13 days....

...and I'm off to Chicago.  This will be a new blogging experience for me because I'll be documenting the whole trip in real time (sort of) which might prove to be slightly annoying for my travel partners (sorry, girls - I promise never during cocktail hour, ok?)  Anyway, after hours of exhaustive research, we've settled on Hotel Palomar Chicago.  It's a (Kimpton) sister hotel to the Hotel Monaco- which I also love (see previous posts re: Monaco in San Francisco & Chicago).  The Palomar is in the River North area of Chicago - close to restaurants and .....shopping.  What else would we do in the winter in Chicago?
 

Since it just opened last spring, I'm looking forward to that new hotel smell AND the hosted wine hour in the hotel's living room every night.  It's a shame we won't be able to check out the green (eco friendly-whatever) rooftop pool and terrace -I've heard the view is amazing -  but maybe we'll visit again when the temp is above 30.

The reviews rave about the service. Stay tuned....