60601 Travel Guide
Celebrity Scoop
Pierce Brosnan Heats Up Green Awards at Hotel Allegro in Chicago
November 24, 2008 at 1:53 PM | 1 Comment
'Twas a chilly, chilly weekend in Chicago, but someone showed up to an awards ceremony honoring people committed to green initiatives that made all the women at the Hotel Allegro warm up and probably turn red (har, har).
But really: Pierce Brosnan and his wife, Keely Shaye Brosnan, were honored at the Environmental Hall of Fame Awards this past weekend at Chicago's Hotel Allegro, which, according to the official blog for the ceremony, has been rated the Greenest Hotel in Chicago.
The only hotel company honored at the three-day ceremony was Kimpton (yay! Congrats!), and the Chicago Kimpton properties (which include the Allegro, Hotel Burnham and Hotel Monaco) were recognized "for their activism and commitment to organizations supporting a sustainable planet."
And we recognize Mr. Brosnan for being able to heat up Allegro's entire Walnut Room without the use of any electricity.
Barack Obama
Obama Was Celebrating in the Hyatt Regency Chicago's Presidential Suite
November 7, 2008 at 1:51 PM | 0 Comments
Dude, you just won!
Photos of President-Elect Barack Obama celebrating his victory has been made public on Flickr by photographer David Katz and almost immediately our brain was asking, "What hotel is this?"
Obvs it had to be close to Grant Park where the victory celebration was held. After doing some research we are positive it was the Hyatt Regency Chicago on Wacker Drive. (See here.) And naturally, the celebration was held in the hotel's presidential suite.
The ideal location to host an impressive VIP event, the Presidential Suite boasts an extra large parlor with a large plasma screen TV, cable and in-room pay movies, a surround sound system and an iHome Alarm Clock.
There is indeed an iHome Alarm clock as we spied it in the corner of this pic. And unlike many hotels with HD flat-screen TVs, this one actually looks like it gets HD reception. However, we could probably do without Hyatt's signature anonymously-modern decor. It just looks so impersonal. C'mon, this man just won the presidency!
[Photo: Barack Obama]
Hard Rock Hotels
What Would You Do With Twenty Dolla Dolla Bills, Y'all?
October 22, 2008 at 3:53 PM | 1 Comment
Ask yourself this: what would you do with a fat stack of $1 bills? Er, well, if your first thought was the same as ours and involved G-strings, you could stand to add the cash to your karma bank with the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago's "Take Time to Be Kind" program.
By choosing the package (room rates vary), you'll receive twenty $1 bills in an envelope upon check in.
The envelope comes with twenty ways to use the money to give back to others during your stay: paying for a stranger's cab fare, buying someone a coffee or a newspaper (and no, we don't think strip clubs count, friend). If you want, you can also just go ahead and donate the whole $20 to a good cause.
So, like, let's just say you had that stack of dolla dolla bills and you blew it on two lattes and a pack of cigarettes. Maybe you should get yourself covered by also joining the "Hard Rock, Soft Spot", which promises that $25 of the room rate will be donated to your choice of three charities when you request an available room upgrade.
Not going to lie, though: can you imagine a hotel full of people armed with stacks of money set aside just for doing good deeds for each other? Everyone would be buying each other breakfast and such -- and then Haley Joel Osment would walk onto the scene and it would be just like Pay It Forward, the sequel.
[Photo: Sami Keinänen]
Swissotels
Halloween Hotels :: Very Important Kids at Swissôtel Chicago
October 13, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
Many of you must remember the various scares over the years when it came to Halloween. It's hard to imagine that at one time kids would just traipse blithely from stranger's house to stranger's house, accepting and eating candy without protective individual wrappers -- even homemade treats!
Kids today have it a bit safer, and posher. Lucky little monsters in Chicago can spend Halloween this year at the Swissôtel Chicago. VIKs (Very Important Kids) will be entertained by a costumed T-Rex character from the Field Museum, make creepy-crawlies and long-legged beasties at the arts and crafts table and create their very own Egyptian funerary masks.
The Wit
Chicago's Wit Hotel To Tickle Your Fancy
October 3, 2008 at 3:59 PM | 0 Comments
You know what is pretty entertaining? That hugely-popular trend of late to build scenester hotels and plop a few stories of multi-million dollar condos "with hotel amenities" on top. Sure, who wouldn't love to have their beds turned down nightly and the option of room service at all hours, but we're still fully aware of all the issues that can arise when you've got hundreds of transient guests doing what they will in a space where you also happen to live.
Before next summer we'll have even more condo/hotels to choose from, considering that the Smyth Tribeca and Trump Soho in New York and the Trump Tower in Chicago are polishing their door knobs. Chicago will even have an unexpected addition as early as Spring 2009, as the new Doubletree property The Wit opens complete with 238 hotel rooms and 48 condo apartments.
Kimpton Hotels
Patrick Swayze Filming New Show at Hotel Monaco Chicago
August 19, 2008 at 2:30 PM | 0 Comments
A tipster wrote in today to let us know that our perennial crush Patrick Swayze -- who is officially back to work, hooray! -- is shooting a new series for A&E on location in Chicago.
And what location might that be? Well, none other than a Kimpton hotel.
