Royal Sonesta Chicago River North

In a city as colossal as Chicago — wide boulevards, soaring architecture — it’s only natural that a boutique hotel should want to scale up. Fortunately this is something Sonesta does especially well, building towering, all-the-amenities hotels that retain the character and warmth of a boutique, and the Royal Sonesta Chicago River North is a textbook example. It’s got the beautiful sky-scraping pool, the spacious 24-hour fitness center and all the full-on business facilities expected of a modern high-rise hotel. But it’s also a friendly enough place that kids get special attention, pets are encouraged and Midwestern generosity abounds — it’s all proof that going big doesn’t have to mean growing cold.

261 rooms and suites, all comfortably stylish without being ostentatious, offer lots of layouts to choose from. Even the most basic have beds with triple Frette sheeting and down comforters, a large business-friendly desk and a 37” HDTV. The City View rooms add floor-to-ceiling windows at an altitude where they count, and the various suites, though spacious and generously appointed throughout, shine brightest in the bathrooms: they’re big, with granite-topped vanities, Fuji soaking tubs and separate marble showers.

The hotel’s location in the River North neighborhood fits its grown-up boutique sensibilities perfectly. Outside Manhattan, nowhere else in the U.S. has a greater concentration of art galleries (there are over 100 here), and the food scene, with more options than anywhere else in the city, is likewise a draw to Chicagoans and visitors alike. No doubt you can have your gigantic steak here, but with all the other options, you can easily beat it, too. Like the hotel, River North presents a more modern image of Chicago — confidently cosmopolitan, without a hint of “second-city” insecurity.