Chicago Adding Hundreds More Hotel Rooms

Five new hotels are adding more than 2,000 rooms to Chicago’s downtown and along North Michigan Avenue.

The latest one, opening Friday, is Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago-Downtown/Lakefront, 511 N. Columbus Drive. Part of the huge River East Center entertainment-retail complex under development, it has 455 two-room suites, a lobby with floor-to-ceiling atrium (a standard feature of the brand), indoor pool and restaurant. Introductory rates, through Dec. 31, start at $199 per night. Telephone (312) 836-5900, Internet https://www.embassysuites.com.

The fast-spreading W Hotels chain opened W Chicago-City Center, 172 W. Adams St., in June and plans to open a second one, W Chicago-Lakeshore, 644 N. Lake Shore Drive, in October. The City Center hotel has 390 rooms with a 1940s Hollywood theme, plus a restaurant, cafe and bar. It was renovated from the former Midland Hotel, which dates to the 1930s. The Lakeshore hotel also is a renovation, having been a Days Inn. It will have 556 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and “Zen-like” decor, a spokeswoman said. Room rates for both W hotels are about $210 to $425 per night, depending on date. Tel. (877) 946-8357, https://www.whotels.com.

Earlier this summer, Le Meridien Chicago, 520 N. Michigan Ave., and the Peninsula Chicago, 108 E. Superior St. (off Michigan Avenue), added a total of 650 rooms to the city’s roster. Both luxury hotels are above retail developments. Le Meridien occupies 17 stories of the new Shops at North Bridge complex, on the site of the 1929 McGraw-Hill Building. Room rates begin at $250. Tel. (800) 367-8340, https://www.lemeridien-hotels.com. The Peninsula hotel includes restaurants and a spa. Introductory rates, through Sept. 30, start at $295 per night. Tel. (866) 288-8889, https://www.peninsula.com.

U.S. Hotel Rates Register First Drop in 10 Years

Hotel rates have fallen nationwide for the first time in a decade, according to Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based company that tracks industry trends.

The decline was small overall--average room rates in the U.S. were 1.1% less in July this year than last July--but significant in some areas. San Francisco was the third hardest hit among 20 major metropolitan areas and regions that Smith Travel monitors: down 6.1% from a year ago. (Boston dropped 7%; Philadelphia, which was flush with visitors for the Republican National Convention last summer, dropped 6.9%.) New York rates fell 4.5%, deepening a slide that began in April.

Most of Southern California posted gains, including Los Angeles-Long Beach (up 2.4%) and San Diego (2.9%). Other gainers included Hawaii’s Oahu (up 3.1%) and Seattle ( 3.4%).

In many cases, business destinations posted losses, but vacation destinations posted gains. “The leisure side of travel continues to hold up pretty well” compared with the corporate side, noted Bobby Bowers, vice president of Smith Travel Research.

Traveler’s Note ...

On the heels of major U.S. airlines, which last month lowered the caps on commissions to travel agents for domestic air fares, Carnival Cruise Lines cut its commissions for the air part of its air-sea packages to 5%; cruise-only commissions remain at 10% to 20%, a spokeswoman said. Within days, Windstar and Holland America Line, also owned by Carnival Corp., the world’s biggest cruise company, said they would do the same, according to Bloomberg news service.