Seems like a natural fit, as Kimpton properties are known to embrace things that are both sexy and cuddly (zebra print decor and pets, respectively), and clearly P. Swayze fits nicely into both categories. They've been filming some scenes at the Hotel Monaco -- and we hear the cast and crew were spotted dining in one of Monaco's private meeting rooms at lunchtime.
The show, called "The Beast", will be premiering in 2009 and stars our Patrick as an undercover FBI agent. There is no dirty dancing (that we know of) involved in the show, but we'll keep you posted.
Movie Set Hotels
Movie Set Hotel :: Hotel Monaco Makes an Appearance in the Dark Knight
July 21, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 2 Comments
If you haven't seen The Dark Knight we highly recommend that you do as it's just totally awesome, although a tad disturbing.
And if you're a true hotel geek like ourselves you'll be tickled to know that Chicago's Hotel Monaco gets a pretty significant cameo in the film.
The Mayor of Gotham has a killer office overlooking the Chicago River and the letters of Hotel Monaco vertical sign are easily discernible out the window.
Sadly, the hotel doesn't offer any sort of Dark Knight/Batman package but we think they should seriously consider one.
Hard Rock Hotels
Lollapalooza Hotels: Put Your Name on the List at Chicago Hard Rock
July 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM | 0 Comments
The Lollapalooza weekend is getting close again and the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago has a deal we rather like: it's the "Dude, My Name is on the List" package and for $4,100 you get a pretty cool VIP experience for Lollapalooza over the weekend of August 1-3.
The VIP package includes two nights' accommodation in a tower suite, two VIP passes to Lollapalooza include Lolla Lounge access and full access to the Hard Rock's Music Lounge, including post-festival parties each night.
Your only problem might be gathering enough courage to actually ask for a package that's called, "Dude, My Name is on the List."
Hotel Spas
Choose Your Zone Out Music at Fairmont Chicago's New mySpa Center
February 18, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments
Last week at the Fairmont Chicago, they opened their new mySpa treatment center. It's 11,000 square feet of space for massages, manicures, pedicures and skincare, along with a full-service fitness studio.
There are eight treatment rooms at the new spa, and one feature we like is that not only can you choose your own aromatherapy massage oils, you also get to choose the music that will be the background to your massage.
The Fairmont Chicago mySpa goes one step further in making it really "yourSpa" by providing iPod docking stations in the treatment rooms too--so you can program your own soundtrack entirely if you want to. Handy if you don't trust the music taste of your masseuse--we wish we'd had this option last time we had a massage to dreary classical music.
This new mySpa is aiming to have something for everyone. There's a "duet treatment suite" where couples can enjoy their spa experience together, including something that sounds quite intriguing--a two-person infinity soaking tub that fills from above. We'd like to see that.
Men are also targeted as possible spa guests, and even teenagers have treatments especially designed for them ... fun for the whole family. The spa's open daily from 9am to 9pm, except for Sundays when it closes at 8pm.
Kimpton Hotels
Chicago: Hotel Monaco Tells Two Different "Stories"
February 12, 2008 at 3:45 PM | 0 Comments
Most hotel chains have such boring slogans, for example Hampton Inn has "We love having you here" and Holiday Inn has "Look again", they should just cut to the chase and change them to say "We have an unimaginative marketing department". Kimpton Hotels slogan "Every hotel tells a story" legitimately makes you want to stay there. So today we went out in search for the story that Kimpton's Hotel Monaco in Chicago tells
If you're looking for a quiet story, Hotel Monaco can definitely help you there, just last week they opened the doors to their KN Tranquility Suite constructed in conjunction with KN Karen Neuburger on the 11th floor which is being termed an Ultimate Sleep Sanctuary. It's a 450 square foot room, featuring a wall-mounted natural stone water fountain, bamboo sheets, and a special KN Twin Story mattress.
Quiet not your type of story? Are you looking to rock it out? Live like a rockstar? Make some noise? Break some furniture? (ok, maybe not the last one - we got carried away). Hotel Monaco can also satisfy your cravings in their two-room "Party Like A Rock Star" Suite, which hopefully, is nowhere near the 11th floor.
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Winter's Arrived at Swissotel Chicago
February 7, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
We're sorry, Chicago Swissotel. We don't mean to pick on you, but first it was the construction site that spoiled what would otherwise be some pretty nice views. And this week, things have got worse.
Our friends in Chicago had already given us a heads up that the standard Chicago winter had set in. So when we saw this picture, taken by guests staying in the Chicago Swissotel on Monday and Tuesday of this week, we really did giggle. The only thing we can suggest is that this kind of weather makes a better view than a construction site, at least.
[Photo: windelbo]
Hotel Happenings
Weekend Hotel Happening: Iguanas and Fish-Shaped Cookies at Chicago's Swissotel
January 18, 2008 at 4:29 PM | 0 Comments
Hotel: Swissotel Chicago
When: Saturday, Jan. 19th. 10am to 1pm.
Where: The hotel's lobby lounge.
What: Consider it the ultimate family-friendly hotel weekend happening event. Iguanas and other reptiles will be on show for kiddies (and adult guests) during the "Animal Encounters" event put on by the Shedd Aquarium.
The hotel's pastry chef Mary Terisi will also help kids decorate fish-shaped cookies, but after the petting of reptiles is done we presume.
[Photo: HectorMesa]
