hotel review: hotel palomar chicago

The Hotel Palomar in Chicago's River North neighborhood was the perfect vacation retreat. Unfortunately, our last night there, I forgot to take pictures of the room. You would too if you had spent 12 hours baking in the sun on an aluminum bench and inhaling all varieties of smoke. Okay, so the Crossroads Guitar Festival was a blast, but I was in no position to do anything but collapse on my bed with a bottle of aloe in my hand. I slept in the next morning and allowed myself exactly 30 minutes to pack, shower (ouch), slather myself in a layer of aloe (ahh), and inhale my cup of tea. This was a very long explanation of why I don't have pictures of my wonderful hotel room.


The location was just fantastic: two blocks from the Magnificent Mile and one block from the new Trump Tower. Right in the heart of the city. The lobby was great, lots of leather and gleaming marble. Palomar is a dog-friendly hotel and I was impressed with the dog bowls out front filled with water and dog biscuits.

The staff was extremely helpful, even sending a brand new hair straightener up to my room since I had forgotten mine. They upgraded our room to the luxury suite since our booked one-bedroom suite wasn't yet ready.


The hotel room was on the 9th floor and we had a great corner room with tall windows and wonderful city views. There were three rooms: a large bedroom with a king bed, a bathroom with a small sitting room outside, and a living room with a pull-out bed (my room). The decorating could be described as modern and warm. The furniture was sleek and trendy with plasma TVs in both rooms.


The bathroom was the best part of the room. Everything was covered in marble and there was a huge glass shower. The bathtub was practically a swimming pool, with jacuzzi jets and a self-cleaning feature. There were two sinks and a mirror that took up practically the entire wall. It was stocked with L'Occitane bath products (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soaps) and had the perfect make-up mirror. The room had three ample closets, one even stocked with plush animal-print bathrobes.


Our room was great, but the rest of the hotel had some great amenities as well. If I had brought my swimsuit, I would've loved to spend some time on the rooftop pool and terrace. If I wasn't lazy and full of good food, I would've worked up a sweat in the huge fitness room (personal trainer available if you wish). I did enjoy the wine reception in the lobby a couple nights, and a delicious breakfast in their restaurant, Sable.


Overall, the hotel was spectacular, quiet, and comfortable. It was within walking distance to pretty much everything we visited. The staff was very helpful and if you have a dog, it's a great place to bring them along.

Palomar is owned by Kimpton, which has great luxury and boutique hotels across the country. You can check out the Hotel Palomar website here and Kimpton's website here. The pictures I added are from Expedia, not ones I personally took.