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Condé Nast Traveler recently released the results of its Readers’ Choice survey. Three Chicago hotels made the list of the 50 best in the world and I’m surprised that these picks outranked some other hotels in the Windy City.
Chicago has no shortage of luxury hotels with the Four Seasons, Nobu Hotel, The Langham, Park Hyatt, Pendry, and Virgin Hotel all holding spots in the top 20 on TripAdvisor. None of these properties made the list of readers’ picks, however. The three Chicago hotels chosen for these awards are the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel (#42), The Godfrey Hotel Chicago (#13), and the Le Méridien Essex Chicago (#12). The Le Méridien Essex Chicago holds the same rank on TripAdvisor, but The Godfrey Hotel Chicago ranks as the 78th pick on TripAdvisor.
I have stayed at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel and would recommend it if you need to be in the area for business or to be close to the river and Michigan Avenue. The hotel has 560 rooms and 22 event rooms. I’ve never stayed at The Godfrey Hotel, but hear good things about the boutique hotel. I’ve also never stayed at the Le Méridien Essex Chicago, but it looks like a good location for hitting up the nearby museums. It also offers great views of Chicago’s skyline and Lake Michigan.
The St. Regis Chicago sits in 138th place on TripAdvisor out of 212 hotels. I’d argue that the hotel is rated too highly even with this low ranking. I stayed there when the hotel first opened and would not recommend it (my full review here). I called them out for scamming Marriott Bonvoy® Elite members out of their breakfast benefits and they quickly backtracked. The hotel lacks any soul and the furnishings feel cheap for a St. Regis hotel.
I’m surprised that The Gwen, A Luxury Collection Hotel did not get a spot as it’s one of my favorites in Chicago. The Park Hyatt (my review here) was also recently renovated and is a lovely hotel to stay at while visiting Chicago.
Anthony’s Take: The three hotels in Chicago that made the top 50 globally would not necessarily be my choices, but I’m happy to see that the awful St. Regis did not make the list.
(Featured Image Credit: Marriott.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
