Tablet Plus
PUBLIC Chicago Hotel
1301 North State Parkway, Chicago, IL, USA
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Check availability as rates may vary for dates. Best rate guaranteed.
While the world’s less clued-in luxury brands are still trumpeting their “exclusivity” to anyone who will listen, some of the hotel industry’s savvier players have come to recognize what a sour taste that concept can leave. Among them is none other than Ian Schrager, whose trailblazing boutique hotels did their fair share to enshrine exclusivity as a marker of luxury. But his new philosophy of inclusivity is embodied at PUBLIC Chicago, something of an anti-boutique boutique, an anti-design design hotel. As long as the service isn’t anti-service — and it isn’t — we’re still on board.
In many ways Chicago, less image-obsessed than Los Angeles or New York, is the perfect city to launch an experiment like this. And the former Ambassador East is an especially fitting location — it was here in the mid-‘80s that Phil Collins was turned away for failing to wear a dinner jacket. Suffice it to say that Jean-Georges won’t be chucking Kanye West out into the street anytime soon, at least not over sartorial issues.
PUBLIC may leave behind the velvet-rope aspect of the first generation of boutique hotels, but it holds onto Schrager’s trademark expressiveness, that emotional investment that makes a hotel feel like more than just a machine for lodging. Here a little design (by the likes of Yabu Pushelberg and Gabellini Sheppard) goes a long way. The spaces are theatrical, but subtly so, less like art installations and more like stylish backdrops for guests’ memories.
It’s a timeless style that seamlessly blends the classic and the contemporary — this building’s got plenty of architectural history, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Pump Room restaurant boasts an impressive collection of black-and-white celebrity portraits. Imagine a modern crowd inhabiting a circa-1938 period piece and you’re most of the way there, stylistically speaking.
Bottom line: it’s effortlessly chic, but with a compensating dose of Midwest unpretentiousness. The comforts and service are pitch-perfect, always sufficient but never precious or over-opulent. And with 285 rooms there’s space in here for everyone — no velvet rope required.
- Complimentary upgrade upon hotel check-in, based upon availability
- Guaranteed 4pm check-out
- One complimentary glass of champagne or one cocktail, per guest, upon arrival
- Guaranteed early 11am check-in
- 285 Rooms
- Style: Modern Design
- Atmosphere: Happening
- 49 Guest Reviews
- PUBLIC Chicago
- 1301 North State Parkway
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Neighborhood: Near North Side
Hotel amenities and services
- 100% non-smoking hotel
- 24 hour concierge
- 24 hour front desk
- 24 hour gym
- ATM/bank office
- Bar
- Business center
- Central air conditioning
- Free wi-fi
- Luggage storage
- Restaurant
- Room service
- Valet parking (charges apply)
Other Chicago hotels
49 Guest Reviews
All reviews are from Tablet guests with verified stays.
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- tina
- Stayed August 2012
- Rating: Fair
What I liked:
location was great.
What the hotel could do better:
don't like the limited menu at the bar. and the noise level is terrible from other rooms (and I don't think anybody was being particularly loud).
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- Rhonda
- Stayed August 2012
- Rating: Excellent
What I liked:
Clean lines, backlighting
What the hotel could do better:
Brighter bathroom lighting
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- Marcie
- Stayed August 2012
- Rating: Excellent
What I liked:
Everything!
What the hotel could do better:
Nothing, had a wonderful stay!
