Hotels to visit after the coronavirus pandemic is over: 21c Museum Hotel Chicago – The newest addition to North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century. The hotel perspective is that culture and hospitality enhance each other.
The 297-room boutique hotel 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, which is combined with a renowned multi-venue art museum, brings a jolt of contemporary culture to Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Chicago’s River North is an ultra-stylish, ultra-urban district of sleek art galleries and studios, all tucked away into former warehouse buildings.
The design team, led by New York-based Design Architect Deborah Berke Partners and GREC Architects of Chicago, sought to create both a destination for contemporary culture and a serene refuge for guests. Capitalizing fully on the building’s open, natural light-filled spaces, visitors enter the hotel into a new double-height lobby, featuring a signature staircase leading to exhibition and event spaces above. Contemporary art is integrated throughout the public areas, in keeping with 21c and MGallery’s perspective that culture and hospitality enhance each other, while floor-to-ceiling windows offer passersby a view into the art experience inside the hotel.
Originally the Croydon Hotel, a gathering spot for vaudeville actors and other colorful characters, and later The James Hotel, Deborah Berke Partners spent several months reimagining the hotel as a 21c Museum Hotels – MGallery Hotel Collection property. This is Berke’s ninth project with the brand, since designing its first property, which opened in Louisville in 2006.
The 21c hotel brand was founded by Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson with the vision of bringing contemporary art to the public through innovative exhibitions and programming that integrates art into daily life. Following parent company Accor’s acquisition of an ownership stake in 21c in 2018, 21c Museum Hotels joined the MGallery Hotel Collection to create a new kind of travel + art experience.
21c has helped introduce MGallery to the United States with an exciting new mode of hospitality, bringing cultural and culinary experiences together.
Beds are accented by leather and velvet-covered headboards, which extend across the full height of wall, and rooms feature original artwork, Malin + Goetz bath amenities and luxurious bedding. Of the 297 spacious rooms, 106 are suites, with the two signature 21c Suites featuring sweeping views of downtown Chicago, an open concept floorplan with a sectional couch, dining table for six, bathroom with large soaking tub and an abundance of natural light. The property will also feature a full-service spa, 24-hour fitness center, business center and valet parking.
Art at 21c
As the newest addition to North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century, 21c Museum Hotel Chicago – MGallery Hotel Collection offers more than 10,000 square feet of exhibition space which will feature rotating solo and group exhibitions, site-specific installations and a full roster of cultural programming curated by Museum Director and Chief Curator Alice Gray Stites. 21c Chicago will present a captivating new, never-before-seen exhibition, This We Believe, which explores the power and evolution of belief systems—religious, political, economic—and how an allegiance to ideology has influenced our current global culture of divisiveness and polarization. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and free of charge to the public, 21c Chicago will offer complimentary docent-led tours of current exhibitions and other cultural programming, creating a dynamic destination for locals and visitors alike.
At the launch, the rooms at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago – MGallery Hotel Collection were available with rates starting at $219 USD per night.
21c Chicago is Temporarily Closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak crisis.
“We currently live in a world that is changing rapidly – by the day and by the hour. As we navigate through these times of change and uncertainty, we do so with the safety of our team, our guests and our city as our highest priority,” said the hotel’s team in a statement.
“We must support our local authorities as they work to halt the spread of COVID-19. And so, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close the doors of our hotel and museum effective Friday, March 20 at 12 p.m. CST.”
