after midnight, which means even the most gorgeous of summer nights are cut far too short. But all that changes with theWit’s retractable roof -- a 30-foot wide by 21-foot tall behemoth -- which turns ROOF’s outdoor patio into a spectacular, all-glass nightclub after midnight. No need to shuffle back inside, instead you’ll be fighting to keep that outdoor seat on the 27th floor with top-to-bottom views of the Loop and its many high rises, Lake Michigan, the sky -- you name it.
Virgin Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Construction / Hotel Hype / Hotel News / Richard Branson / → All Tags
Construction to Start in May on the First Ever Virgin Hotel in Chicago
It seemed so far off and almost unreal, until now; we just learned from Crain’s Chicago Business that construction on Richard Branson’s first ever Virgin Hotel set to open in Chicago will begin this May. No change to the opening date, so we’re still planning to kick back in pop Branson-esque rooms there by Fall of 2013. (How do you do neon right in a luxury hotel?)
In a surprise brilliant move last fall, Virgin threw the ultimate nod to Chicago by announcing the purchase of the Old Dearborn Bank, a landmarked Art Deco building originally built in 1928. Starting in May, Virgin will redevlop the 27-story, 136,000-square-foot office space into 250 hotel rooms. According to Crain’s, the rehab will come complete with pools and saunas. (Will there be both a rooftop doozy and one that takes advantage of Millennium Park views?)
Radisson Blu Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Exclusive Floors / Hotel Club Lounges / → All Tags
The Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago Has Now Opened Their Business Class Lounge
Here's yet another hotel that's acting like an airline--The Radisson Blu Aqua hotel in Chicago which has just opened its new 24-Hour Business Class Lounge.
Guests staying in one of the hotel's suites will get complimentary breakfast, snacks and refreshments throughout the day and a dedicated concierge from 6:30 to 9am and again from 4:30 to 10pm. Lounging in the lounge can be down by flipping through a selection of newspapers and magazines or chillaxing in front of a giant flat panel TV.
Guests staying in the biz class floors also get other perks outside the lounge like 1,000 Club Carlson Gold Points per night stay, an in-room Nespresso machine, complimentary mineral water, two pairs of slippers and the use of an iPad where they can access the hotel's room service and valet at the touch of a button.
Hotel Design / Chicago Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Art / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
You Can't Miss Fairmont Chicago's Reception Desk
Wow. It has been a while since we last stepped into the lobby of The Fairmont Chicago. In fact, the hotel came out of a $50 million renovation in 2010 and we only saw the place in its shiny newness just last month. First impressions? Niiiice. Oh, it's still vanilla enough to please the majority of travelers, but there's a hint of an Amazon jungle in those dark woods and LED underlights.
Specifically our attention was drawn to the reception backsplash—an undulating wave pattern of lights that begins at the ceiling, and flows down underneath the desk, out towards the center of the lobby floor. We like it and yet...
Does this look like a Fairmont to you?
[Photo: HotelChatter]
Hotel Christmas Trees / Chicago Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Christmas Hotels / → All Tags
Seeking Out the Lobby Christmas Tree at the Fairmont Chicago
Getting in the Christmas spirit may be easy for those who love wearing kitschy knit vests, or going shopping amid crowds, or baking in general, but we pretty much rely on hotel lobbies to jolt us from our pre-winter malaise. When the trees go up and the garlands come down the staircases, it's pretty hard to resist the warm fuzzies that rise in our gut, and thus we typically go seeking out hotel lobbies with classic scenes.
A few days ago in Chicago, we popped into The Fairmont for this very reason.
The Fairmont is a hotel we tend to forget exists, since it's behind the stocky business buildings of Michigan Avenue and covered from the south by the monolithic Aon Center. Oddly it's been the presence of the new Radisson Blu Chicago that's drawn us back to the area. Guess what, though—the Blu doesn't have a tree! So across the street it is.
Hotel Architecture / Chicago Hotels / Doubletree Hotels / → All Tags
How Do You Wash theWit?
How do you wash theWit? Very carefully...or rather gracefully as if it's a dance, if you're one of the window washers we watched prance across the glass of theWit Hotel in Chicago earlier today. No, they weren't messing around; they were just doing their job, which involves the very cool combination of walking and washing a piece of stunning modern architecture, while rappeling down it at the same time.
No awkward window washer carts here, which is a good thing considering what can sometimes happen if a cart goes rogue in the wind.
One more thing: let this be a reminder to always yield those warnings about window washing happening while you're staying in a hotel. Typically a little note will be placed on your pillow or desk regarding washing times, along with advice to keep your curtains closed. We know these guys probably have some great stories...
Hotel Upgrades / Hotel Extras / Radisson Hotels / Radisson Blu Hotels / Hotel Openings / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
A Somewhat Secret $9 Room Upgrade at the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago
If all our stories on the US' very first Radisson Blu has you plotting a stay, you may want to remember this little upgrading trick for the future.
When we booked our City View King for a total of $287 on the hotel website, all was normal. Then we received the confirmation email, with a tempting little red notice that upgrade options were available, from only $9. After your room purchase is complete, Radisson would like to sap a few extra dollars (like $9 for the chance at a one-category upgrade or $39 for an 11am early check-in) from your wallet.
