Chicago Athletic Association, Part of Hyatt

Chicago Athletic Association is an historic 1890s monument to the competitive spirit now transformed into an ultra-luxe Chicago boutique hotel with commanding views across Millennium Park to Lake Michigan. This long-vacant Venetian Gothic landmark springs back to life as a club-like mecca for inspired recreation where the spirit of play reigns supreme fueled by locally sourced luminaries from Chicago's top-flight social and culinary destinations. Its personal here, because the spirit of Chicago is a kind of club and on our team, everyone belongs. This is the club whose members swam with five-time Olympic gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller and watched Pudge Heffelfinger own so much end zone, he became footballs first pro. The courts are polished. The trophy cases dusted off. Everything here is renewed, thanks in no small part to the Herculean efforts of the builders and craftsmen who have helped us realize our vision. Our reverence for this monumental building cannot be overstated, but we want to breathe a new life into it, to care for it without treating it like a relic. That's the intent of the dynamic design duo Roman and Williams winners of the 2014 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award who are building a legacy of creating extraordinary presents with historic pasts that are more than restorations, but rather reinventions. Architect Henry Ives Cobb a charter member of The Association imbued this magical place with a Gothic fade reminiscent of the Doges Palace in Venice. Revitalized interiors once again reveal an extraordinary level of detail in the tiled floors, millwork, chandeliers, grand staircases, palatial rooms and soaring ceilings. Today, The Associations socially robust, sports-driven past lives on amid restaurants, lounges and ballrooms where a high-spirited, club-like atmosphere prevails, seamlessly melding into shared histories, past and future.