The Godfrey Hotel Chicago, in the city’s River North neighborhood, is set to welcome guests next year. Situated at 127 West Huron Street, the 16-story lifestyle hotel is adjacent to the Hotel Felix Chicago. John W. Rutledge, founder and president of developer Oxford Capital Group and its operating affiliate, Oxford Hotels and Resorts, said: “We believe The Godfrey Hotel will become instantly recognizable due to its prominent location, distinctive architecture, compelling interior design, its host of amenities and most important of all, an extremely high touch, customer friendly service ethic.” The hotel will include 221 rooms, restaurant and lobby bar, a 12,000 square-foot indoor/outdoor rooftop lounge and conference space, spa, 24-hour fitness centre, and two floors of parking.

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) announces the signing of the first EVEN™ Hotels property which will be located in New York City, with ownership group CWC, Inc. The IHG-managed hotel will be located at 219 E 44th Street in the heart of midtown Manhattan, and will be a flagship property for the brand. The hotel will be a new build scheduled to open in late 2014. The hotel will feature 23 guestroom floors and 230 guestrooms, dedicated meeting areas, and indoor and outdoor exercise and eating spaces for an impressive 87,000 square feet in total space. EVEN Hotels meets the large and growing customer demand for a healthier travel experience and is another industry first for IHG. EVEN Hotels uniquely provides solutions for all aspects of travelers’ wellness needs in the areas of food, work, exercise and rest.

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reports that an upscale hotel has just opened in the newly restored, historic JR Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building in Tokyo’s Marunouchi business district. The building was restored to the way it looked a century ago and since its opening has quickly become a hot spot for tourists, the article says. The areas around the renovated station are packed each day with photo-snapping tourists. The 150-room Tokyo Station Hotel opened on Oct. 3, the paper says. Since opening, the Tokyo Station Hotel has been more than 70% full and its restaurants are fully booked, the story says. According to East Japan Railway’s website, the ambitious project began in May 2007. The hotel’s website shows what appear to be lovely rooms designed in a classic-yet-modern style. The government has designated it as an “Important Cultural Property of Japan,” the site says. All the activity has already boosted train ticket sales and sales at nearby shops and restaurants, the story says, citing ownership group Mitsubishi Estate Co.

Rafael Serrano, a Spanish investor, has purchased Admiralty Arch in London for almost £60 million and looks set to turn the London landmark into a luxury hotel. Mr Serrano recently built the 85-room Bulgari hotel in the city’s upmarket Knightsbridge area, and he has reportedly acquired the Grade I-listed Admiralty Arch on a 125-year lease, under explicit conditions that it cannot be converted into apartments or a single house. The sale is part of a series of property disposals by the UK Government. The 100-year-old building, which comprises three arches, was commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of Queen Victoria, his mother. Most recently, the building was used as office space by the Cabinet Office. 

The Luxury Collection has opened Keraton at The Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel—the brand’s first property in Jakarta. Keraton at The Plaza has 140 guestrooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows. The interior design, developed with SCDA Singapore and BuregaFarnell Pte. Ltd. features local influences such as batik patterns throughout the hotel. The porte-cochère features an intricate mural of Javanese artwork. The hotel’s art collection includes a piece carved from mahogany and adorned with antique gold that depicts a royal welcome. The design firm Hadiprana Artworks of Jakarta curates the collection and the hotel’s gallery.Keraton Lounge serves traditional high tea every afternoon, fusing English and Javanese traditions. The lounge also serves cocktails, wine and other beverages in the evening. Bengawan, the property’s signature restaurant, serves Indonesian cuisine with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking Jakarta.

Hotel will continue to be managed by Starwood under the W flag.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced that it has completed the sale of W Chicago – Lakeshore to Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $126 million. As part of the sale, Chesapeake has agreed to undertake a comprehensive property renovation to the hotel’s 520 guestrooms; public spaces, including the Living Room, Wave restaurant, Whiskey Sky rooftop bar and the Welcome Desk; and prime meeting space, Altitude, with 360 degree views of the city. Starwood has entered into a 40-year management agreement with full extensions to continue operating the hotel under the W flag.

“As part of our asset light strategy, we continue to look for opportunities to sell our owned real estate at the right time to the right owners, which is in the best interest of our shareholders,” said Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood. “Chesapeake has been one of our valued partners, and we are pleased to expand our relationship with them to deliver an unparalleled W experience to our guests at W Lakeshore for many years to come.”

W Lakeshore is a full-service, luxury property with deluxe guest rooms, more than 12,000 square feet (1115m2) of meeting and event space, a SWEAT state-of-the-art fitness center, a 9,600 square foot (892m2) Bliss® Spa and the acclaimed Wave restaurant. The hotel is the only hotel on Lake Michigan, and is the closest hotel to Navy Pier and within walking distance of East Michigan Avenue and Chicago‘s business districts.

