Things to do / Travel Guide
It's easy to gush about the luxury options for a big city such as Chicago. Chicago, the “Second City,” is in fact first in luxury to many travelers. You'll hear the locals boast about how their hotels and restaurants are the best in the country. And you know something? They just might be right. Entertainment options are also available on a fantastic scale, and in nearby southern Wisconsin you'll find luxurious lodging and dining in Milwaukee and Madison..
Where to begin with the Metro Chicago and southern Wisconsin region? It could be with the Park Hyatt Chicago, or it could be with the other Chicago luxury hotel the Peninsula, or it could be dining establishments - trendsetters - such as Charlie Trotter's, or the fabulous golf courses of Sheboygan, or the spa atmosphere at the nearby American Club. The region is known for many things worth your time, like skyscrapers, famous street food, comedy clubs, and, of course, BEER! - but luxury often outshines the rest. It's time for a trip down the Magnificent Mile.
Luxurious Accommodations in Metro Chicago and Southern Wisconsin
Our first stop, on the Mag Mile, takes us to Park Tower, one of Chicago's tallest buildings. It's certainly one of the city's most dignified. This esteemed skyscraper is host to Chicago's best luxury condos on the top floors, and to the honorable Park Hyatt on the bottom floors. The Park Hyatt is undoubtedly one of America's most modern hotels, with high-tech amenities populating its rooms like a science fair in Silicon Valley. The televisions - huge. The bathtubs - extra deep for an almost pool-like feel. The showers, separate - double-headed, one stationary, one handheld. You enter the suite from a marble foyer, the door opened by your own butler, after alighting at the hotel from your courtesy car. Walk out to the balcony for views of the famous Water Tower and down Michigan Avenue.
Make your way downstairs to the spa and fitness center to work off that Maxwell Street Polish (we won't tell your dietician) and pamper yourself to oblivion. Even in the pool area you'll be flattered at the hospitality - even in the bar area a sense of luxury and freedom pervades. Is this the pinnacle of urban luxury hotels?
If any might rival the Park Hyatt, it would be its almost-neighbor the Peninsula. We don't often like to bring in what the “official” critics say, but Zagat has called this edifice its number one hotel. It transcends ratings; it's a place you have to experience to experience. The Peninsula is possibly the closest a modern hotel, with modern amenities and bearing modernity in its design and execution, will ever get to the opulence and lavishness of the old hotels and mansions of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The architecture is a modern interpretation of Art Deco, and a classical style is apparent throughout.
The suites at the Peninsula define luxury - or rather redefine it. Technology is at the top of its game, starting with the universal remote covering every aspect of your rooms. As with the Park Hyatt, the bathrooms will floor you. In addition to the flat-screen television in the living room or bedroom, there's another above the tub. The tub itself often overlooks the city from a wide eye-level window. Downstairs, the spa is one of Chicago's best, and it covers a whopping 14,000 square feet.
Moving away from Chicago for a moment, let's talk about the American Club. Yes, pull yourself away from the Windy City - to this golf resort that's all but just a golf resort. In terms of the golf, the name of the game is Whistling Straits, one of the absolute premier courses in America, and in the world. It's modeled after old seaside Scottish and Irish links, and it contains some of the most celebrated holes in the Northern Hemisphere.
In terms of the resort, the American Club is all that and then some! The first thing you notice is the architecture: modern Tudor, built of a sunset variety of red bricks and topped with the essential steep slat roof. The feel is positively Old World, but there's nothing shabby about it. Dark mahogany can be found everywhere, and stylish fittings are the norm.
All remarks about the American Club's spa must be prefaced with homage to Kohler, the bathroom product company that owns the American Club. Briefly, the American Club, be it private suites or the spa, is where Kohler shows off its best, most luxurious wares. Hence, expect your oversized bathroom to be hallowed with a Kohler whirlpool bath for two, the height of Kohler excellence. All sink and bathroom fittings, throughout the resort, are fit for Tudor royalty.
At the spas, for there are in fact two of them, everything that could be thought of, has been thought of. The essence of Kohler Waters Spa is water, pure water. Hydrotherapy treatments are therefore the norm, though each form of therapy is inspired by either the Scottish Highlands, Sweden, or the region's own Lake Michigan. Oh, and if you reserve an Immersion Suite, all this hydro-pampering can be experienced at the hands of professionals in the privacy of your own accommodation. That's a luxurious Kohler touch.
Luxurious Dining in Southern Wisconsin and Metro Chicago
Chicago is a big city where they love food. It used to be that the only good food was found at street corners and baseball stadiums, like Wrigley Field, but that, obviously, was far from what you could call luxurious. Recently, however, luxurious and avant-garde dining establishments have begun to flourish in a number of different locations throughout the city.
Take Charlie Trotter's: Mr. Trotter, the self-titled King of Chicago Cooking, opened up Charlie Trotter's in Lincoln Park to be an upscale mecca for the experimentally-minded. Be prepared for wild entrées, like the whole roasted fig with goat cheese ice cream topped with a spicy fig sauce, or the baby carrot terrine with shiitake mushroom salad, carrot juice reduction, dill oil, and 50-year-old balsamic vinegar. Here presentation and service are everything, each dish meant to challenge taboos and conventions. Pairings also are very important, every dish being served with the absolutely most-appropriate wine.
A most honorable mention goes out to the Capital Grille, also the bearer of a fine wine list. The famous dishes they serve include the dry-aged in-house steaks and other meats, grilled or anyhow prepared to perfection. Of course, there's more on the menu. Try the chilled caviar as an appetizer, or the grilled swordfish jardinière for the entrée. A more traditional entrée, of course, will be offered by the chef - perhaps the veal chop served Porterhouse-style with Roquefort butter sauce to top it off.
While Charlie Trotter's is in Lincoln Park and the Capital Grille is just north of the Loop, another trendy culinary hotspot can be found in West Fulton Market, in Near West Side. Meatpackers still temper the neighborhood, and this just lends an avant-garde element for the new higher-end establishments. Visit restaurants such as Moto Restaurant and Blackbird, where you can dine on morsels prepared with the help of liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide, even lasers! At Moto, for instance, waiters present for you a 10-course meal with seven courses of wine; how does merluzzo and popcorn sound? Acorn with bacon perhaps? Presentation and pairing are everything.
Luxurious Activities in Metro Chicago and Southern Wisconsin
Don't forget to visit the Loop's selection of Broadway-caliber theaters, like the Cadillac Palace Theatre or the Oriental Theater. And for a fine grand finale, book a helicopter ride over Chicago's most famous landmarks and Lake Michigan. There are also helicopter rides over southern Wisconsin, including the city of Milwaukee.
Plainly, Metro Chicago and southern Wisconsin deserve a great deal of attention for the luxury-seeker: food, lodgings, and spa pampering, are all as good as they get. It's the region in which to live it up, spend a little extra (you can stretch your wallet farther here than in New York or California), and feel like royalty.
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