Two Sister Hotels In Chicago, The Robey & The Hollander, Designed by an All Star Cast.

Mexico-based hoteliers Grupo Habita recently launched two wholly distinct sister hotels – The Robey & The Hollander. The hotels sit side-by-side, at the intersection where Chicago’s two most eclectic neighbourhoods – Wicker Park and Bucktown – meet.

The more upmarket of the two hotels, The Robey, is located in the 12-storey art deco Northwest Tower. The 69-room hotel was transformed by Belgian design firms Nicolas Schuybroek Architects and Marc Merckx Interiors, with each floor telling a story. Minimalist furniture, timber flooring and intelligent lighting by Chicago-based Filament 33 create a mood of simple luxury, both in rooms and in the French-American-style Café Robey.

The Hollander, the younger and grungier sister, is a hip hostel hybrid which occupies the adjacent five-storey historic Hollander Fireproof Warehouse, built in 1905 as a furniture storage facility for German-American Albert H. Hollander’s Express & Van Company. There are eight shared rooms in total, with a dozen private rooms offering a more youthful vibe. The hotel’s innovative approach to shared accommodations, dubbed Social Stay scheme, allows those booking rooms to connect with their roommates in advance via social media. Boasting interiors designed by French studios Delordinaire and Ciguë, The Hollander is undoubtedly destined to become Chicago’s go-to hipster hangout.

[Images courtesy of Grupo Habita. Photography credits noted.]