Michigan Avenue’s newest hotel, the soon-to-open St. Jane Chicago, is now taking reservations for stays starting July 1.
Rooms are listed in the online reservation system for as low as $159 for certain days in July — not a bad price for a prime location in the historic Carbide and Carbon Building. For more than a decade, the art deco skyscraper at 230 N. Michigan Ave. had been home to the music-themed Hard Rock Hotel, which closed late last year to make way for St. Jane.
“Our opening rates will be $159, but over time, we expect our average rate to be closer to $269 for standard kings,” said Kevin Robinson, chief operating officer of the Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group, which manages the property.
St. Jane, named for Chicago’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning social worker Jane Addams, will have 365 rooms — not quite as many as the Hard Rock had.
“It’s a complete redesign; it’s much more elegant,” Robinson said about the new property. He described it as being in that “4.5-star space,” a place aimed at travelers who value luxury service but don’t want the stuffiness that can go along with it.
St. Jane is a radical departure from its predecessor, he said.
“The brand, in the past, very much catered to a transient feel — it had the familiarity of a brand that you could find anywhere in the world,” Robinson said. “This will be unique to the history of Chicago. Tasteful, refined. When you walk in, we’ve lowered the ceilings, opened up some of the walls. It feels like a 100-room boutique hotel.”
Newly released photographs of model rooms show a sophisticated, contemporary design peppered with some eclectic accents, like funky lamps and modern art.
St. Jane will have what may best be described as a hotel within a hotel: Thirty-three of the 365 rooms will reside in an area called the Tower at St. Jane, on floors 25 and above.
“It will be a higher-end product,” Robinson said about the Tower, which he expects to open at least a month or two after the main hotel’s July 1 debut. “We’re really separating that product, with a separate, more intimate check-in process and everything.”
Guests on those floors and other customers who pay a premium will have access to a new 24th floor lounge and outdoor space.
As previously reported, the hotel will include what’s billed as a contemporary American brasserie called Free Rein, taking over the street-level space that used to belong to Chuck: A Kerry Simon Kitchen. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, the eatery will be helmed by executive chef Aaron Lirette, who gleaned a Michelin star at the now defunct GreenRiver. Evan Sheridan, formerly of the similarly shuttered Sixteen, will lead the pastry program.
Free Rein will have a cafe in the front and a small microbrewery in the back. The space will also include a raw bar where people can kick back with a glass of Champagne and a plate of oysters. The former Hard Rock memorabilia shop is giving way to a semi-private dining room.
The hotel won’t have a spa, but it will have ample event space: a total of 11,000 square feet that can be used for weddings and other gatherings.
In keeping with the spirit of the hotel’s namesake, the property plans to partner with Heartland Alliance, Inspiration Kitchens, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and The Night Ministry by offering donations and work-training programs, among other things. And 1.1 percent of the hotel’s revenue will go to the Jackson Chance Foundation, an organization that provides parking and transportation for families of sick children at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Twitter @lorirackl
