Set within a vast residential, commercial and retail complex, this structure overlooks Grant Park and Lake Michigan. The hotel is one of the best deluxe values in Chicago, and it continues to fill in the gap between the high-end Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton and more-commercial Hyatt Regency, InterContinental and Sheraton.
The Fairmont is the closest hotel to Millennium Park and is near the city's business district and many of Chicago's top attractions, such as Navy Pier, Soldier Field and the Museum Campus, which includes the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum.
The hotel has completed a $50 million renovation and has repositioned the property to appeal more to younger guests. The look and feel is now more modern and contemporary. The redesign includes a new lobby, a new wine, cheese and chocolate-tasting room called ENO, a new spa, and renovated and expanded guest rooms.
The excellent location is just out of the limelight, but it is within easy walking distance of the Loop, Magnificent Mile and cultural attractions. Rosy gray polished granite, bay windows and a copper roof mark the exterior of the 37-story building. Inside, public areas consist of a series of intimate spaces highlighted with antiques and modern art. Soft lighting cascades from the beautiful chandelier in the octagonal lobby, where guests relax in alcoves with granite tables and plush seating.
Aria Restaurant & Bar captures the palettes and wallets of hotel guests and locals with its delicious contemporary American fare, spiced with international accents. This fine-dining venue serves all meals, and room service delivers around the clock. The sunken Lobby Lounge, where patrons partake of tea and harder stuff, carries the same social cache as the Drake Hotel.
The independently operated health club, with indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center and spa facilities, admits guests for a fee. On-site meeting space can welcome 2,000, and a business center is open during normal hours. For a fee, wireless high-speed Internet access is available in the lobby and in meeting rooms.
Individually designed accommodations are exceptionally spacious, and the high ceilings bolster the deep-seated elegance of these plush contemporary abodes; none is more than four doors from a speedy elevator. These are some of the largest standard rooms in the city, and they show more imagination than those at the Ritz-Carlton. All display custom queen and king beds nestled beneath luxurious bedding and feather pillows, excellent residential quality furnishings and rich fabrics.
The marble baths have oversized tubs, stall showers with rainfall showerheads, mini-TVs, radios, phones, scales and heat lamps. Adjacent lie dedicated dressing areas with marble-topped makeup counters and theatrical makeup mirrors. In addition to the multiline phones with voice mail and data ports, high-speed Internet access (for a fee), minibars and private fax machines are in every room. Suites include built-in bars, bookshelves and butler's pantries. A few boast fireplaces, and many rooms afford unobstructed lake views.
Small pets are allowed here for a fee. Even in harried times, this luxurious hotel conveys quiet civility, offering one of the best price-value ratios in the city; when occupancy is low, the rates are among the best in town.
