Area Attractions

The 103rd floor observatory of the Willis Tower offers some of the most amazing views in the country. While you’re up there, visit the interactive exhibits that tell visitors about Chicago’s dreamers, schemers, architects, musicians, writers and sports greats.

Try your luck at Hollywood Casino in Aurora when you visit Hyatt Lisle. It's 53,000 square feet of action, including 1,180 slot machines and 26 table games. The casino's pavilion boasts award-winning restaurants. Sample Epic Buffet, Fairbanks Steakhouse or Take Two, then check out the latest show or peruse the casino's impressive collection of movie memorabilia throughout the property.

Built during World War I, this 3,000-foot-long pier was a Navy training center for pilots during World War II and has now been transformed into a bustling tourist mecca with a combination of carnival, food court and boat dock. In the summer months, water taxis speed between Navy Pier and other Chicago sights.

When you want panoramic views of the lake and surrounding skyline – this is the place. At 1,127 feet high “Big John” is the third tallest building in Chicago. Visitors flock to the 94th floor observatory where – on a clear day – they can see four states. But, the observatory isn’t nearly as interesting as the bar that adjoins the Signature Room restaurant on the 95th floor. There’s a little more atmosphere to savor the view and you can purchase a cocktail instead of paying the observatory entry fee.

The MCA claims to be the largest contemporary-art museum in the country, emphasizing experimentation in a variety of media -- painting, sculpture, photography, video and film, dance, music, and performance.

Ensconced in a ground-floor space at Columbia College -- a progressive arts- and media-oriented institution that boasts the country's largest undergraduate film department and a highly respected photography department – the Museum of Contemporary Photography exhibits, collects, and promotes modern photography.

Come for the country’s best collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art. (See an entire room dedicated to Monet.) Linger over the comprehensive photography collection and the fine American works. Discover painting, drawings, sculpture and design spanning the ancient to contemporary world.

Visit the planetarium that brought star-gazing to a new level for city’s across America. Older children enjoy the interactive science exhibits and the high-tech Sky Pavilion, while younger visitors get hands-on experience with the cultural exhibits.

Since the Chicago Children's Museum moved to Navy Pier in 1996, it has become one of the most popular cultural attractions in the city.

Enjoy 175 years of history at Graue Mill and Museum. This mill was the first to grind grain and is the only operating waterwheel gristmill in Illinois.

Built into the rise of an ancient sand dune -- once the shoreline of Lake Michigan -- Chicago's newest museum bills itself as "an environmental museum for the 21st century."

The Museum of Science and Industry has something for the child in everyone. With some 2,000 exhibits, a comprehensive visit to this massive interactive museum can take all day.

Just two miles from our luxury hotel is this world-class theater.

An institution since 1959, this improv troop has launched the careers of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and many more.

Chicago’s premier classical dance company.

Their alumni roster reads like a who’s who of theater – John Malkovich, Gary Sinise and Joan Allen all honed their skills here.

Musicals based on popular African-American icons.

A truly grand theater with historic-landmark status, the Auditorium is worth a visit to experience late-19th-century Chicago opulence.

With nearly 3,000 animals, Brookfield Zoo has something for everyone - from the Tropic World - a simulated tropical rain forest with monkeys, otters, birds and other rain-forest inhabitants that move about in a carefully constructed habitat of trees, shrubs, pools and waterfalls – to the Be a Bird House where you can flap your "wings" on a machine that decides what kind of bird you would be based on how you flap.

Gaze into the Bean - a luminous polished-steel sculpture – as it plays tricks with the reflection of Chicago’s skyline. The Park is also home to Jay Priztker Pavilion, where an incredible audio system allows audiences to enjoy concert-hall sound in the great outdoors.

Visit Lincoln Park Zoo to see rare and endangered species such as the spectacle bear and the Australian koala then explore the Farm in the Zoo area, learning center with films and demonstrations and the Conservation Station with hands-on activities.

Among the 23 inspiring and distinctly different gardens are a three-island Japanese garden, a waterfall garden, a sensory garden and a 4-acre fruit and vegetable garden. Three immense greenhouses showcase a desert, a rain forest and a formal garden where flowers bloom all through the winter.

Oak Brook Center offers a fantastic outdoor shopping experience, with six major department stores and more than 160 shops and restaurants - all in a tranquil setting of lush gardens and flowing fountains.

Stroll the exclusive northern half of Michigan Avenue – home to some of the most elegant boutiques, department stores and shops found around the world. Indulge in some of the little luxuries you can’t find anywhere outside of Milan, or Paris in the comfort of vertical shopping malls that allow you to shop to your hearts content without a care about the weather.

Enjoy a day of shopping, dining and fun, with a ride on the Yorktown Express Train and some playtime at the Treehouse Adventure Play Area.

Nordstrom, Sephora, Ann Taylor Loft, Vosges Haut-Chocolat (a local chocolatier), Lego and Oilily Kids.

With its gleaming-white, palatial, six-story grandstand and lush gardens, this racecourse is one of the most beautiful showcases for thoroughbred horse racing in the world.

Home of the Chicago Bulls (NBA basketball) and Chicago Blackhawks (NHL Hockey).

Wrigley Field is home to Cubs baseball. Founded in 1890, the Chicago Cubs are Chicago’s oldest baseball team.

Football in the Windy City is messy, dirty and usually exciting. Catch a Chicago Bears game August through December at Soldier Field.

Guaranteed Rate Field, home turf to the Chicago White Sox baseball.

Come to the Allstate Arena to cheer on the Wolves – Chicago’s dynamic AHL hockey team. The action never stops at Allstate Arena. When the Wolves aren’t playing, you can check out the hottest musical acts here.

Famous local historic figures like Louis Armstrong, Ida B. Wells – a women’s rights and African American civil-rights crusader and Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman pilot are immortalized in bronze in this area that is rapidly becoming gentrified.

Part of the literary legacy of Oak Park, a three-story turreted Queen Anne Victorian stands in frilly contrast to the many streamlined Praire-style homes elsewhere in the neighborhood. There are period-furnished rooms and many photos and artifacts pertaining to Hemingway’s early life. You can even look inside the room in which the author was born on July 21, 1899.

This luxurious centre offers art and antique lovers, as well as history buffs, a unique experience to view treasures from around the globe and across centuries. This attraction also offers unique event space and art classes.