We’ve mostly stayed at The Square during the last few weeks and although it’s nice, I thought I’d try a different hotel, and thought I’d give Hotel Fox a go. Built as an interesting concept with each room individually decorated by a different artist, it also has a nicely decorated lobby and an outdoor patio area.

As you can see above, the lobby probably isn’t particularly functional, despite being the location for breakfast as well. The seats are far too low and backs pretty much impossible to sit on. Classic design that looks stylish yet not practical.

I was hoping for a more exciting room, ending up with Room #306 titled Pico Pico. Compared to many of the other rooms, it sits on the more bland side with the stark whiteness accentuated by the two windows letting in the sun almost all day long. Fortunately the draw curtains do their job well keeping the light out until I’m actually ready to get out of bed.

The stay in the hotel was nice enough but probably wasn’t as nice as you might first think.

Hands down one of the coolest places we visited in Chicago was The Violet Hour. It’s a speak-easy bar found in the Wicker Park area of Chicago. Its wall looks like a simple wall, and I believe is repainted every so often to keep it mysterious. You just have to try the door and see for yourself if it opens or not.

We heard that it gets pretty busy sometimes, and they have a policy of not letting more people in than they have seats for. A wonderful policy that means there is no over crowding and the atmosphere inside remains calm and enjoyable. We decided to arrive early at around 7pm, meaning that our eyes had to do a bit of adjusting from the bright sunlight outside to the near darkness inside.

The Violet Hour is split into a couple of different rooms separated by some long black flowing curtains. The first “room” is really the waiting area for those arriving too late, while the first room is part split into a bar and several booths for smaller crowds of people. There were about eight of us so we got some space out back, a loungier-type space with tall backed chairs, small tables and candles everywhere casting small shadows in every direction.

Their menu is spectacular with lots of different cocktail options (all at US12), plenty of single malt, brandy and tequila choices for those less inclined. They also have a nice selection of finger foods (we tried the kobe dogs, cajun prawns and the flatbread, all delicious options). Service was great with constant fill ups of the bottle of tap water and the waitress asking if we needed any help with the menu or ordering when someone new joined our group.

I remember trying the Oldest Living Confederate Widow (Bombay Dry, Lemon, Honey Syrup, Pernod Absinthe, House Orange Bitters), the Juliet and Romeo (Beefeater, Mint, Cucumber, Rose Water) and the Sitting Limbo (Beefeater, Pineapple, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Luxardo Bitter). All of the cocktails were amazingly delicious, never tasting like acrid alcohol but definitely strong as you feel the effects hitting you quickly.

The Violet Hour is definitely a place I want to return to when I come back to Chicago in August.

Name: The Violet Hour
Address: 1520 N Damen Avenue, Chicago, 60622
Website: http://www.theviolethour.com/
The good: Amazing cocktails at only US$12, fantastic food and nice ambiance
The bad: Getting in early to need to get a table.

Everyone I’ve ever talked to always has great things to say about Chicago, and after being here a few days I definitely have to agree with them. Sure, it has it’s crime areas but then what big city doesn’t? Chicago is an amazingly walkable city, particularly as a tourist and frankly I can’t say that I’ve felt in danger or anything, even when walking back down town to get home after a night out in the River North Area.

The city is chock full of amazing architectural wonders, and an amazing number of high-rises. I would even guess that it probably has more floors per capita than any other city in the world. Historically it has the (former) Sears tower once called the tallest building in the world yet there are a huge number of tall buildings considering that I think the population of greater Chicago hovers around something like three million people. It probably makes a whole lot of sense with such bitter winters and blistering winds it apparently gets. I’ve been really fortunate with the weather this week with only one day where it was drizzly and though I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s been hot, we’ve had a few days where the temperature has definitely been a very comfortable one.

I think Chicago is fairly well known for some of its art pieces, including the well known Cloud Gate affectionately known as the “Bean” (the picture above I took from below for something different) located in Millennium Park. It remains a huge draw card and why wouldn’t it with its still highly polished exterior producing a vast array of angles skewing any normal reflection. Just down from there is The Crown Fountain with the images of local Chicagoans smiling and moving around and then every fifteen or so minutes stopping to spout a stream of water from their mouth. I definitely recommend downloading the audio tour from the Millennium Park website as well.

Although I’ve been here for about five days, I can definitely see why Chicago appeals to so many people. There are plenty of art installations around the city (I especially liked this physical manifestation of the American Gothic painting) and the city seems walkable and for those that get tired or just plain lazy, taxis are cheap and public transport is very reasonable.