“Now in its 36th iteration, our annual Readers’ Choice Awards continues to capture the travel experiences our readers love best, from the top hotels in Chicago and beyond…”
A highlight of any Chicago riverboat architecture tour is Mies van der Rohe’s last skyscraper—330 North Wabash, still commonly referred to as the IBM Building. It’s a paragon of the late International Style: a 52-story rectangle of anodized aluminum and bronze glass that is the perfect distillation of corporate might and urban promise. To check into the Langham Chicago, which has occupied the building’s first 13 floors since 2013, is to step into the story the building tells about the American city. You feel like you could be a character in a spy thriller as you pass through the note-perfect midcentury lobby and take the elevator to the elegant second-floor reception area. Everywhere you go, there are encounters to be had with the City of the Century: You’ll ponder the curious curlicues of Marina City, the iconic “corncob” apartment towers next door, over a bowl of scallop ceviche in Travelle, the handsomely brassy New American restaurant, and admire the bold way North Wabash slices diagonally through the urban jungle from the cream-and-taupe comfort of your vast guest room. For the traveler, it’s Chicago’s finest address.
