The view from a corner suite at the Hotel Monaco includes the Chicago River and some of the city's distinct architecture.

The view from a corner suite at the Hotel Monaco includes the Chicago River and some of the city's distinct architecture, providing a good reason not to leave your room.

If I spend a lot of time in my hotel room usually it’s because I’m nursing a hangover (Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, with your close proximity to Central Park on a gorgeous April day that I only saw through cracks in the shades, I’ll never forget you).

This weekend at Chicago’s boutique  Hotel Monaco, I had a hard time leaving my room. But despite a complimentary bottle of wine (thank you!), the hotel’s hosted evening wine hour and its proximity to my favorite wine bar on the planet, Bin 36, my inertia had nothing to do with booze. With four large comfortable window seats in a corner suite overlooking the Chicago River, why downgrade my view by leaving? Seriously. Look at the first picture.

The living room in a River View Mediterranean Suite at Chicago's Hotel Monaco.

The living room in a River View Mediterranean Suite at Chicago's Hotel Monaco.

So Friday and Saturday nights, rather than trek out to a restaurant with lesser ambiance, my wife and I brought back food and ate picnic style, sprawled out on the window seat with our infant daughter, watching the sun set over Chicago. (Friday we had a cheese plate, flat bread and Cubano sandwich from the hotel’s South Water Kitchen; Saturday it was Hawaiian poke and ahi tuna from Roy’s–Hotel Monaco’s location in the Loop and near the Magnificent Mile means there’s an abundance of dining options nearby.)

A bottle of wine and a goldfish, what more does one need?

A bottle of wine, two glasses and a goldfish, what more does one need?

The rest of the suite–yes, there was more to it than four window seats and a door–was smartly decorated with comfortable and stylish furniture. The living room gave us ample space to spread out all of the accouterments that come with being parents (gone are the days of traveling with two suitcases). The room also included WiFi (complimentary with membership in the guest rewards program), the funky robes that Kimpton’s are known for and a flat-screen TV that was visible from two of the window seats, enabling one to, say, watch NCAA basketball while his wife relaxed in the Fuji Soaking Tub, if one was so inclined.

Hotel Monaco’s staff was warm and attentive. Knowing two new parents were spending the night in their room with an infant, the staff at South Water Kitchen sent up a couple of delicious desserts. And an elephant made of bath towels awaited our 3-month-old after housekeeping cleaned the room. The only Kimpton employee we encountered who wasn’t outgoing was the goldfish in our room. Probably best though, lest he flop himself of the tank.

Hotel Monaco Chicago
225 N. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601
312-960-8500

You also might enjoy:

Photos: Zach Everson