‘Windy City’ Chicago is low-key and culturally awesome with its rocking festivals, amazing chefs, and steely skyscrapers. What’s more, it’s home to hundreds of domestic and international symposiums, meetings, and conferences for the consummate business traveler. When it comes to doing business, there also comes along the need for convenience, comfort, and varied amenities that make business travel as productive and easy as also relaxing. Luckily, not all business hotels in Chicago are created equal, with many business-savvy hotels now equipped with amenities as diverse as 24-hour concierge services and iPod docks. If you’re doing big business in Chicago, then trust us – your accommodations are more than taken care of.
Besides business, there are so many wonderful Top Things To Do In Chicago, such as the world’s first Ferris wheel! What’s more, it’s home to top attractions such as Navy Pier and Millenium Park, which are amongst the Top Tourist Attractions In The USA. If that wasn’t enough, the city also has Brookfield Zoo, one of the World’s Largest Zoos! And, of course, how can we forget Adler Planetarium, one of the Most Amazing Planetariums You Should Visit? So, what are you waiting for? Pack your laptop bags and head to these 11 best business hotels in Chicago.
Table of contents
- The Palmer House Hilton Hotel
- Omni Chicago Hotel & Suites
- Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park
- LondonHouse Chicago, Curio Collection by Hilton
- The Blackstone
- The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago
- The Drake, A Hilton Hotel
- The Guesthouse Hotel
- Four Seasons Chicago
- Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago-Downtown
- Where to Stay in Chicago
- Recommended Restaurants / Bars in Chicago
- Recommended Activities in Chicago
The Palmer House Hilton Hotel
11
With a prime location in the heart of the Loop, the Palmer House Hilton Hotel is one of the best business hotels in Chicago. With 100,000 square feet of meeting space, there is no dearth or choice of meeting rooms depending on your need. Plus, you can even use expert catering services for your business meetings. This business-friendly hotel also has an onsite UPS business center for all your work needs. What’s more, it also has a slew of after-work amenities, such as an indoor pool, a tri-level fitness center, and even onsite shopping, should you feel the need for some retail therapy. Rooms and suites might be on the slightly dated side, but they’re comfortable and clean and amongst the most affordable in the Loop. The best bit? They offer both newspaper delivery and remote printing, so work goes on as usual.
Omni Chicago Hotel & Suites
10
Omni Chicago is amongst the best Chicago business hotels. This 347-room property occupies a prime and rather enviable location right on the Magnificent Mile. Its spacious and well-designed two-room suites are especially popular with business travelers who want additional space to spread out. What’s more, the free house car drop-off service is an additional perk, as is the 24-hour business center. The meeting rooms and banquet facilities are top-notch, with top-of-the-line audio/visual and communication equipment. Add to that bonuses such as dry cleaning and ironing, shoeshine, and trouser press services, and you can see why it’s so popular with business travelers to the Windy City.
Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park
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Located in the heart of the Loop, the 684-room Fairmont Chicago in Millenium Park is one of the most luxurious business hotels in Chicago. Business travelers especially love the huge rooms here, which come with separate showers and soaking tubs. It’s a rare feature that even pricier hotels lack! What’s more, you’ll find flatscreen TVs, iPod docks, and stunning views out of the windows.
But what makes it an excellent Chicago business hotel? That would be the “Gold Concierge Level” that includes excellent business-oriented amenities such as a 15th-floor reception area and private lounge. You’ll also find magazines and newspapers, free-to-use PCs, and free tea and coffee. If that wasn’t enough, the hotel even has a free business center with a fax machine, a copier, a printer, and computers. The cherry on top? The hotel also boasts 62,000 square feet of meeting space, a 24-hour concierge, pressing service, overnight shoeshine, and same-day laundry.
However, the Fairmont is not all work and no play. It also has a wine bar, an excellent Asian restaurant, and an 11,000-square-feet-huge spa and fitness center. So much so that it’s also one of the Most Romantic Hotels in Chicago! So, if your better half is accompanying you on your work trip, then it’s a great place to stay.
