Planning your stay

Have you visited the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau website lately?

In addition to offering a ton of travel resources, including city guides and special deals for travelers, the website also features a customizable trip planner!  MyChicagoTrip asks a series of questions about your trip — such as the length of your stay, your travel style and interests, whether you are traveling solo or in a group — and makes recommendations on dining, shopping, and entertainment based on your answers.  How cool is that?

The Chicago Tourism and Convention Bureau also gives tips and travel information via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  For example, below is a snapshot of Chicago featuring world-class musicians playing in some of Chicago’s greatest landmarks:

Don’t forget, as always, Hotel Felix is happy to offer suggestions in planning your next visit to Chicago.  Feel free to contact us.

Casting call

Pink Sneakers Productions is casting for a new reality series about adults who live in the same city as their grown-up family members. Hmm, we can certainly think of a few families here in Chicago that would fit the bill, can you?  Below are details on how you can get involved:

Pink Sneakers Productions is casting a new reality series about a dynamic, tight-knit group of upscale siblings!  Are you a family of brothers and sisters, full of personality, who live in the same city?  Are your weekends filled with family functions, get-togethers and big social events?

Maybe you don’t always see eye to eye, but if you can’t imagine not having them in your lives, we want to hear your story!

If you’re 21+ and your family wants to have their own reality show, please send recent photo(s), contact info and a short bio to casting@pinksneakers.net and include “brothers and sisters” in the subject line.

Pink Sneaker Productions develops and produces original programming for various networks including VH1, MTV, & ABC.  Recent programs include VH1’s Hogan Knows Best and the MTV documentary series True Life, among others.  Find out more by visiting their website at www.pinksneakers.net.

5 Questions with George Jordan

We scored a few minutes with Hotel Felix General Manager George Jordan to ask him a handful of off-the-cuff questions. This Hotel Felix fixture, pictured here at the Grand Canyon, gave us some fun food for thought.

Hi George!

Happy Naturally (HN): What’s your favorite thing to order at Elate?

George Jordan (GJ): Any item that has the homemade French fries!  YUM.

HN: What do you love most about living in Chicago?

GJ: The Lake!

HN: What’s on your bucket list?

GJ: Learning to fly a plane… and I’m currently taking lessons in a Cessna 172N out of Midway Airport, lookout below.

HN: What’s your favorite piece of decor at Hotel Felix?

GJ: The gas fireplace. It’s modern, urban, warm and inviting.

HN: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

GJ:  “Do it Now,” the antidote to procrastination.

Thanks for sharing with us, George! We tip our hats off to you and your aeronautic endeavors. Now, in the interest of research, we must jet to sample those homemade French fries… Have a great week everyone!

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes

photo credit: Bicycling magazine

Looking for an interesting, healthy, fun way to explore Chicago?

Why not grab a bike? It’s not surprising that Bicycling magazine named Chicago one of America’s Top 10 Bike-Friendly Cities.

To get started, visitors to Chicago can find a wealth of helpful information about biking in Chicago at http://www.bikechicago.us, including safety tips, a comprehensive list of bike rental companies in the city, and maps of bike paths in Chicago. For example, click here for a map of the River North bike routes near Hotel Felix.

Another great tool is Ride the City, which works much like GoogleMaps. Input start and destination locations, and Ride the City will map out a route for you.

If the do-it-yourself-thing is not exactly your style, a bike tour is a great way to see the sights of the city.

Bike and Roll Chicago and Bobby’s Bike Hike offer a variety of tour options to explore the Lakefront Trail, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, North Avenue Beach and more.

Happy riding!

What’s your score?

Sure, you reduce, reuse, and recycle, but are you curious about how your other day-to-day activities are impacting the environment? LowImpactLiving.com has created a neat Environmental Impact Calculator to help you gauge your current environmental impact.

Photo Credit: Low Impact Living

Explains the site, the calculator “shows not only the carbon footprint but also energy, water, wastewater, trash, and stormwater runoff footprints of your home and lifestyle. In addition, it recommends projects based on your specific inputs that can save you money, reduce your environmental impact, or in many cases both at the same time.”

The calculator also gives a Low Impact Living Index™ score, which compares your home’s activities to the average environmental impacts of a home in your region.

