Blogs We Heart

Happy Hump Day – we’re halfway through the week! Today we’d like to highlight a few of our favorite blogs we enjoy perusing on the interwebs. These blogs are great reads and ones we’d recommend adding to your RSS reader:

Live Happier and Healthier: Duong Sheahan is the creator behind this refreshing lifestyle blog. Visit Duong’s blog for a dose of inspiration with a generous helping of spirituality and wellness tips.

MindBodyGreen: Another fabulous wellness blog, this blog features an assorted collection of natural health articles including: “How to Get Better Sleep Naturally”, “Awaken Your Authentic Power” and “15 Easy Food Substitutions for Better Health”.

Treehugger: Don’t let the name of this blog fool you, Treehugger is a super sophisticated website filled with editorial pieces on green design, technology, science, business and energy. The beautiful photography on Treehugger is pure eye-candy!

The Green Mama: This Chicago-based blog gives a glimpse into the life of, you guessed it, a green mama! The blog posts also share tips on easy ways to green your life and cleaning the eco-friendly way.

National Bike Month

While some days it feels like we skipped spring here in Chicago, one thing is for certain, we can put our snow shovels and boots away – we’ve made it through another blustery Chicago winter. As the temperatures warm up and Chicagoans gradually thaw out, the city welcomes an alternative mode of transportation: the bicycle! It’s quite fitting that May is recognized as National Bike Month because, while many brave commuters bike year-round, this is about the time when there seems to be a new wave of cyclists on the road. In honor of National Bike Month, we’d like to share a few bicycle safety tips to help everyone share the road effectively:

-Ride in the same direction as automobile traffic
-Obey all traffic signs and signals
-Use hand signals
-Follow lane markings, they are for bikes too!
-Don’t weave between parked cars
-Keep both hands ready to break

Photo Credit: Martin Gommel

For more helpful tips on bicycle safety, check out this bicycle etiquette guide from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

Headed to Chicago in May?

If you’re headed to Chicago this month, check out these recommended events from Metromix.com.

Share your plans with us as well!

Photo: “Loren the Doorman” – created with love from Artist Allen Christian.

Hug a Nurse (and a Teacher!) This Week

This week is National Nurses Week and tomorrow (May 7) is National Teacher Day! We are very thankful for the special people who take on these professions. We hope you join us in taking a moment to thank the teachers and nurses in our lives who dedicate themselves to helping others.

Photo Credit: Arctic Fox

Thank you!

Our favorite month has come and gone and we wanted to take a moment to THANK everyone who participated to make this the best Earth Month to date! We had a fabulous time celebrating what it means to be green and couldn’t have done it without the support of all of you. We’d like to thank the partners we had the pleasure of collaborating with:

Elate Yoga for teaming up to provide fantastic free yoga classes held at our hotel each Wednesday
Oak Street Design for their creative project in collaboration with Best Buy and Columbia College Chicago to encourage people to recycle old electronics
Alexandra Gnoske for her efforts to sell organic shirts at our hotel with proceeds going to the non-profit Friends of the Chicago River.
TripAdvisor for selecting us as a GreenLeader and announcing it on Earth Day!

Thank you again and cheers to being green!

Honored as a Green Leader from TripAdvisor

We’re ecstatic that we were selected as a TripAdvisor GreenLeader! It is an honor to be recognized by this prestigious program, which was created with travelers in mind.

Developed by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, the program was designed in partnership with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program, the U.S. Green Building Council and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The GreenLeader Program makes it easier for green-minded guests to select hotels that meet a distinct set of eco-friendly criteria. To qualify for the program, Hotel Felix passed a series of requirements, including having a towel and linen re-using program, using energy-efficient light bulbs, recycling, tracking energy usage and educating staff and guests on our green practices.

According to TripAdvisor, 79% of travelers place importance on properties implementing eco-friendly practices. As Chicago’s first LEED-certified green hotel, we’re thrilled that so many guests value environmentally conscious hoteliers.

Last Day for Complimentary Yoga!

Namaste! Tonight is the last Wednesday in Earth Month, which means our last day for complimentary yoga in partnership with Elate Yoga. Yoga takes place at 6:30 p.m.

There’s just a couple spots left so email contact@elateyoga.com if you would like to join us.

Earth Day Event: Recycle Your Electronics for a Chance to Win a Stay with Us

On Earth Day, recycle your electronics at Best Buy on Michigan Avenue for a chance to win cool prizes, including a one-night stay with us at Hotel Felix.

Here’s the 60-second rundown on how to participate in the event at Best Buy in the John Hancock Center (875 N. Michigan Ave.) from 12-3 p.m.

Radio 60 Sec. Spot Mix Drive Rewind 45 hits

Hint: You may have heard this on the Mix (101.9), the Drive (97.1) and Rewind (100.3)

Happy Guests, Happy Hotel!

We are incredibly proud to be selected as Fielding Fowler (a USA TODAY Road Warrior)’s favorite hotel! It is a huge honor and we are thrilled. We work hard to ensure our guests have a wonderful experience and it is so rewarding to hear reviews such as this. Thank you Fielding and USA TODAY!

“Comedian Fielding Fowler’s favorite is Hotel Felix, a boutique hotel he has stayed at four or five times since it opened in Chicago in 2009.

‘I stumbled across it on Priceline.com, so expectations were low,’ Fowler recalls. ‘I have never seen a friendlier staff from top to bottom. They really do care.‘

Beside friendly staff, Fowler applauds the hotel’s cleanliness.

‘Even in four-star hotels, you will see dust in corners, a hair in the shower, because housekeeping is generally understaffed and doesn’t have the needed attention to detail,’ he says. ‘In my four or five stays at the Felix, I have never had that issue.’“

Pick up a copy of USA TODAY or check it out online here!

Earth Day Couture for a Cause

Columbia College students are proving that haute couture can be eco-friendly too! This Earth Day, April 22, Best Buy and Oak Street Design are collaborating with the fashion students of Columbia College Chicago to create window displays using recycled electronics. The project is a dynamic effort to encourage the community to participate in Best Buy’s Recycling and Trade-In program. Participants are invited to gather their old electronics and drop them off at Best Buy at the John Hancock Center (618 S. Michigan Avenue) from noon to 3 p.m. on April 22 to enter for a chance to win a number of fun Earth Day prizes, including a free night’s stay at Hotel Felix! While there, participants can check out the artful and creative Columbia College Chicago student-made Earth Day window displays and enjoy live music.

Don’t forget to tune in to 101.9 The Mix, 97.1 The Drive and Chicago’s Rewind 100.3 all this week for updates on this free event. It’s a great chance to have fun while supporting local students and contributing to a wonderful cause! We hope to see you there.