Kimpton Journeyman Hotel

The Third Ward, tucked in between the river and Lake Michigan, is downtown Milwaukee’s coolest neighborhood; it’s full of galleries, shops, cafés, and rehabilitated industrial spaces, not to mention the Milwaukee Public Market. It’s also home to the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel — a newly built boutique hotel whose red-brick facade and rough reclaimed-wood lobby flooring suit the neighborhood to a tee.

And the Kimpton group’s signature flourishes do too — from daily happy hours to pet-friendly policies to luxury that’s accessible and never ostentatious, theirs is a brand of hospitality that finds itself perfectly at home in the Upper Midwest.

Actually, the oversized soaking tubs in the King Spa rooms are a touch ostentatious, but in the best possible way. Otherwise they’re subtly stylish, full of rich touchable textures, and packed with comforts like Frette linens and Atelier Bloem bath products.

Tre Rivali is the Journeyman’s restaurant, a sprawling, all-day, Mediterranean-inspired Modern American eatery with a wood-fired grill and oven. It’s something of a neighborhood meeting place already, and so, despite the name, is the Outsider, an indoor-outdoor rooftop bar and restaurant whose glass walls and fire pits keep it running more or less year-round.