Concierge Picks at The James Hotel

The James Hotel is a sleek, modern, and comfortable boutique hotel located right in downtown Chicago off of the Magnificent Mile. This award-winning hotel offers all the modern amenities and much more to make your stay amazingly relaxing. Set just off of Michigan Avenue, guests are steps away from some of Chicago’s best landmarks and attractions. We had the opportunity to speak to one of The James Hotel’s fabulous concierges, Marco Ordonez, who gave us the low down on the best places to grab a drink, as well as some of his personal favorites.

Where do you send visitors when they want to have a drink in the neighborhood of your hotel?

It depends what time of day. For happy hour, between 4pm and 7pm I normally send people to the Signature Lounge; it has fantastic views of the city. Sixteen also has great views of the lake and Michigan Avenue. For the evening I like to send people to J Bar, which is adjacent to the hotel. It is comfortable and not too loud. NV Penthouse and C-View are also good, as well as Vertigo Sky Lounge at the top of the Dana Hotel. For travelers I really like to recommend places with good views of the city.

Lunch at the Signature Lounge

What if you are on a date?

For a romantic place I would send guests to the Crimson Lounge, which is dim and has a unique and comfortable feeling, and is close to the hotel. If guests are looking for music, I like to send them to Pops for Champagne, which is close to The James.

Bar at the Crimson Lounge

What about options for a girl’s night?

For a closer bar I always recommend guests go to Martini Park. It is a nice large bar, with good music that is sleek and modern. I have not checked it out yet, but I might send people to Beauty Bar that just opened. It sounds fun and interesting.

What about for a guy’s night?

Theory is really great for guys; it is an upscale sports bar close to the hotel. Rockit Bar & Grill is also comfortable for guys; it’s big and open. I may even send guests to District Bar on Ontario, which is usually pretty popular.

Where can people go for a good local vibe?

Near the hotel, I like to send people to Bull & Bear which usually has a lot of locals, and I would also send guests to Timothy O’Tooles, which is more of a local hangout. It is much more casual, with a good local feel.

Where do you like to go out?

This might be surprising, but I like to go to a bar pretty far north called Neo. It is a hole in the wall, but I really like it, especially Thursdays when all the weirdos come out! I also love the Violet Hour. It has a really cool vibe and amazing specialty drinks. There is also another hole in the wall I like to go sometimes called Late Bar on Belmont. It is a small venue, with a small dance floor in the back and they have music going all the time. They even have the DJ from Neo. I think it is open until 4am. Another place I like is called Pitchfork which has $3 Guinness and 45 kinds of whiskey.

Bar at the Violet Hour

[Photos courtesy of The Ardvaark, Stuck in Customs, ShutterRunner, tacybo]