The Gwen, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Michigan Avenue Chicago

Saved Facade, New Hotel, One Sculptor's Name

The Gwen stands where a 1928 building for publisher McGraw-Hill once stood, an art deco structure whose sculpted facade was considered significant enough to save when the rest of the building came down in 1998. That facade now fronts the hotel on Michigan Avenue, even though the actual entrance sits around the corner on Rush Street, and it gives the hotel a street presence that no new construction could fake. The name itself is a second layer of history: the hotel is named for Gwen Lux, a sculptor whose work once adorned the original building and now appears throughout the new one.

Why It Works

We chose this hotel because its two defining details, the saved facade and the Gwen Lux name, are not marketing flourishes but documented facts about the building and the art inside it. Lux's salvaged sculptures sit in a dedicated court one level below the lobby, more of her pieces stand in the lobby itself, and her sketches hang above the beds in guest rooms. It is a hotel that could have simply kept a pretty old wall and called it a day, and instead built an entire identity around the artist behind it.

Why This Location

Michigan Avenue and Rush Street put the hotel in the thick of the Magnificent Mile, close to its flagship shopping and a short walk from the Chicago River to the south and the lakefront to the east. It is a dense, walkable stretch of the city, well suited to guests who want to step out of the lobby directly into the Mile's energy rather than commute in from a quieter neighborhood. The Loop's museums and theater district remain an easy ride away for guests who want a day downtown.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: art deco, art-collection-driven, Mile-adjacent

• Rooms: 311 rooms and suites

• Best For: art and architecture fans, Magnificent Mile shoppers, winter visitors curious about curling

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the reservation-only rooftop curling rink, open in the colder months

• Dining: Circa for breakfast and brunch, plus an upstairs bar known for a bourbon and honey cocktail

• Amenities: dedicated Gwen Lux sculpture court, loaner bicycles in warm weather, Molton Brown bath products

• Attractions: Magnificent Mile shopping, Chicago Riverwalk, Lake Michigan lakefront, Loop museums

Gwen Lux, the Sculptor the Hotel Is Named For

Gwen Lux is remembered as one of the notable American sculptors of her era, and her connection to this specific building predates the hotel by decades: her work originally decorated the 1928 structure on this site. Rather than treat that as a historical footnote, the hotel built a small sculpture court one level below the lobby to display pieces salvaged from the original building, placed more of her work in the lobby itself, and hung her sketches above the beds in guest rooms. It turns a hotel stay into an unplanned introduction to a sculptor most guests have never heard of.

A Rooftop Curling Rink in Winter

Few Magnificent Mile hotels offer anything as specifically Midwestern as a rooftop curling rink, and The Gwen runs one by reservation through the colder months. The format uses wheeled stones without brushes, closer in spirit to lawn bowling than to the swept-ice version seen in the Olympics, and spectators get plush seating, fire pits, and heat lamps while they wait their turn. A hot drink is included in the reservation fee, which keeps the whole thing feeling like a neighborhood activity rather than a gimmick built purely for photos.

Circa and an Upstairs Bar Built Around Bourbon

Circa, the hotel's breakfast and brunch restaurant, has built a following around a bananas foster-inspired French toast rather than a standard continental spread. Upstairs, the hotel's bar centers its menu on a signature cocktail built from bourbon, local honey, and lemon, a simple combination that plays to Midwestern ingredients rather than imported syrups and bitters. Between the two, the hotel gives guests a reason to eat and drink on-site without resorting to a generic hotel restaurant menu that could belong to any city.