Review of The Talbott Hotel

Located within an affluent Gold Coast residential neighbourhood, The Talbott is within walking distance of art galleries, restaurants, 360 Chicago for the best views from the 94th floor, the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Tribune building and Oak Street Beach. 

It is also just steps from the shopping destination of North Michigan Avenue with the bustling Magnificent Mile and a further stretch of the legs to Lake Michigan. The Loop, Chicago’s business district is around a 20-minute walk whilst the Red Line transportation system is just a five-minute stroll away from the front door.

The Talbott, Chicago is approximately 30 minutes from O’Hare International Airport.

The Talbott, Chicago offers 178 generously sized guest rooms located over 16 floors of a 1927 heritage building.  Featuring a predominantly neutral colour palette, rooms retain an airy feel with sheet white drapes, contemporary lighting and white marble windowsills. Each offers burnt copper fringed armchairs and sofas, streamlined furnishings with an Art Deco feel and an inky blue/black carpet which pulls the look together. Having a strong residential feel, nothing is superfluous – everything in the rooms is there for a definite purpose. Large picture windows look out onto a quiet Delaware urban view. 

All the rooms offer luxurious SFERRA Italian-spun linens, marble-accented bathrooms with waterfall showers, spa inspired bathrobes and towels and Jonathan Adler for La Bottega amenities, LG smart flatscreen televisions, Bluetooth alarm clock/radios, individual temperature controls and in-room safes.

Room categories range from the entry level Queen bed, enjoying in a quiet setting away from the lifts, through twin queen rooms and kings up to the Studio King – an oversized corner room and the Junior Suite and Junior Suite with murphy bed, overlooking quiet, tree-lined Delaware Place. These rooms feature a king-sized bed with an oversized seating area. 

Best of all, our canine friends are welcome too. Conveniently, there is a Tails in the City luxury pet boutique directly across from the hotel and Wiggly Field Dog Park, a free fenced in off leash dog park nearby. There is also Belmont Harbor Dog Beach and Montrose Dog Beach for off the leash walks on the shoreline.

The Talbott provides accessible rooms with roll-in showers and handlebars as well as rooms with ADA-compliant tubs.

The state-of-the-art fitness room features a range of equipment including a Peloton Bike and Flowater purified water refill station. For those who need aquatic exercise, the hotel offers its guests complimentary use of an Olympic-sized indoor pool at a private complex some five minutes walk from the property. 

A daily Urban Amenity Fee includes a PPE kit with hand sanitiser, bottled water and wipes; complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi; access to fitness room; digital access to the New York Times; unlimited local and 800 calls; 10% off the first room service order and access to exclusive discounts at neighbourhood boutiques, spas and fitness studios. Concierge discounts include Bloomingdale’s, 900 North Michigan Shops, Macy’s, Tails in the City, 360 Chicago Observation Deck, Lester Lampert (free jewellery cleaning and free gift) and free admission at Howl at the Moon – a local music venue.

Built in 1927 and originally designed by John Archibald Armstrong, The Talbott has through the years seen service as an apartment building, a laundromat and even a jazz club where bands like The Rolling Stones would hang out. Today, the property’s European-inspired façade hides a modern, pared-down interior cleverly mixed with vintage touches. With the style of a club rather than a traditional hotel, The Talbott was apparently named after a rare sports car – the Talbot-Lago - which suits the new profile perfectly.

Designer Kara Mann’s reputation was built on high-end single-family residences with The Talbott being her first commercial hotel project. Her design sees comfortable velvet armchairs with a fringe edging, extraordinary paint finishes, marble accents and a pared-back aesthetic for the guest rooms, paying homage to the 1920s when the property was in its heyday. It is what sets it apart from its rivals today. Mann is famed for her clean lines, fresh looks and only using the finest materials. She has not failed at The Talbott, Chicago. 

The Talbott, Chicago is part of the Joie de Vivre collection – a Hyatt boutique brand.

The Prime by Butler restaurant and bar is located on the left as you enter the building, just off an open plan lobby. It also opens out onto a pretty street patio on a seasonal basis on the sidewalk outside the hotel.

With comfortable armchair seating, vintage lighting, painted panelled walls and a long sleek bar with seating, the venue is open all day long with a crowd-pleasing American menu showcasing the region’s finest ingredients, expertly prepared and served with style and polish.  

Room service can be booked with butlermenu.com via an easy-to-use app which also offers a range of convenience items ranging from deodorant and toothpaste to iPhone lightning cables and travel adapters. 

In 2007, The Talbott Hotel became the first in the Midwest and one of the first in the nation to purchase wind power credits, resulting in the elimination of 100% of its electrical carbon footprint. Committing to innovative efforts for sustainability and energy efficiency led The Talbott to become recognised as one of the first Green Seal-certified hotels in the nation.

As part of Hyatt, The Talbott must adhere to its parent-company’s sustainability and general corporate responsibilities. These include tackling waste – e.g., with Clean the World to donate gently used soaps and shampoos, collaborating to reduce food waste and sticking to the guidelines for new construction and renovation outline key topics such as insulation, lighting, cooling and heating efficiency, water and ventilation systems, and materials.