Acme Hotel Company is now open in Chicago, just off the Magnificent Mile.

The 130-room property, formerly a Comfort Inn & Suites that has undergone a US$3 million renovation ahead of the opening, is located just off the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. The property is owned by Neighborhood Development Corp., which also developed Dana Hotel and Spa in the city.

The lifestyle Acme Hotel will feature a hip “cheap-chic” look that emphasizes edgy design. “The city of Chicago is known for its creativity, free-thinking artists and vibrant neighborhoods, with the Acme Hotel designed to reflect all of those qualities unlike any other Chicago hotel,” said Gene Kornota, Neighborhood Development co-owner. “The hotel’s tagline ‘Do Your Thing’ means just that; we celebrate the individual needs and desires of our guests and how they experience the city in their own way.”

The hotel will boast a 100MB Wi-Fi system, guestrooms that feature hardwood flooring and open closets, a bar and lounge featuring two-story walls framed in industrial-style lighting and meeting space with capacity for 40 people.

Neighborhood Development has not said whether it plans to establish Acme as a brand that will expand beyond one location.

America’s debut of the first upper-upscale Radisson Blu hotel, the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, is scheduled to make its U.S. premiere at Chicago’s Lakeshore East in November 2011.

The hotel will occupy 18 floors of the of the 87-story mixed-use hotel, residential, and retail, high-rise Aqua tower, recently proclaimed “Skyscraper of the Year” by Emporis, the international building database. The hotel will feature world-class meeting and event space, both indoor and outdoor, on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of the tower.

Addressing the USD 125 million joint venture between Magellan Development Group and Carlson, Thorsten Kirschke, chief operating officer, Carlson Hotels, and president, Carlson Hotels, America, noted “This landmark building in Chicago is the contemporary debut of the first Radisson Blu hotel in the United States. Our Radisson Blu hotels are well established in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and are expanding in Asia Pacific, and we are looking forward to delivering this highly stylish, yet functional, contemporary hotel experience that genuinely resonates with the needs of today’s travelers to the U.S.”

The Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, which completes the stunning and universally hailed Aqua tower designed by internationally acclaimed, environmentally conscious architect, Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, will be a full-service facility and will feature 334 guest rooms and suites, some with balconies, 27,000 square feet of total meeting space, including a 12,500-square-foot ballroom with 20-foot-high windows overlooking The Park at Lakeshore East, and extensive outdoor space ideal for social and business events, providing an urban resort oasis setting. Dining facilities include Filini, a contemporary Italian 150-seat restaurant and bar.

Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel guests will have access to more diverse amenities than in any major city, indoors and out including an extraordinary 80,000-square-foot green roof and recreation deck featuring luxury gardens, gazebos, swimming pools and cabanas, a hot tub, 1/5 mile running/walking trail, a fire pit and grills. Building amenities include an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art fitness and spa facility featuring hot tubs, sauna, steam and massage room, an indoor lap pool, two private party suites with catering kitchens, a media room, a billiards and game area and a full-service business center.

Striking, fashion-inspired guest room interiors are being created by internationally noted Swedish hospitality designer Christian Lundwall, who has been designing hotel rooms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa since the 1980s.

The Radisson Blu Aqua room portfolio includes 203 kings, 131 Queen/Queens, 15 king suites, two Lakeshore and Millennium Park suites and the imperial two-bedroom Aqua Presidential Suite.

The hotel will feature two of the brand’s new room styles, Naturally Cool and Mansion House, designed to elevate the guest experience to an unparalleled level. Each is unique in palette and inspiration; each is equally impressive in its sense of design, quality and functionality. The most contemporary of the styles is described as Naturally Cool, featuring splashes of color, a soft sensual white bed, metal lamps, wood flooring and dramatic paper art versatile enough for any setting or climate.

The Mansion House design is defined by sophisticated strong lines, deep rich timber finishes, flashes of chrome and stunning turquoise complemented by a powerful use of artwork that presents a “dark but clubby” aura.  This room style is simultaneously contemporary and avant garde.

The hotel will offer Business Class By Radisson^®, a brand service developed to provide guests upgraded amenities and services.  There are two floors exclusively designed for Business Class guests.  Business Class guests will enjoy the full use of a 17^th floor hospitality lounge with complimentary breakfast and evening cocktails among a number of special perks.

Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel interior design will be extraordinary and will provide a multi-dimensional landscape of hospitality with dining, meeting and event, recreation, and seating areas on multiple levels.  The interior design will feature dramatic focal points including a “flying staircase,” a folded steel plate staircase without structural support that appears to defy gravity, and a 50-foot fireplace feature in the lobby area surrounded by a 100 foot long solid Egyptian bronze metal wall sculpture.

