By Mika Turim-Nygren, Travel Correspondent

Quirky, Eclectic B & B with Extravagant Breakfasts

Collections of glazed ceramics, vintage cameras, and wooden back massagers fill every nook and cranny of Ray's Bucktown Bed and Breakfast, a testament to owner Ray Reiss’s various passions and interests. Given the intriguing knickknacks and the framed photos lining the walls—a vestige of the days when the building was Ray's photography studio—the inn can seem less like a traditional B & B than an eccentrically curated cabinet of wonders.

Among homey touches in the main living room, a whiteboard displays the week's weather as well as sketches of resident felines Maggie and Rocky. Eleven cozy guest rooms evince a careful attention to detail. "My Aunt Velma made this quilt," says Ray, pointing out a tawny patchwork blanket. Though each room offers a unique layout, all of them have capacious windows and many boast whirlpool tubs and antique furnishings. In the Da Vinci room, a pair of skylights illuminates bookshelf-lined beds, and the Chickadee room displays original paintings. It sits in the recently renovated north wing, which connects to the central building via a TV den papered with Bucktown Art Fest posters.

Downstairs, a steam room and wood-paneled sauna warm bodies and help snowmen slim down during chilly winter evenings. The next day, chefs whip up breakfast beneath racks of cast-iron pans, serving anything from the extensive menu at any hour of the morning. Main dishes, such as goat-cheese-and-mushroom omelets or mascarpone-stuffed french toast, pair with bacon, sausage, and rosemary-encrusted roasted red potatoes. Throughout the day, complimentary coffee, tea, and bottled water are available.

Bucktown, Chicago: Trendy Residential Neighborhood Northwest of the Loop

The ivy-covered brick façade of Ray's blends into a quiet residential section of the trendy Bucktown neighborhood, where blocks of brownstones share space with artists' lofts, epicurean restaurants, and fashionable boutiques. At night, Bucktown and its adjacent neighborhood, Wicker Park, spring to life with live-music joints and hip bars headed by skilled mixologists armed with a full battery of bitters. As a former hub of Polish immigrant culture, the area also hosts magnificent, ornament-laden churches in the Polish Cathedral style.

Of course, Chicago's many landmarks are only an el ride away. In the Loop, the Art Institute of Chicago showcases iconic masterworks such as Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and Cezanne's Still Life with Cell Phones, and just outside in Millennium Park, skaters swirl beneath sparkling skyscrapers at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink.