Laura French

Whether your visit to Chicago requires oh-so-sweet convenience, ridiculously lavish luxury, glistening spa and pool facilities or a panoramic rooftop bar, you can bet the city’s roster of hotels will have you covered—and we’re here to point you in the right direction. With new additions for Fall 2025 including the lavish Langham, the historic Palmer House Hilton and the striking Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, dive into our fresh roundup of the best places to stay in the Windy City.  Which area is best to stay in Chicago? Lincoln Park and Wicker Park are two brilliant options if you want to be a step back from the bustle of the city, but this is Chicago after all, and the bustle is part of the fun. If you’re visiting for the first time, we’d recommend opting for somewhere central like River North or the Loop.  Chicago’s best hotels at a glance: 💎Most luxurious: Four Seasons Hotel Chicago 👛Best budget: Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago 🏊‍♀️Best swimming pool: Viceroy Chicago 🌃Best rooftop: The Gwen  🤩Most iconic: The Palmer House Hilton 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to the best spa hotels in Chicago How we curate our hotel lists Our team of writers and travel experts review hotels all over the world—new openings, old classics and everything in between—to bring you fresh, honest recommendations, all year round. We have reviewed many of the hotels featured below, but we may not have stayed at every single one. Any we haven’t stayed in have been selected by experts based on their

You could easily spend a city break in Chicago barely stopping at your hotel other than to sleep, but we know just how tiring rushing about eating, drinking, shopping and sightseeing can be, so why not book into a spa hotel for a hit of rest and relaxation while you’re there?  When it comes to curating menus of intriguing ancient treatments or modern wellness techniques, designing impressive fitness centres or building gleaming swimming pools, Chicago has got its spa hotel game down. New additions to this list for Fall 2025 include the Palmer House Hilton, theWit and The Langham. Chicago’s best spa hotels at a glance: 💎 Biggest splurge: Four Seasons Hotel 👛 Most affordable: The Palmer House Hilton 🏊 Best pool: The Peninsula Chicago 💤 Best massage: Eurostars Magnificent Mile 🏋️‍♀️ Best fitness center: The St Regis Chicago 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to the best hotels in Chicago Which area is best to stay in Chicago? Chicago is a sprawling city, but where it’s best to stay varies hugely based on the kind of trip you’re planning. First-timers would do well to be right in the action, opting for the River North or the Loop, whereas travelers after something a little more homely but still well connected should consider Lincoln Park or Wicker Park.  🛏 Check out the best Airbnbs in Chicago

Opened in 2022 in Chicago’s Financial District—in the lively downtown area—this has all the sleekness and elegance you’d expect from a recently opened Marriott pad. It sits across the top few floors of a neoclassical building that was the most expensive ever built in Chicago at the time, and it stays true to its roots: upscale and polished, with friendly service, big modern rooms, a gym, a stylish restaurant and a bar that hosts regular live jazz. Why stay at The LaSalle Chicago? There’s the grandeur of the architecture, firstly. The building was designed by acclaimed architect Daniel Burnham to house the Continental and Commercial National Bank, with giant honeyed columns and billowing flags to mark the entrance. But for me, it was the accommodation that really stood out, with swish décor, glossy marble bathrooms, tons of space and all the latest mod-cons. The service was also excellent, with extra touches like a free chauffeur service within a two-mile radius on weekends, and the location is hard to beat, with Millennium Park, the Willis Tower, the Theatre District, the Art Institute of Chicago and other key attractions on the doorstep. What are the rooms like at The LaSalle Chicago? There are 232 rooms and suites here, and they’re all clean-cut, well-equipped and sleek, with an Art Deco vibe—think strokes of midnight blue, dark grey and white, with super-soft, squidgy Egyptian rugs sprawled on oak wood floors. Every room has a Simmons ‘Beautyrest Black’ bed—I admit I didn’

As the longest continuously operating hotel in North America, Palmer House is something of an institution in Chicago. First opened in 1871, this lavish Grande Dame has a string of bold claims to its name—it’s here the chocolate brownie was invented in 1893—and today it’s an extravagant, 25-storey behemoth of a hotel with more than 1,600 rooms. At its heart is the gilded lobby, ambiently lit by 24-karat gold candelabras designed by Tiffany. You’ll also find a clutch of restaurants, bars and cafes—alongside an excellent spa, fitness centre and newly renovated pool, all smack-dab in the middle of Chicago’s buzzing downtown ‘Loop’ area. I was impressed by the grandeur of it all, and while its rooms could do with a refresh, there’s a real sense of heritage and history here that for me made it well worth the stay. Why stay at Palmer House? It’s all about the stories here. Everyone from Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and King Charles have stayed at Palmer House, while the likes of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong have performed in its gold-leafed Empire Room. Originally a wedding gift from business magnate Potter Palmer to his socialite wife Bertha, this was the city’s elaborate hub at the turn of the century. It was rebuilt twice—once following the Great Chicago Fire in 1873, and again in 1925—and took French design for inspiration, with Bertha collecting works by the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro.  Today its palati