Try it out here:  Environmental Impact and Carbon Footprint Calculator

The Great Green Debate

This Thursday, August 5th from 8 PM-Midnight (doors open at 8, event begins at 9), a debate entitled The Darker Side of Green explores pressing environmental issues facing the world and all that entails going green. The discussion takes place at The Ivy Room (12 East Ohio Street, Chicago, 60611). David Roberts, the proponent, and Steve Everley, the skeptic, provide educational and fascinating dialogue on green matters with moderator Mark McGrath. Featured musical guest is NYC famous band/DJ’s The Misshapes and Million $ Mano.

The complimentary event has limited seating and RSVP is required for admittance. Please follow this link to secure your seat.

Hotel Felix Gains Silver LEED Status for Green Design

We have some great (green) news to share. Hotel Felix has been recognized for its environmental efforts and received official notification of its certification as a Silver LEED Hotel, making it the first hotel in Chicago to earn this prestigious status. This high level of certification is earned when a building performs in several key areas, including water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Hotel Felix meets LEED standards for its adaptive reuse of an existing urban structure, convenient access to public transportation, and the use of green materials throughout, such as recycled content in the corridor and guestroom carpet, and bamboo and cork flooring in the public areas.

LEED certification was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in an effort to promote sustainable design and construction practices. LEED certification is world-renowned and is the most prestigious achievement in sustainable building. We are pleased to be recognized with Silver certification status for our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. This year alone, over one million gallons of water will be saved through our water reduction program.

We’d like to express a special thank you to our guests for helping us achieve this monumental goal. We remain committed to lessening our environmental impact, while also providing an upscale and intimate luxury hotel experience for our guests.

Come and see how we are making a Silver LEED Certified difference!

Summer Heats Up in Lincoln Park

This weekend, we’re takin’ it to the streets… Racine, to be exact.

Saturday and Sunday (July 31 & August 1) mark the Second Annual Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival, on Racine between Webster and Fullerton. Gates are open Saturday from noon ’til 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon ’til 9 p.m. This two-day event showcases nearly 100 local artisans, a variety of Lincoln Park restaurants, live music, and fun for the kids as well. Headliners Pat McGee Band and Buckwheat Zydeco play on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., respectively. A gate donation of $7 benefits the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, Chicago’s largest neighborhood chamber. It’s a great excuse to get outdoors and enjoy time with friends and family!

photo courtesy of lincoln park chamber of commerce

360SEE Gallery and Hotel Felix Chicago Partner to Offer Sustainable Art Tour Package

Book a stay at the Hotel Felix, which recently earned the Green Seal Environmental Standard for Lodging-Silver certification, and enjoy a night out in eco-friendly style. Hotel Felix has teamed up with the 360SEE Gallery to give guests an inside look at the gallery’s sustainable art, for a truly eco-evening in Chicago.

Guests at the Hotel Felix who book the 360SEE package will be picked up from the hotel in a hybrid Going Green Limousine and drive to the 360SEE Gallery, located in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. At the Gallery, guests will receive a private tour by owner Jordan Witkov, who will show them the gallery’s sustainable art, furniture and design object collection while they enjoy a sampling of organic wine, beer, cheese and fruit.

Photo courtesy of 360SEE

The package is available for $175 in addition to the hotel room rate.  For rates, reservations and more information, visit www.hotelfelixchicago.com or call toll-free 877-848-4040 or direct at 312-447-3440. For up-to-the-minute information on special promotions, become a fan of Hotel Felix on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Sizzlin’ summer savings now

Ladies & gents, summer has officially arrived in the Windy City! In celebration of all that is summer, we have some fantastic limited-time deals that are as sizzlin’ as this record heat. If you book your reservation with us anytime now through August 31, 2010, you’ll nab a 20% discount on a two-night stay and a 30% discount on a three-night stay (including weekends!). Come and see why our Silver LEED Certified Hotel was rated as “excellent” on Trip Advisor by 67 travelers (and counting).

Book now to ensure your dates are available and take advantage of this spectacular sale! For reservations and further details, visit us at www.hotelfelixchicago.com or call toll-free 800-848-4040 or direct at 312-447-3440. We hope to see you soon!