Hotel EMC2, Autograph Collection

As hotel names grow ever more cryptic and inscrutable, you might wonder if it might not be a coincidence Hotel EMC2 happened to land on that particular combination of letters and numbers. But you can bet that a hotel that’s dedicated to the intersection of art and science knows what it’s doing when it adopts Einstein’s famous formula. This luxury boutique hotel, on Chicago’s Miracle Mile, is out to prove that smart really is the new sexy — and if the stacks and stacks of books don’t convince you, the guest rooms, with their inventive design elements and their elegant Deco-inspired décor, certainly will.

It’s a part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection, but it’s plain to see it’s anything but a standard corporate chain hotel — and if we’re honest, the sheer professionalism of a well-established brand is nothing to turn your nose up at, as long as the place has personality and character. And while Hotel EMC2 might not be quite as eccentric as the wild-haired Swiss physicist who inspired it, it’s still anything but ordinary. The restaurant is called the Albert, after you-know-who — and while, by the time you check out, you might not be ready to revolutionize our understanding of the universe, chances are you’ll be feeling a fair bit brainier than when you checked in.