The Peninsula Chicago

Design

The Peninsula Chicago's architecture is inspired by the Peninsula group's flagship property in Hong Kong. Both hotels share the layout of arm-like wings projecting from the central section like a throne. The Chicago hotel's podium and high rise are derived from the flagship's original building and 30-story tower expansion, respectively. The Chicago hotel's Michigan Avenue side has a topside curtain wall and corduroy concrete patterns beneath the windows, similar to its Hong Kong forebear's historical facade. The Chicago hotel also has a two-story sky lobby, and the Superior Street entrance is flanked by Chinese marble lions, and most of its interior décor is similar to the Hong Kong hotel.

Designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects of Boston and constructed by the Thomas J. Klutznick Co. of Chicago, the complex is a mixed-use project consisting of Phase 1, a 235,000-sf retail block that opened in 1997, and Phase 2, the 390,000-sf 339-room hotel that was completed in 2001. The high rise portion is set back from Michigan Avenue to reinforce the three-to four-story street-level scale, which allows the midday sun to filter into Water Tower Park.

Location

Due to the hotel's proximity to Oak Street and the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Avenue), the building is within walking distance to Chanel, Armani, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton.{{cite web |url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/chicago-hotels-magnificent-mile-25048.html|title= Chicago Hotels on the Magnificent Mile

Features

The hotel offers limousine service to and from O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport. For business events and meetings the hotel has over 9500 sqft available which includes boardrooms and a business center. For rooms, there are a total of 339 guestrooms and suites available. The hotel has multiple restaurants: Shanghai Terrace, Pierrot Gourmet, The Lobby and Z Bar serving Cantonese/Shanghainese, European, American cuisine small plates, and Global cuisine shared plates respectively. There are private dining rooms in Shanghai Terrace and Z Bar that are used for business meetings and special events.

The bar is named simply The Bar. The Fitness Centre takes up the top two floors. These floors are different from the rest of the hotel in that the pool room has floor-to-ceiling windows to optimize the view of Lake Michigan from the 25 m pool. The Fitness Centre also contains a spa which was awarded the Best Urban Spa Hotel by Spa Finder in 2007 and 2008. The city's only hotel ice skating rink (Sky Rink) is situated on the mezzanine.

Awards

In 2018 the hotel was awarded the #2 best hotel in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report and in 2017 the Travel + Leisure magazine's award for #1 Hotel in Chicago. The Peninsula is one of only four 5-star hotels in Chicago, the others being the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, The Langham Chicago, and Trump Tower Chicago.

References

References

1. (March 2011). "Peninsula Business Profile". bbb.org.
2. (September 2009). "Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels buy The Peninsula Chicago". asiatraveltips.com.
3. (17 June 2001). "Hotel's failed first impression".
4. "The Peninsula Chicago".
5. "New hotel Opens".
6. "Peninsula Chicago". Luxe Travel.
7. "Shanghai Terrace: Dim Sum Downtown Chicago {{!}} The Peninsula".
8. "Pierrot Gourmet: Chicago French-European Café {{!}} The Peninsula".
9. "Z Bar Chicago {{!}} The Peninsula Chicago's Rooftop Lounge".
10. [https://www.peninsula.com/en/chicago/hotel-fine-dining/shanghai-terrace-cantonese Shanghai Terrace] chicago.peninsula.com
11. [https://www.peninsula.com/en/chicago/hotel-fine-dining/the-lobby-afternoon-tea] chicago.peninsula.com
12. [https://www.zbarchicago.com/] chicago.peninsula.com
13. "The Peninsula Chicago". thepeninsula.com.
14. "Pierrot Gourmet". thepeninsula.com.
15. "The Peninsula Chicago Awards". kiwicollection.com.
16. (30 May 2019). "Ice Skating Chicago | Find Rinks in Downtown & Nearby".
17. "The Peninsula Chicago". fivestaralliance.com.
18. "Chicago Luxury Hotels".