America's second city, Chicago is synonymous with business — it's the unofficial capital of the Midwest, and home to an impressive skyline that's got more than its share of modernist architectural classics. Add to all this a well-deserved reputation as an excellent place to eat — Chicago-style pizza is justly famous — and it's no surprise the city's hotel scene is as busy as it is.
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The Gold Coast
By now the Thompson brand’s international ambitions are out in the open, and if the Thompson Chicago already feels familiar, it’s because the Thompson boutique-hotel recipe is fairly well understood: equal parts classic, eye-catching modernism, luxe yet attainable comforts, and inviting, magnetic public spaces, where travelers and locals meet and mingle over a cocktail or a meal. The look is sharp and fairly sunny, the vibe is hip but not exclusionary, and the details are thoughtful enough to remind you that hospitality is best handled with a personal touch. More...
247 Rooms
101 Verified Reviews
73 
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Downtown
As 2015 opened, was there a bigger story in the hospitality world than Virgin Hotels? Nearly lost in the excitement about the birth of a new boutique-hotel brand is the fact that it’s a real hotel we’re talking about, in the actually existing city of Chicago, Illinois, in a restored 1928-vintage building inside the Loop, the city’s central business district. More...
250 Rooms
43 Verified Reviews
18
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The Gold Coast
The Talbott Hotel, on Chicago’s Gold Coast, is a throwback to another era — in this case the 1920s, a time before multinational hotel chains, superstar designers, indeed decades before the very invention of the concept of the boutique hotel. This classic, slightly retro opulence is a big part of what we love about Chicago, recalling the era when this was the capital of the West. More...
149 Rooms
77 Verified review
77
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Near North Side
While the world’s less clued-in luxury brands are still trumpeting their “exclusivity” to anyone who will listen, some of the hotel industry’s savvier players have come to recognize what a sour taste that concept can leave. A new philosophy of inclusivity is embodied at PUBLIC Chicago, something of an anti-boutique boutique, an anti-design design hotel. As long as the service isn’t anti-service — and it isn’t — we’re still on board. More...
285 Rooms
184 Verified Reviews
220
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Wicker Park
When one of your favorite hotel brands moves into one of your favorite underutilized buildings, it’s a win-win. The Robey Chicago, Grupo Habita’s second hotel in the United States, is the new occupant of North Tower, a 1929 Art Deco skyscraper in Wicker Park. The Mexican mini-chain tapped a Belgian design team, Nicolas Schuybroek Architects and Marc Merckx Interiors, to overhaul the place, reshaping office space into 69 guest rooms and a handful of cafés and lounges, including the striking indoor-outdoor bar on the 13th floor. More...
69 Rooms
7 Verified Reviews
1
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The Loop
Chicago’s architectural story began before modernism — this Venetian Gothic landmark, previously a private club for the city’s (male) movers and shakers, dates back to the final decade of the 19th century. But now, after a renovation by architects Hartshorne Plunkard and an interior redesign by hospitality wizards Roman and Williams, the Chicago Athletic Association is a thoroughly up-to-date boutique hotel, in that retro-modern, luxury-boutique sort of way. More...
251 Rooms
35 Verified review
38
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River North
Something richer than the average boutique, and more stylish than the typical luxury hotel — that’s the idea behind the James. The flagship in what’s to be a new chain, the James Chicago, it must be said, is a highly polished affair. The look is significantly more dressed-up than one might expect in a town which, despite its architectural pedigree, draws a large share of its travelers from Middle America. The rooms are swanky, in a restrained way, furnished with familiar designer pieces and rescued from the edge of minimalist boredom by an edge of decadence — vast TV screens, rich fabrics, top-flight entertainment centers and lush modern spa-style bathrooms. More...
294 Rooms
130 Verified Reviews
228
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Near North Side
There was a dana hotel here before, on this very spot, but a very different one — traditional, old-fashioned, maybe even classic, depending on who you ask. But that's in the past now: the original dana has been pulled down, replaced by a brand-new tower of modern metal and glass, home to the new incarnation of the dana hotel and spa. With over two hundred rooms it's not small, but the look and the atmosphere are pure boutique, from the exclusivity of the nightspots to the forward-looking design in the guest rooms. More...
216 Rooms
230 Verified Reviews
264
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Lincoln Park
Chicago's once-and-future Hotel Lincoln was built in 1928 and enjoyed the kind of storied heyday many urban landmarks only wish they could boast of. But after hosting the likes of Al Capone and David Mamet (separately, of course), the Lincoln shut down, going on to pass a few uneventful years as a Days Inn before starting over as a fully refurbished boutique hotel. The newest incarnation of the Lincoln puts a slightly tweedy, slightly irreverent, almost collegiate spin on modern hotel design, and it's a style that feels right at home in the Second City. More...
184 Rooms
37 Verified Reviews
37
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Near North Side
Chicago’s impressive boutique-hotel scene has tended to stress the business side of things a bit heavily, and for good reason — this is a city that works hard, and is justifiably proud of that part of its self-image. But what it’s lacked is the sort of youthful, budget-friendly rock & roll boutique hotel where work takes something of a secondary role. Something like the Acme Hotel. More...
130 Rooms
37 Verified Reviews
22
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