Ian Schrager has finally gone Public with his plans for revitalizing Chicago’s iconic Ambassador East Hotel.

Schrager intends to make the 285-key Ambassador East the flagship and debut of a new hotel brand called Public, which he describes as “accessible luxury” with an emphasis on service. The Public concept borrows from the luxury, boutique and limited-service segments to create a brand that is simultaneously aspirational and affordable. The new brand will debut this fall. Calling himself in a press release “anti-design,” “anti-flash,” “suspicious of the ‘wow factor’” and “completely sick of slick,” Schrager wants Public to appeal to both upscale bargain hunters and traditional budget consumers looking to trade up. “This is a huge opportunity to create a new genre of hotel that is not pigeonholed into a specific and traditional business classification,” Schrager says. In today’s press release, which is purportedly written by Schrager himself, he says that Public “may well represent the revitalization of the hotel concept itself and another worldwide wakeup call for the entire industry.” The man often called “the father of boutique hotels” says the rapid worldwide expansion of boutiques has trivialized the concept. The Public brand seeks to reconnect with the boutique movement’s roots while making it accessible to a new class of consumers. “The idea behind the boutique, as I saw it, was meant to touch people emotionally and viscerally and offer guests a truly unique experience,” Schrager says. “The idea has been lost with the huge number of watered-down versions. I want to bring it back in an updated version and elevate it to a cultural experience for the modern day traveler. These travelers now expect truly unique experiences, and not merely a place to sleep.  Public will punctuate this with great value and service as well. “My hotels were never about design. They were about an attitude, an approach and an experience. It’s something the industry never understood,” he says.

Service excellent, not superfluous Excellent service will be a cornerstone of the Public experience, but the brand will not deal with “superfluous” services. For Schrager, this marks a new approach devoid of excess and a rejection of old-fashioned definitions of luxury. “Luxury is no longer about spending the most money; it is about getting the best value and being made to feel special,” Schrager says. “This is not in response to difficult economic times; it is a true paradigm shift.” Public’s design team is being headed by Schrager’s longtime partner, Anda Andrei. The brand’s design will be restrained, refined and classically cool, devoid of pretense and hipness. “It’s a new simplicity. A ‘new chic.’ A ‘sincere chic.’ Tasteful and understated without attitude where quality and comfort are paramount. It is a really personal, authentic, confident style, and authenticity can’t be faked. Genuine, understated good taste is a universal language, yet hard to find,” Schrager says. “There is no pretense here, just effortless, timeless, purist design providing a relaxed vibe and familiar atmosphere that feels like home. We are trying not to be hip—we are, in fact, anti-hip— and therefore, by definition, we are.” For Ambassador East Chicago—henceforth known as Public Chicago—Schrager has maintained the existing structure and architectural details and infused the interior with modern aspects to evoke a warm, personal style. The interior design features a smart mix of modern pieces in unexpected combinations. Public Chicago’s Living Room and Library will be nicknamed “chat rooms,” juxtaposing comfortable, intimate seating areas with communal work tables and computer stations. Reminiscent of 1950s coffeehouses, The Library will house a coffee bar during the day, and by night transforms into a sexy lounge and bar offering plated exotic food by Chef Jean-George Vongerichten. Off of The Library is a candlelit Backroom that doubles as a screening room and hosts comfortable lounges and intimate seating for enjoying private screenings, video installations, poetry readings, original performances, relaxing and entertaining. The hotel’s famed Pump Room is undergoing a complete renovation and will be helmed by Vongerichten. The restaurant will offer reasonably priced, delicious favorites in a relaxed, comfortable environment. Vongerichten will support local purveyors, regional flavors and offer a “farm to table” experience, as well as a daily special chef’s tasting menu of the most unique creations.  At night, the restaurant’s bar will be transformed into a supper club recapturing the glamour of the 1930s and ’40s with a modern twist.  Offerings will include light tapas style food including Asian specialties, exotic cocktails and great music.

Hotel 71, which sits along the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, will be giving itself a makeover.

First up in the $15 million project will be a revamped contemporary lobby that’ll be done up in dark browns and grays. New rooms, a brand-spankin’-new restaurant, a redesigned business center and some fitness center equipment will also follow.

There will be 49 new premier guest rooms, which will have hardwood furnishings, marble foyers, marble bathrooms with rainforest showers—some will have separate tubs—and 36-inch plasma TVs.

The new restaurant will be named Hoyt’s. It’ll have a modern-rustic vibe, with leather seating in the wood-and-stone space. The focal point in the restaurant will be the bar, so the hotel is hoping that this will become a big drinking spot.

The renovations are scheduled to be completed by spring 2011.