CHICAGO
HOTELS!
Downtown Chicago is packed with
hotels, thanks to the city's booming convention
trade. The competition among luxury hotels is especially
intense, with the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons
winning international awards even as newer properties
(such as the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower and the
Hard Rock Hotel) get in on the action. In recent
years, that has meant steadily rising prices, with
budget lodgings becoming harder to find.
Most Chicago hotels offer a quintessential urban experience:
Rooms come with views of surrounding skyscrapers, and
the bustle of city life hits you as soon as you step
outside the lobby doors. Although every property listed
here caters to business travelers, Chicago attracts
lots of tourists as well, and you won't have a problem
finding plenty of midrange, family-friendly hotels
in the most convenient neighborhoods; this is not a
city where luxury hotels have dibs on all the prime
real estate.
Although
Chicago has its share of places that tout themselves
as "boutique" hotels
(Hotel Burnham, Hotel Monaco, W Chicago Lakeshore),
these aren't quite
the same as their New York, Miami, or Los Angeles counterparts
-- the so-called beautiful people who frequent these
spots on the coasts don't tend to stop off in Chicago.
No matter where you stay, you'll likely find that your
fellow guests are business travelers or vacationing
families.
