godfreyhotel

A Warm Welcome with a Shining Chandelier

As guests enter our hotel, we hope they will feel warm and welcome. So much so, the very word “Godfrey” means peace and welcome. We previously blogged about the importance of the lobby and making a great first impression (cliche and all!). We want our guests to experience a chic and sophisticated lobby and a key feature of that is the chandelier we just installed.

We caught up with Chris McDonough, design director at GETTYS – the firm responsible for our sophisticated and contemporary interior design. Chris said the marble-clad oval shaped lobby provides a welcoming experience for the guest with the large concentric ring pendant serving as a focal point. While visible from the street as well, this fixture reflects the strong geometry of the building and establishes the upscale feel for the property upon arrival.

Below is a first look at our chandelier, along with a flashback to the space pre-installation.

Location for the Godfrey's chandelier — Location for the Godfrey’s chandelier (Aug. 2013)

Guests may feel stressed from the hustle and bustle of travel and upon entering our hotel, we hope they feel the surprise and delight of our beautiful space. After all, we are designing with the guests’ experience in mind.

Retractable Roof Installation – I|O Urban Roofscape

The city and media are buzzing about our upcoming rooftop lounge, I|O Urban Roofscape. And we can’t blame them – we’re just as excited. In case you haven’t heard, I|O will boast uninterrupted views of the southern Chicago skyline – just gorgeous. Guests and Chicagoans can enjoy the rooftop while basking in the sunlight during the day or through the late afternoon and into the evening starlight.

Here’s how we’ll make all that happen: With our unique design of the retractable roof. The design creates the largest northern lookout point to the entire southern Chicago skyline. The fourth floor will offer approximately 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, with 10,000 square feet of lounge and event space. We previously gave you an update in a past blog post and this is the latest installation on the retractable roof, which happened yesterday (Nov. 25). Plus, among the panoramic skyline views include a fire pit, shimmering water elements, a video wall, retractable roof and more. I|O Urban Roofscape has more space and unique amenities to offer than other venues in the city.

As always, enjoy the view!

We are continuing to build our unique retractable roof for I|O Urban Roofscape.

Geometric Glamour

This holiday season The Magnificent Mile isn’t the only place to find a dazzling display of lights! What do you think of the filigreed light fixtures that take center stage in our lobby? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Our Unique Retractable Roof

You’ve likely seen the news coverage about the torrential rain, storms and tornadoes around the Illinois area. While Chicago is mostly safe, our thoughts are with those towns primarily in Central Illinois that are affected the most, including Peoria, Nashville and Washington, IL. We do find it inspiring to see how the communities came together to support and help one another.

The photo below was taken from our fourth floor space – a little wet outside from the recent rain. I|O Urban Roofscape will be approximately 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, with 10,000 square feet of lounge and event space. The exciting part is the retractable roof, which you can see is being erected in the image below. This unique design makes for unobstructed views of Chicago’s skyline.

I|O offers dramatic, south-facing skyline views, which are unobstructed due to the unique design of the retractable roof.

Fortunately, all this rain doesn’t mean “rain delay” – we’re still right on schedule for a spectacular opening in February 2014.

Stay warm and dry.

What Ladies Like When They’re On The Road – Site Visit

Today, we conducted a site visit to check out the latest and greatest at the hotel. With so many changes happening, we could hardly decide where to focus. But, we reflect back on the female guests and frequent travelers who we surveyed and questioned months ago about their travel preferences.

We consistently heard three requests for amenities in the room:

Full length mirror
Luxurious bathroom products
Abundant counter space in the bathroom

We can now say: Check, check and check.

First, we learned many ladies (and likely our gentleman too) want a full length mirror in the hotel room. We certainly understand – even when you’re on the road, you still want to look stylish. Here’s a look at the full length mirror:

You're looking good! A picture of our full length mirrors. — You’re looking good! A picture of our full length mirrors.

Second, we know bathroom products matter. Guests love quality products and L’Occitane delivers nothing short of a “beauty phenomenon,” as we’ve heard others say. We previously blogged about how excited we are to offer these products in our guest bathrooms – you can view the blog post here.

Last, for the counter space, we heard many female (frequent) travelers say they preferred the extra counter space in the bathroom. The extra space allows them to set up their hair products and tools, along with their makeup bags and other needs. The extra space (shown below) allows for at least two people to easily share the space with their travel kits and make up.

Enjoy, ladies! And we know the male travelers won’t mind either. Enjoy, all!