Chicago offers one of the most competitive hotel packages in the country, with a wide variety of centrally located properties that offer service, comfort, and value at every price point. And, the city’s hotel inventory continues to grow and diversify each year. An estimated 3,000 new and varied hotel rooms are scheduled for completion by 2009.
Chicago offers more than 30,000 rooms in the central business district and over 100,000 rooms in the metropolitan area. Included in the mix are a variety of luxury hotels, convention properties, intimate boutiques, and limited service hotels for those traveling on a budget.
Chicago’s newest hotel, the Blackstone, A Renaissance Hotel, recently opened on South Michigan Avenue offering stunning views of Grant Park. The hotel offers 332 guestrooms, 13,230 square feet of meeting space, health club and business center.
A Chicago architectural and cultural icon, the hotel underwent a $118 million showcase restoration transforming the Beaux–Arts, national landmark into a luxury Renaissance Hotel. Celebrated as the “Hotel of Presidents”, the former Blackstone opened in 1910 and played host to countless celebrities including Katherine Hepburn, Tennessee Williams, Paul Newman and Lena Horne before closing its doors.
Another recent addition to Chicago’s hotel community is the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago. This 90-story condo-hotel tower features 339 guestrooms, 20,000 square feet of function space, and a 23,000 square foot spa.
Poised along the Chicago River at the juncture of the Loop and North Michigan Avenue, the hotel joins a list of landmarks, such as the Magnificent Mile, Chicago River and Millennium Park. Soaring ninety-two stories, the structure of polished stainless steel and iridescent-tinted glass is a showcase of bold style and engaging design.
Properties currently under construction include, but are not limited to: the Elysian Hotel with 188 guestrooms, Wit – A Doubletree Hotel with 298 rooms and the first US-based Shangri-La, which will consist of 200-rooms.
Other new properties that opened recently include:
Springhill Suites (253 rooms)
Residence Inn (270 rooms)
Hotel Cass Mag Mile Chicago – A Holiday Inn Express 9175 rooms)
Hampton Inn (135 rooms)
Chicago is among the largest of the leading convention cities with the majority of its hotel community located in a relatively compact downtown area. The city offers more than 20,000 rooms within three miles of McCormick Place. A dedicated busway between McCormick Place and downtown hotels make transportation between the two more efficient. Navy Pier has even more hotel rooms in close proximity, with 17,000 rooms within one mile.