The Allerton Hotel Chicago Recieves The Most Nominations Of Any Hotel In Prestigious Hospitality Design Awards
Michigan Avenue Landmark Joins Such Legendary Hotels as the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and Las Vegas’ Bellagio, Palazzo or Wynn in the HotelWorld Global Hospitality and Design Awards
CHICAGO -- The hotel with the most nominations in the prestigious HotelWorld Global Hospitality and Design Awards isn't a Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis or Las Vegas' celebrated Bellagio, Palazzo or Encore at Wynn hotels.
It's The Allerton Hotel Chicago, the historical landmark-designated 1922-24 Chicago property that helped spur the redevelopment of North Michigan Avenue into the Magnificent Mile. The hotel recently capped off $85 million in property renovations since 1999 in time for its 85th anniversary celebration in 2009. With its most recent $10-million remodel last summer, the 443-room destination leads this year's field of 28 hotel and restaurant finalists with three separate "Best Design" nominations -- in the full-service guestroom, full-service lobby/public space and full-service restaurant/lounge categories, the later for the hotel's sleek new M Avenue Restaurant. The three award nominations also establish The Allerton as a leading candidate for the coveted "Best Overall Design" award.
No other hotel in the world was nominated in three categories, and only two other properties received two nominations. The Allerton's competition includes Las Vegas' Mirage Hotel in the guestroom category and the five-star Bellagio in the restaurant/lounge category, among a number of other well-known hotels and hotel brands.
The HotelWorld Global Hospitality and Design Awards recognize excellence in hotel and restaurant design and leadership, and celebrate the accomplishments of the true leaders in the hospitality industry. Twenty-five hospitality and design awards will be presented during a dinner ceremony March 3, 2009, in Las Vegas during the city's International Hospitality Week.
"Our intent with the redesign of The Allerton was to blend the hotel's famed Italian Renaissance exterior with a sleek, modern-contemporary interior, thereby re-establishing it as the uniquely Chicago destination it has been for most of its 85-year history," explained Andrea Mayer, general manager. "It would appear by the sheer number of HotelWorld Global Hospitality and Design Award nominations we received that our vision has become a reality. We're extremely honored that The Allerton was selected alongside such legendary names in the hospitality industry.
Working with Hager & Associates of Vancouver, British Columbia, hotel owners completed a top-to-bottom remodel of the property in August 2008 -- encompassing a dramatic redesign of all guest rooms and public spaces, relocation of the hotel lobby back to its original second-floor setting, where it was combined with the new M Avenue restaurant and lounge, and creation of elaborate new ballrooms and meeting space.
The property was purchased in November 2006 by ALT Hotel Partners, LLC, a joint venture between The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC, of San Francisco, and Perry Capital of New York, and shed its Crowne Plaza affiliation in February 2007 as part of the owners' plans to reclaim its status as one of Chicago's legendary independent hotels -- and one of only a few historically and architecturally significant hotels directly on Michigan Avenue.
The John Hardy Group, Inc., served as project manager for the renovation while Kokua Hospitality, LLC, a management affiliate of Chartres Lodging, provided onsite assistance as part of their ongoing role as property manager.
The design by Hager & Associates updated the hotel's interior with clean, contemporary lines and appointments while maintaining its architecturally significant presence at the heart of Chicago's famed shopping, dining and cultural district. Architects repositioned elevators and other barriers to create a theatrical, free-flowing, second-floor gathering space to serve as the new home for the hotel's lobby, registration, concierge and newly designed M Avenue.
Second-floor design additions included a monolithic, two-sided glass fireplace; communal furniture with plug-in stations; floor-length metallic draperies; and a series of intimate seating areas with lounge-like chairs and ottomans. Guest rooms and suites were updated with a sophisticated residential design encompassing tufted headboards, dramatic floor and window treatments and other unexpected furniture and decorative elements.
Other elements of the renovation included a redesigned first-floor motor lobby off East Huron Street, an expanded and newly-equipped fitness center, and reappointed ballrooms and meeting spaces, including creation of the new, 2,100-square-foot Buckingham Ballroom in the previous site of the third-floor lobby.
Located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile, The Allerton Hotel Chicago is steps from the shops, restaurants, museums and galleries of the Magnificent Mile, including Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Chanel, Burberry, Cole Haan, Nordstrom, American Girl Place, NIKETOWN, Apple Store and ESPN Zone. Also within walking distance are the Chicago campus of Northwestern University, Water Tower Place, Chicago Children's Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Navy Pier and Shedd Aquarium.
Chicago's first high-rise building to be built with pronounced setbacks, towers and upper-story design elements encouraged by the new municipal zoning laws of the 1920s, the Allerton Hotel Chicago represents a rare Chicago example of North Italian Renaissance architecture, featuring decorative brickwork, carved stone details and picturesque roofline evocative of Milan and Verona in the 14th and 15th centuries. Built over a span of three years by the Allerton House Company, a national chain of "club hotels" combining the services of a hotel with the sociability of a private club, the 25-story hotel is credited with helping to turn Chicago's North Michigan Avenue into a chic boulevard of exclusive stores, restaurants and clubs that was later christened the Magnificent Mile.
The Allerton is probably best known locally for its Tip-Top-Tap, the legendary 23rd-floor cocktail lounge and club that served as the home of Don McNeil's "Breakfast Club" radio show in the 1950s. The Tip-Top-Tap closed in the 1960s; however, the neon Allerton and Tip-Top-Tap signs remain as iconic symbols of the Chicago skyline.
The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC (formerly Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group, LLC) is an investment and advisory firm focused on the investment, asset management and renovation of high-quality lodging assets. Chartres Lodging Group's principals have been responsible for more than $8 billion of lodging investments and have asset-managed more than 100 upscale and luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers. The firm is currently responsible for a $6-billion, 20,000-room portfolio of luxury and upscale hotels, conference centers and resorts located throughout the United States and Japan. Chartres' principals and employees are direct investors in 65% of this portfolio. Chartres Lodging is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tokyo. For more information on The Chartres Lodging Group, please visit www.chartreslodging.com.
Perry Capital is a private investment firm formed in 1988. It currently manages $13 billion, allocated across a variety of asset classes including publicly traded equity and debt securities, private equity and real estate. The firm manages dedicated industry-focused portfolios and seeks to develop strong relationships with the management of companies in which it invests. It employs over 135 professionals in offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Kokua Hospitality is a property management firm affiliated with The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC, of San Francisco. Purposely created by lodging management and operational experts as a management company with an investors' sensibility, Kokua Hospitality blends the attention to detail of a customer service entity with the rigors of a real estate investment concern. The name (pronounced "koh-kooh-ah") is Hawaiian for "to serve." Based in San Francisco, Kokua Hospitality manages a growing portfolio of hotels and resorts nationwide. For more information on Kokua Hospitality, please visit www.kokuahospitality.com.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Hager and Associates has established itself as an innovative firm that strives to provide clients with creative and strategic interior design solutions that produce a significant return on investment. Hager specializes in partnering with clients to develop exclusive, individual, and distinctive designs specific to the client's needs and cultural location of the space. The firm's portfolio includes hotels, resorts, boutique hotels, restaurants, retail stores, commercial spaces and senior living centers. Hager's passion for design inspires it to generate innovative spaces that engage the user. For more information, please go to www.hagerinc.com.
Bob Ochsner
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