Chicago has its share of storied sports franchises, but the average White Sox fan probably hasn’t heard of the city’s most historic clubhouse. For more than 120 years, the Chicago Athletic Association on Michigan Avenue operated as a luxurious enclave for super-rich men – one of those places where “athletics” was code for “whisky” after a flew slow laps of the pool.
To be fair, the membership once included William Wrigley Jr., who took the association’s blue and red logo for his Chicago Cubs, but the average Joe wasn’t invited to the poker table – until now. This spring, after a painstaking two-year restoration, Chicago’s oldest boys club reopened as a boutique hotel.
The exterior of the Chicago Athletic Association on Michigan Avenue (Alan Shortall)
Location, location
The building’s perch on Michigan Avenue is about as central as you can get: It’s in the Loop district, facing Millennium Park and within walking distance to architectural boat cruises, Navy Pier and all the other touristy hot spots. The hotel is a bit of a hike to the ball diamond or football stadium, but public transit is nearby. We considered hopping on a bike from the Divvy station and blindly following a map to Wrigley Field, but opted instead for a Cubs T-shirt at the souvenir shops next door.
The hotel, designed by Henry Ives Cobb and completed in 1893, has had its chandeliers, art-deco interiors, extraordinary wood carvings and marble fireplaces given new life. (Alan Shortall)
Design
The original 76-metre Venetian Gothic building was designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb and completed in 1893, just in time to show off for the Chicago World’s Fair. It fell into disrepair and suffered not only gaudy makeovers but the threat of demolition (the club disbanded in 2007 and was cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the United States’ 11 most endangered places). So there was a lot to buff and shine when developers swooped in: chandeliers; extraordinary wood carvings; art-deco interiors; a marble staircase; 19th-century, stained-glass windows; two ballrooms; and a gym have all been given new life. More than 125 years after the club formed, it is still awe-inspiring to walk into the second-floor lobby, with its three marble fireplaces, intricately carved wooden panelling and Hogwarts vibe.
Lobby of the Chicago Athletic Association (Alan Shortall)
Whom you'll meet
The owners are serious about welcoming the public after so much exclusivity (prior to 1972, women couldn’t be members unless their husband died and had widow’s rights). On Saturday nights, millennials living in area condos line up at the hotel’s elevator doors for their turn to shoot skyward for a drink at Cindy’s, the rooftop restaurant named after the mother of the billionaire John Pritzker (his company, Commune Hotels and Resorts, helped rescue the building).
Cherry Circle Room (Clayton Hauck)
Eat in or eat out
First, we head up 13 storeys to Cindy’s, where well-heeled diners looked a little lost seated at trendy picnic tables, probably wondering why they were spending a premium to be jostled by youngsters swilling $15 co*cktails. Food is served family style, and my friend and I enjoyed a feast of crab legs and mussels called Frogmore Stew ($72 for a full pot, but a half serving was plenty). Then we elbowed past a small wedding celebration to gape at the panoramic view of Millennium Park and Lake Michigan (and snap a selfie, of course).
Next, we went over to the game room’s bocce ball court, but the place was packed so we dropped in to the Cherry Circle Room, a moody restaurant with a Mad Men vibe and a wooden bar hugging half the room. The entertainment was free (barmen expertly swirling and shaking) and the staff friendly: The bearded and bespectacled head mixologist, Paul McGee, stopped by to explain my drink, a rye-whiskey concoction called “the Toronto.” The ingredients were inspired by a 1938 recipe he found in his research, although their connection to the Big Smoke remains a mystery. McGee then whipped out his iPhone and tapped out directions to a liquor store selling the made-in-Chicago spirits my friend desired, but we didn’t make it past the Shake Shack – the famed New York burger chain has an outpost in the lobby. Milkshake for a night cap? Don’t mind if I do.
Best amenity
Our room’s heavy velvet curtains and marshmallow bedding buffered my hangover, but the optimal spot for lazing is the lounge. On my first morning I got cozy next to a fireplace in the library. But before settling into a leather club chair I ordered a complementary coffee from the nearby Milk Room, a former speakeasy where milk used to be served with a shot of whisky during Prohibition. Back here again the next day, I perched on a window seat and enjoyed eavesdropping on a loafer-wearing trio discussing their latest exploits at Lake Tahoe.
Lobby of the Chicago Athletic Association (Alan Shortall)
If I could change one thing
For a hotel billed on its athletic history, the original sports amenities are curiously out of bounds. The historic gymnasium – with its curved, wood-panelled walls, original hardwood floors and famous (Cubs) logo at centre court – is reserved for weddings and corporate events. Another casualty is the lobby-level pool, which has been covered with blue and black tiles shaped like swimming lanes, a cheeky reminder of what once lurked below. A cool dip surrounded by marble pillars would have been lovely after one too many Torontos.
Chicago Athletic Association, 12 S Michigan Ave., chicagoathletichotel.com; 241 rooms from $289 (U.S.).
The writer was a guest of the hotel.
