The Allerton Hotel Chicago Receives the Most Nominations of Any Hotel in Prestigious Hospitality Design Awards (United States)
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The Allerton Hotel Chicago Receives the Most Nominations of Any Hotel in Prestigious Hospitality Design Awards (United States)
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Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands - United States - Events -
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This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-03-02
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
Hager & Associates of Vancouver Orchestrated the Hotel’s Summer 2008 Remodel
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 latter 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 spaces.
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.
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