Modern Luxury Hotel with Rock n' Roll Glamour
Just a few blocks north from the Art Institute’s Monets and Picassos, there’s another cultural shrine: the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. It’s set in the classic Carbide & Carbon Building, a marvel of architecture designed by legendary architect Daniel Burnham; its gilded top makes it look like a giant champagne bottle. Inside the shiny lobby, there are display cases with rock memorabilia such as Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz’s Fender Squier bass guitar. The building as a whole is a blend of Old-World elegance and rock-and-roll glamour.
On the lobby level, the vintage-inspired Angels & Kings bar boasts a full cocktail menu and an intimate stage for live music performances. Meanwhile, Chuck’s Manufacturing has its own cocktail list and serves upscale American fare, such as new york strip steaks.
Upstairs in the rooms, you can get varying views of the Magnificent Mile shopping district and Millennium Park behind the steel-colored curtains. And as part of the Fender’s picks. program, you can place a deposit and have one of 20 Fender guitars delivered to your room and jam on it with headphones on.
Chicago's Magnificent Mile: Upscale Boutiques and Historical Architecture
On Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, landmark skyscrapers such as the John Hancock Center and the Wrigley Building tower over the city's liveliest retail corridor. In total, the stretch of high-end real estate houses some 460 stores, ranging from exclusive designers such as Armani and Chanel to beloved brands including Apple, American Girl, and Gap. Double-decker buses and horse-drawn carriages circle the Chicago Water Tower, a limestone icon that survived the Great Chicago Fire, and droves of shoppers navigate eight levels of boutiques and cafés at the nearby Water Tower Place.
Lake Shore Drive runs two blocks east of Michigan Avenue. Travel + Leisure called this stretch “the greatest architecture road on earth” thanks to the superstar skyscrapers lined up along the lakefront. Looming above them all, of course, is the Willis Tower, known to locals as the Sears Tower, which is the tallest building in North America. Runners, cyclists, and runaway lawn mowers travel the adjoining Lakefront Trail throughout the year.