The Hotel Burnham is a boutique hotel in the "Loop" area of Chicago. We first noticed the Burnham a few years ago during one of our extended Christmas-time visits to Chicago. Cindy was particularly intrigued by the little tea room/restaurant - the Atwood Cafe - while I was sort of intrigued by the architecture of the building. It was Cindy's birthday recently and while I really wasn't planning on doing anything special for her birthday, she was a little disappointed that we weren't going into Chicago because she always wanted to go have tea at the Atwood Cafe. I decided to look on line at the last moment to see if the Burnham had any special deals. They did - a normal $229 a night room could be had for $119. I made the reservations on line and surprised Cindy with a trip into Chicago on a Saturday morning.
The Hotel Burnham is named after the noted Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham, often called the father of the modern skyscraper. Burnham was also one of the first city planners and helped shape the city of Chicago after the devastating fire of 1871. Along with his partner, John Root, they designed and built the first skyscraper in Chicago - the Masonic Temple - that was 21 stories and 302 feet in height. Burnham and Root also designed The Rookery, quite possibly the crowning achievement of Chicago-style architecture. Burnham was also responsible for much of the planning and design for the World's Columbian Exposition that was held in 1893.
An architect who worked for Burnham and Root - Charles Atwood - was the principle designer of the Reliance Building, the first multi-story building that would use plate glass windows for the majority of the outer surface of the building. John Root designed the basement and main floor of the building just before his death in 1891 and while Burnham was working on the World's Columbian Expo, Atwood designed the remaining 13 floors of the hotel. The 14th floor was topped out in 1895 and the Reliance Building marked the beginning of what is called the Chicago construction method of design.
The Reliance building garnered a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Over the years, the building had fallen into disrepair from neglect. But in the late 90's, the City of Chicago partnered with the Kimpton Hotel chain to rehab the Reliance Building and turn it into a boutique hotel. The Hotel Burnham opened in October 1999 and is part of Kimpton Hotel's nearly 60 three and four-star properties around the United States. Conde Nast Traveler and Travel and Leisure magazine both called the Hotel Burnham one of Top Ten Places to Stay.
(UPDATE - An avid reader of Road Tips informed me that a friend of his is a principal in the Mansur Realty Corporation and they physically own the Reliance Building and lease it to the Kimpton Hotel Group. Mansur owns a number of other properties around the U.S. To see the list of what they own, click here.)
The Hotel Burnham is also close to a number of attractions in the Chicago Loop - Macy's (formerly the Marshall Field flagship store) is located caddy-cornered across the street. Daley Plaza - with their Christmas time Christkindlmarket - is located a block to the west. Millennium Park is a couple blocks to the east. The C.T.A. Red Line subway entrance is just around the corner on State Street for a quick trip up to the shops on the north end of the Magnificent Mile. The heart of Chicago's theater district is a short walk from the Burnham. And the somewhat controversial Block 37 shopping district is located just across State Street from the Hotel Burnham. Controversial in that developers have faced bankruptcy and the shopping area hasn't materialized as the Central Loop entertainment destination that it was designed to be.
It was a little over a two and a half hour drive from our house in the Quad Cities across Illinois on a beautiful winter day with trees and shrubs covered with a small layer of ice and snow glistening in the bright sunlight. It also happened to be the last weekend before Christmas so downtown Chicago was full of the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. Cindy long figured out that we were going to Chicago, but she thought we would just be going to the Atwood Cafe for lunch, then back out to the suburbs to spend the evening. When I pulled up to the valet stand in front of the Hotel Burnham at 1 W. Washington (see map), Cindy was shocked when I told the valet that we were there to check in.
We had an early check-in allowing us to be able to get up to the room before 1 p.m. to unload our bag, freshen up and either head out for a walk around the Loop or to go get lunch at the Atwood Cafe on the main floor off the small but ornate lobby area.
Our room was classified as a Queen Deluxe Room - it was a small room (175 sq. feet) that featured a very comfortable Queen bed, a small work station with a chair and ottoman in the corner. A standard definition flat panel TV was on a high credenza that housed drawers on one side and an honor bar on the other side. (A bottle of water was $4 bucks - we went to a Walgreen's two doors down from the Hotel Burnham to grab water).
The view outside from the over-sized (and very drafty) window in our room showed a bustling street scene below, filled with holiday shoppers at the corner of Washington and State Street. With Macy's caddy-cornered across the street, there were street buskers playing drums on plastic buckets. The reverberation of the drum beats came into the room. At first it was kind of cool, but later on it was sort of annoying. Looking up over the building that was directly across the street from our room, you got a good look at the top of the Trump Tower.
The elevators were also very unique with a combination of dark solid wood paneling and ornate wrought iron on the walls. They weren't very big - I mentioned to Cindy that they reminded me of European elevators. You could barely get six people on the elevator and if any of them had baggage, well, it got very cramped very quick. Above left is a picture of Cindy all bundled up ready to brave the cold Chicago weather looking at the elaborate metal work in the elevator.
Above right is the large mural in the lobby of the Hotel Burnham depicting the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The lobby at the Burnham is pretty small and it was always full of people waiting for tables at the Atwood Cafe. But it was cozy and comfortable.
I normally stay in Hilton properties when I travel for work. Quite frankly, because I'm a Diamond member of the Hilton Honors program I get some pretty good perks and also a level of service from most hotels that a non-traveler wouldn't normally get. I guess I expected a little more out of the Burnham, though. Oh, they had a free wine reception in the lobby from 5 to 6 p.m. (we didn't partake), and they feature a variety of free coffees and teas in the morning (didn't do that either). But overall, the Hotel Burnham was just another hotel. Yeah, it was nice and there's a lot of history about the place. But I didn't think it was anything more special than other places we've stayed in downtown Chicago. I think Cindy would like to go back at some point. I thought the rooms were too small - I like hotels where the rooms are large and you can move about easily. And I also didn't feel like the hotel amenities were anything special. But the Hotel Burnham is pretty centrally located and if you can get a great price on a room like we did, it's worth it.
So did you guys goto the Cafe?? Or is that scheduled for another blog??
Posted by: Mikey Roederer | January 06, 2011 at 02:06 PM
Great blog Will. I also travel but, normally to smaller, more rural locales. However I have bookmarked this site, you do a great job!
A fascinating book that documents Burnham and Root's 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair triumph you might enjoy is 'The Devil and the White City' by Erik Larssen (Larrson?).
Had a great time having dinner with you and the lovely Cindy in DeWitt earlier this month. I'll keep reading your blogs and hope to see you both soon. All the Best, Curt Buchmeier.
Posted by: Curt Buchmeier | January 29, 2011 at 08:05 PM