I live in downtown Chicago, so technically every weekend in the city is a staycation. But once and awhile we do a real staycation, where we get a hotel room and do tourist things in the city. May sound odd considering I already live in the middle of the action and why would I pay for a hotel room down the street, but none the less it’s fun to get away, even in your own city for a bit. I recently had the closest staycation ever, it was a few blocks away from my condo and it might have been the most fun one yet.
For two years I watched the hotel EMC2 be built a little day by day. It’s actually fascinating how they build a building in Chicago. It’s usually hard to imagine how they build such a huge structure on a tiny piece of land. Most times you see a building go up and don’t give it a second thought, but when it’s outside your living room window it’s hard not to notice. I follow a few real estate blogs that focus on the Chicago market, so for a while I knew the building across the street from me was going to be a hotel. I personally love new, nice hotels especially in my neighborhood. There is something about traveling and staying at a hotel that is somewhat magical. You can escape from the normal daily routine and leave all your typical household duties behind. I would actually live in a hotel if I could like Eloise at the Plaza or Dylan McKay at the Beverly Royals Hotel, it seems like so much fun! Given that I would go broke living at a hotel I settle for small trips or mini staycations in a new hotel. But back to the story, after watching this hotel go up I reached out to them to inquire about opening dates and staying as a guest. To my surprise they were more than accommodating and offered for me and my husband to be the first guest ever at the Hotel EMC2!
The Hotel EMC2 is an Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott located in downtown Chicago. It opened its doors in May 2017 and it’s a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. As the first guest ever in the hotel, I had a unique opportunity to provide honest feedback of the hotel amenities, decor and functionality. I was not disappointed in the hotel or our stay. For starters the room was spacious, clean (obviously, I was the first one in there), technologically advanced and had outstanding decor. It’s important to me that the decor of the hotel fits within my personal decor. It may sound stupid, but if I’m staying at a dated hotel with floral curtains it affects my mood. The decor at EMC2 was steam punk meets 2017, brass finishes with dark moody characteristics.
The technology was first class. Each room is equipped with Alexa, the intelligent personal assistant from Amazon. Alexa will assist you with your entire stay by ordering room service or recommending restaurants in Chicago. There was a bit of user error going on though and the jury is still out on my relationship with Alexa. She couldn’t seem to understand a word I was saying, however her responses to my simple questions provided a great deal of entertainment! Another great feature was the TV and remove control. All items in the room were controlled by the TV. You could adjust the lights, air/heat, order room service and play with Alexa on the remote control, everything was at your fingertips. I may have not been to a high tech hotel before, but you could definitely tell technology was a focus for this hotel. Playing music on your iPhone was also an experience. The iPhone hook up was an old telegraph player, which was cleverly designed in the room. It was so well designed that I didn’t discover this feature until I got home and saw it online. Keeping with first class technology the EMC2 has their own robots, yes robots! Two perfectly functioning robots, Leo and Cleo. While they were sleeping for our stay I have seen them buzzing around the hotel when I was back for drinks at the restaurant. It’s a sight to see.
The room offered a king size bed (which was super comfy) with a small desk and large window sill which was perfect for watching the sunset and the city lights go up. The bathroom was designed perfectly with crisp white lines and a full glass shower that was concealable from the living space with a large curtain. When not using the shower you could keep the curtain put away and it opened up the entire room and made it look extra large. The room was equipped with a hand held steamer, goodbye iron! This was the best thing I’ve ever seen at a hotel. I personally prefer a steamer over an iron for so many reasons and to find one in a hotel is like winning the lottery.
I didn’t only stay in the room all day and night I ventured down to the restaurant and bar, The Albert, a contemporary American restaurant and bar. In keeping with the theme the Albert boasts a huge bar as the focal point of the room with high tops, communal seating and standard tables mixed in. It was a limited menu as it was a soft opening the night I stayed, but the food was pretty good for a new hotel. The cocktails were on point. These drinks were curated perfectly to entice tastebuds and leave you wanting more.
Now to the best part of the stay and the most surprising, it was the goodies the hotel gave us for being the first guest. We were treated to a surprise in the room after dinner. A handwritten note from the hotel manager welcoming us, a treat full of delicious goodies, Hotel EMC2 t-shirts and the comfiest robe in the entire world. This is the robe of all robes, it’s like wearing a cloud. It was a complete surprise and unexpected, but a wonderful touch from the hotel staff.
If you’re in Chicago and need a hotel to stay at EMC2 is a great choice. If you’re not staying there stop in for a drink or a meal, you may just see Cleo and Leo running around.
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