Hotel with Skyline Views near Downtown Shopping

The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North is located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, just blocks from the Magnificent Mile. This stretch of Michigan Avenue is lined with famous boutiques and department stores. But you’re forgiven if you just want to hang out at the hotel for a while: an award-winning renovation included updates to the lobby, restaurants, and guest rooms. During your stay, you’ll also have access to a heated indoor pool, a dry sauna, fitness center, and the city’s massive Merchandise Mart.

You’ll enjoy views of the Chicago River and the city skyline throughout the hotel. The 15th-floor lounge, Cityscape Bar, is wrapped in floor-to-ceiling windows; drop by for lunch, in the early evening, to watch the sun set as you drink a signature martini, and enjoy a dinner amid the skyline views. Or visit the neighboring Merchants Cafe, a casual restaurant that’s open for breakfast and dinner. If you are in a hurry, stop in Merchants Market, which offers specialty coffee drinks, snacks, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and sodas.

You can even see the city’s downtown silhouette from many of the guest rooms, which come with 32-inch flat-screen HDTVs and complimentary WiFi.

Chicago’s River North: World-Class Art Galleries, Restaurants, and Nightlife near Downtown

Bordering the Loop on the northern side of the Chicago River, the River North neighborhood is where the skyscrapers of downtown give way to the award-winning restaurants and trendy nightspots of the North Side. Once an industrial area, River North is today home to architectural gems—the Jenga-like Contemporaine residential building on Wells Street is a good example—as well as eateries to suit every appetite and budget.

Dining options range from inventive Peruvian cuisine at Tanta Restaurant to Chicago classics such as Portillo’s. At Eataly, you could spend a full week working your way through the Italian offerings at 23 separate restaurants and food stalls.

In addition to its formidable culinary presence, River North boasts the country’s largest concentration of art galleries outside of Manhattan. Born around the same time that Jim Nutt and other Chicago Imagists rose to prominence, the River North Gallery District runs along Chicago, Superior and Huron Streets, occupying century-old, red brick warehouses that have been converted into lofts and exhibition spaces.

Amid River North’s restaurants, condos, nightclubs, and galleries, you’ll also find the leaders of Chicago’s rapidly growing tech sector. Among the companies that have offices here: Google, a gaggle of digital startups at the 1871 co-working space, and, yes, Groupon (we’re in the old Montgomery Ward building, where the mail-order catalog was born).

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