Resorts
CONTACTCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
By Raphael Kadushin
Some neighborhoods seem to pop up suddenly, fully formed. Chicago’s West Loop has been a culinary breeding ground for years, ever since Blackbird, Avec and Publican—Paul Kahan’s supernal trinity—debuted on and around West Randolph Street. But it wasn’t until the Ace Hotel Chicago premiered last year that the neighborhood could claim a bona fide hangout of its own. That has a lot to do with the Ace brand’s general approach. More than mere hotels, Ace properties tend to blur lines; they do double as performance spaces, bars, lounges, restaurants, art clubs, and boutiques. They’re basically lifestyle centers, a concept that can be annoying unless it’s done well. And Ace does it well.
Chicago’s iteration, in fact, does it supremely well. As a simple hotel it stays true to the brand’s aesthetic that borders on an almost camp version of hyper masculinity. Guest rooms are a butch mix of industrial, artisanal, Boys Scout camp, athletic club, and ‘50s throwback; there are enigmatic metal racks, stripped wood desks, iron beds, and open shelving, along with turntables in selected rooms. All of which seems like a good fit for Chicago, or at least the still lingering meat and potatoes, cliché of the city, a dumb Midwestern lug.
The rest of the busy hotel is a better approximation of the truer, savvy, now-stylish Chicago. There is a prairie grass garden growing on one of the rooftops, and an event space that hosts arty conclaves, including readings and poetry slams from the Young (very very young) Chicago Authors. The penthouse bar and lounge, the Waydown, features DJ nights and regular LGBT events (recently the Peach pop-up party for queer women), as well as $12 cocktails that read like smoking potions (i.e. consider the Loose Talk, a heady mix of melon vodka, cocchi rosa, papirusa manzanilla, and, um, lime). Down on the ground floor the City Mouse restaurant is a web of bar, dining room, and outdoor terrace anchored by a fire pit. That’s where the boys from the new Google headquarters across the street gather for a mix of big-bro baby food (hamburgers, sundaes), the inevitable 2017 limping into 2018 trio (charred octopus, burrata, Brussels sprouts), and some well-done serious cooking (charred tuna with eggplant purée).
It’s Google of course, in the end, along with Ace, that is responsible for the area’s ascendance. Now the tech hub of Chicago, the West Loop will just keep expanding. The luxury condos are shooting up, the boutiques and art galleries are assembling, Soho House has already taken over a block, and every one of Chicago’s hipster aspirational restaurant is opening on every other unoccupied block (among the recent wave: Duck Duck Goat, Monteverde, Roister, Bellemore, and thank god a Shake Shack). Ace, with its unerring nose for the moment, doesn’t have to worry; it is sitting very pretty just where it belongs.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Ron Amato Retrospective: 75 Gorgeous Images of Queer Men
March 07 2021 12:00 AM
Just in Time for Pride – The 15 Gayest Cities in the World in 2023
April 12 2023 6:47 PM
Turkish Oil Wrestling: Male Bonding at the Kirkpinar Festival
December 20 2022 2:20 PM
The 13 Least Visited National Parks
January 07 2023 5:00 AM
Here are the Best Gay Sex and Male Nudity Scenes in 2022
April 19 2023 5:23 PM
OnlyFans Star Reno Gold on His New Boyfriend and Travel Show
December 16 2022 3:10 PM
Get Soaked! with These 35+ Steamy Pool Pics From This Year’s White Party
May 25 2023 9:29 AM
Slovakian Jocks With Nothing to Hide
September 28 2021 3:00 PM
12 Years of Intimate Photos of Same Man - Taken by His Partner
August 29 2022 4:00 AM
20 Thirsty Pics of #SniffiesRush Campaign Celebrating Frat Life
December 16 2022 3:19 PM
Outtraveler: Featured Video
Latest Stories
Finding community on our first luxury LGBTQ+ cruise
November 26 2024 5:00 AM
Russia bans adoption from gender-affirming nations
November 25 2024 3:02 PM
Which trans beauty will be crowned the next Miss International Queen – USA?
November 23 2024 10:39 AM
Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival returns to L.A. just in time for the holidays
November 21 2024 8:54 AM
KUST. introduces 'Thong 01' in revealing new campaign
November 20 2024 5:45 PM
Malta unveiled: Your ultimate LGBTQ+ guide to the Mediterranean paradise
November 20 2024 12:19 PM
EDC Orlando should rebrand as a Pride event — gays are everywhere
November 19 2024 2:05 PM
Santa’s Secret, the naughty immersive holiday experience, returns to NYC
November 15 2024 1:55 PM
‘Forgetting the Many’ remembers many more than just gay WW2 codebreaker Alan Turing
November 15 2024 10:52 AM
Say hello to Elska's queer men of Salt Lake City
November 15 2024 10:26 AM
BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! opens Gallery Café in London
November 06 2024 4:24 PM
Cedric Gervais returns to his 'Summertime Sadness' roots with EDC Orlando performance
November 04 2024 3:21 PM
Out and About with Jeff Hiller
October 30 2024 11:43 AM
Experience romance in the clouds at this elevated rainforest resort
October 23 2024 5:00 AM
Troye Sivan & Charli xcx's 'Sweat Tour' is the must-see show of 2024
October 16 2024 2:52 PM
NewFest returns to NYC on Thursday with over 140 queer titles for its 36th film festival
October 07 2024 5:39 PM
Asheville heartbreak: Will LGBTQ+ cocktail bar rise from the ruins?
October 04 2024 10:12 AM
Out and About with Sasheer Zamata
October 03 2024 3:08 PM
equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill on LGBTQ+ History
October 01 2024 12:52 PM
Ashland and its Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the Pacific Northwest’s hidden gem
September 27 2024 3:30 PM