Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/835995
124 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM Hostels typically call to mind frugal Eurotrips, and with good reason: commu- nal space, limited privacy, and anonymous bunk- mates aren't typical hall- marks of the jet set. But with enterprising hoteliers debuting elevated-but- economical competitors to already-established players, Chicago's growing hostel scene is suddenly attracting some of the trendiest travelers in town. WEST SIDE CHIC With The Hollander, Grupo Habita (the design maverick behind buzzy spots like Hotel Americano in New York) lends its auteur touch to Wicker Park's Six Corners, converting the intersec- tion's iconic Hollander Fireproof Warehouse into a stylish hotel/hostel option, featuring eight shared rooms laced with lithe bunks and spare-but-sharp private bathrooms, all with a less-is-more philosophy that included preserving as much of the building's original design as possible. "All the original brick and the original walls are there," notes Jared Johnson, the property's director of sales and marketing. "And it's just raw—by default, it comes across as very elegant." To wit: the building's lofty, street-level coffee shop, H! Bar, begs to WITH A CROP OF HAUTE HOSTELS OPENING THEIR DOORS TO CHICAGO, THE CITY'S HOSPITALITY SCENE GETS AN EDGY RESET. BY STEPHEN OSTROWSKI HOSTEL TAKEOVER! Boutique, so chic (clockwise from left): The check-in desk; café offerings; and a king room at River North hot spot Freehand Chicago, which kicked off the city's boutique hostel trend in a big way. SPACE TREND