LondonHouse Chicago, Curio Collection by Hilton
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Business travelers who love boutique chic with the added benefits of a business hotel will love LondonHouse Chicago. It boasts a great location that’s just minutes away from the city’s theater and business districts, as well as Millennium Park. It offers not only a business center but also secretarial service, audio/visual equipment rental, printing services, office rental, phone services, and more perks. What’s more, this luxurious lifestyle hotel has two ballrooms and many board and meeting rooms. This is besides the fact that it even has a rooftop bar and outdoor spaces for company events and conferences to be held in style.
Are you staying here? All rooms and suites have large workstations and free Wi-Fi so you can work in peace. It’s no wonder that this is one of the Best Hotels in Chicago.
The Blackstone
7
The boutique business travel collection Blackstone Hotel is one of the chicest business hotels in Chicago. Not only does the hotel offer well-designed meeting rooms and workspaces, but it also offers free and fast Wi-Fi that’s necessary for business. You’ll find more than 12,000 square feet of total event space here, including 8 breakout rooms and 9 event rooms. Moreover, Blackstone also provides top-notch attendee booking tools, event planning services, and audio/visual services to make planning corporate events easy. After a long day of work, dig into beverages and healthy food options at the restaurant or grab a business dinner with your associates. Are you working solo? The 24/7 gym is perfect if you don’t want to miss a workout session. Later on, retire to your comfy rooms and suites, which offer great views of Lake Michigan and Millennium Park.
The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago
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The Ritz-Carlton is amongst the best of Chicago business hotels. The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Chicago offers business center services as well as 25,000 square feet of space for business events and meetings. What’s more, these boardrooms and event rooms aren’t run of the mill and offer lovely views over Michigan Avenue and Lake Michigan. What’s more, the ballroom at the Ritz can host up to 1,200 people. In fact, the hotel’s meeting experts even accommodate workshops and team-building experiences to bring colleagues together and better cohesion. Plus, events are top-notch since they offer audio/visual services and equipment, and custom catering services.
Did you know that the Ritz is one of the Best Spa Hotels in Chicago? The spa has five treatment rooms and an indoor swimming pool, wellness classes, a fitness center with views. A bevy of unique dining venues completes the place.
The Drake, A Hilton Hotel
5
The Drake is one of the topmost business hotels in Chicago due to its business travel program with special privileges. That is if you spend 25 or more nights traveling to Chicago for work annually, then staying at the Drake is a great idea due to the volley of perks. These include Uber transportation credits, reservation web links, complimentary coffee, preferred business accommodations with rate discounts, and complimentary Wi-Fi – phew! What’s more, the Drake has more than 30,000 square feet of flexible and well-designed meeting spaces that can accommodate up to 600 people. If that wasn’t enough, it also has state-of-the-art technology, banquet facilities, and event service managers onsite. Are you staying here for a while for work? There are extended stay options available for business travelers as well.
The Guesthouse Hotel
4
Business travelers looking for more of a boutique experience for their next Windy City business trip will love the Guesthouse Hotel. Business travelers (and even pleasure-seeking ones) love staying here due to all the room for spreading out in the one, two, or three-bedroom suites. What’s more, the hotel offers a host of extended stay options as well, especially if you need short-term housing solutions due to your job. So, you can make group reservations for your entire work team for two nights or more and stay in a non-boring manner to take care of business.
Plus, you get to use the well-designed and equipped onsite business center too. After work, work, work, you need to find time to play, play, play in the club room or the fitness center. Or, you could chill out on the rooftop deck with a couple of beers before heading to your room for an in-room massage.
Four Seasons Chicago
3
The Four Seasons Chicago is one of the swankiest business hotels in Chicago. When you stay at the Four Seasons Chicago for work, you can use the hotel’s 24-hour business center. Not only does it have PCs, one Mac, and two Windows one, a copy/fax machine, laptop space if you’re carrying your own, and free Wi-Fi. What’s more, there’s even a business concierge to help make travel and business arrangements for you. Besides the business amenities, the hotel also has a host of other amenities, such as the 50-foot indoor pool and whirlpool for relaxing. After work wraps up, why not enjoy drinks and dinner with your clients and associates at the onsite Allium Restaurant and Bar? Or, you could enjoy a spa session at the luxurious Four Seasons spa as well. Transport your clients in style using the luxury in-house car services.
Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel
2
Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel is one of the Chicago business hotels. This amazing Marriott hotel is the perfect place to plan a business event, as it boasts more than 40,000 square feet of stylish venue space. What’s more, the hotel has 28 breakout rooms, 21 events rooms, AV technology for conferences, mobile event management, and even attendee booking tools. If that wasn’t enough, its meeting equipment is up-to-date, with walkie-talkie radios, TV production service providers, rear screen projections, and portable PA systems. The cherry on top? Renaissances also offers catering and planning services for business events and has a host of business services; think fax and copy services, secretarial services, overnight pickup and delivery, and even a notary public.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago-Downtown
1
The top spot on the list of best business hotels in Chicago is occupied by Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown. Not only does it have an accessible and well-equipped business center, but also it has excellent business packages for those looking to host company events or seminars. Submit a proposal and see what the hotel can offer. For instance, you have options to book an entire room block too for keeping your entire company team together in 10 or more rooms. Furthermore, Homewood Suites has lots of great outside-work perks, including a fitness center, a free hot breakfast, and a wonderful evening social to kickstart your post-work libations. The crown jewel, though, is the rooftop pool, which makes the Homewood Suites one of the Top Hotels With A Rooftop Pool In Chicago.
Where to Stay in Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the Midwestern United States and is also the country’s third-largest city. What’s interesting is that it’s also one of the most commercially diverse cities in the world and isn’t dependent on any single form of business. If you’re visiting the city for work, then it’s important to zero in on a specific neighborhood to stay, since it’s such a large city.
We begin with Chicago Loop, which is the official “downtown” of the city and also its cultural epicenter. In fact, here is where you’ll find Willis Tower, one of the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers and with a Sky Deck that has one of the Most Thrilling Skywalks In The World. The Loop has so many skyscrapers that you’ll be looking skyward the whole time. Did we mention that Chicago is one of the world’s Top Cities With the Most Skyscrapers? Yes! Chicago’s financial district lies in the Loop, too, centered around LaSalle Street. Secondly, there’s the hip River North, which is the hub for nightlife in the city. It’s where you go to blow off steam after a long workday!
Magnificent Mile, on the other hand, is the center for Chicago’s opulence. It’s also home to some of the most landmark skyscrapers in the city and museums, theaters, and culturally important sights. Old Town is all about gorgeous Victorian architecture, while Lincoln Park is a lush neighborhood and one of the city’s most affluent ones.
Do you have a short layover? Here are the Best Hotels Near Chicago O’Hare Airport and Best Hotels in Chicago Near Midway Airport, depending on where you’re flying in or out from.
Recommended Restaurants / Bars in Chicago
- Chicago Cut Steakhouse: Eating at Chicago Cut is skin to a field trip to a corporate zoo – but the nice kind. Tucked at the bottom of an office building, the restaurant is all about successful-looking people in power suits looking as busy as a bee. However, the food is excellent and comes with sweeping views of the Chicago River.
- La Storia: Is your out-of-town client keen on an old-timey, good-natured Chicago stereotype? Then you should definitely take them to the upscale Italian spot La Storia in the Gold Coast. Decked out with huge Prohibition-era gangsters’ murals, this place is famous for its delicious entrees such as chicken cacciatore and housemade pastas. It’s a quiet space that makes it perfect for a good business meal.
Recommended Activities in Chicago
- Lakefront Segway Tour in Chicago: What better a way to bond with your associates or enjoy a fun day with your client than a segway tour? Segways make this lakeside tour amazingly fun, while Chicago’s lakefront, skyline, and parks make it all the better. Add entertaining and smart tour guides to the mix, and you might just sign a deal or two ambling down the lakefront on a segway.
- Chicago Architecture River Cruise: Chicago’s jaw-dropping architecture is bound to impress anyone, even business associates. Take them on this river cruise down the historic Chicago River. Follow the route up the north branch to the East Bank Club, and then before heading south past Willis/Sears Tower. Soak in views of the magnificent skyline as you sign and negotiate contracts.
