Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago
Hotel in Chicago, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago is a four-star hotel at 150 East Ontario Street in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States.[1][2] Owned and operated by RIU Hotels & Resorts, it opened on July 18, 2024, with 390 rooms in a 28-story building near the Magnificent Mile.[7][3][2] The 105.2 m (345 ft) tower was developed by The Prime Group and designed by Lucien Lagrange, with Lamar Johnson Collaborative as architect of record.[4][1][6]
| Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of the Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago area | |
General information | |
| Classification | 4-star[1][2] |
| Location | Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 150 East Ontario Street |
| Opening | July 18, 2024[3][2] |
| Owner | RIU Hotels & Resorts[2] |
| Height | |
| Height | 105.2 m (345 ft)[4] |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 28[4][5] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Lucien Lagrange; Lamar Johnson Collaborative[4][6] |
| Developer | The Prime Group[5] |
| Main contractor | W.E. O'Neil Construction[4][5] |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 390[7][2] |
| Website | |
| www | |
History
Plans for the hotel were first made public in April 2021, when an entity associated with RIU Hotels & Resorts proposed a hotel at 150 East Ontario Street, a mid-block infill site just off Michigan Avenue.[8] Early filings described a 388-room project; the completed hotel opened with 390 rooms.[8][7][2] The proposal came while Chicago hotel occupancy was still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with RIU planning to draw on its network of international travelers rather than relying on local demand alone.[9]
The Chicago Plan Commission granted preliminary zoning approval in July 2021.[10] The Chicago City Council approved the planned development on July 21, 2021.[11] The approved plan called for a 345-foot-tall (105 m) hotel building with no on-site parking, a lobby, coffee shop, breakfast room, green roof and two internal loading berths.[10][11] The initial project cost was estimated at US$145 million, including a planned US$2.9 million payment to the city's Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.[10]
Construction started in 2022 and was completed in 2024.[4][5] RIU bought the land in late 2021 for slightly more than US$28 million; the Riu family later financed construction with about US$150 million in cash, at a time when construction lending for hotel projects remained constrained.[7] A 2021 report described the broader planned investment as a US$200 million project and noted that the company did not intend to seek outside financing for construction.[9]
The hotel opened on July 18, 2024, becoming the fifth RIU Plaza urban hotel in the United States and the eleventh in the chain worldwide.[7][3][2]
Architecture and features
The building is 105.2 m (345 ft) tall with 28 above-ground floors.[4][5] The Prime Group was developer, W.E. O'Neil Construction general contractor, Lucien Lagrange design architect and Lamar Johnson Collaborative architect of record.[4][1][6][5]
The tower occupies an infill lot between existing structures on East Ontario Street, close to the Magnificent Mile.[8] Its exterior has a white, classically influenced façade with terraced setbacks, cornices and a bifurcated crown.[12][6] Earlier renderings indicated architectural concrete panels intended to resemble stone on the upper portion of the tower, precast concrete at the base and dark granite at street level.[8] W.E. O'Neil's project description also described the exterior as using painted architectural concrete and aluminum-framed windows rather than a brick or glass curtain-wall façade.[5]
The interior includes a lobby, restaurant, lobby bar with grab-and-go service and a gym.[1][7][2] A mural along the lobby frieze uses an Art Deco-influenced composition combining marble, wood and recycled elements.[1][2] The guest rooms have light-colored furniture, iron structures and walk-in showers.[1][2]
The Rooftop
The Rooftop is the hotel's terrace bar on the 27th floor, open to hotel guests, other visitors and local residents.[1][13] It opened in September 2024, after the hotel had begun operating.[13]
The bar has panoramic views of the city skyline.[1][13] Its main architectural feature is a projecting glass balcony 88 m (289 ft) above street level, modeled on the glass balcony at the Hotel Riu Plaza España in Madrid.[7][13] Pre-completion renderings also showed the glass-floor balcony extending from the rooftop terrace.[12]