Celebrate the 4th of July in Chicago

The 4th of July is right around the corner! Headed to Chicago? Or planning a staycation at Sweet Home Chicago? Chicago has countless festivities taking place, plus the Hotel Felix has a special promotion: 30% off when you book three or more nights.

So, roll up your patriotic sleeves and start planning your 4th of July fun. Here are a few ideas:

- Ditch your diet and hit up Chicago’s infamous Taste of Chicago, which kicks off today and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Dozens of restaurants and food vendors participate in this food fest where 12 tickets costs just $8 and “Taste Portions” cost 2-4 tickets. Location: Columbus Drive from Balbo to Monroe Drive. The Taste of Chicago runs through July 4.

- Grant Park Music Festival takes place July 3 at 1:30 p.m. with the Grant Park Orchestra joining a local tap dancer, Lane Alexander, with patriotic beats. This is a free and kid-friendly event.

- Fireworks and the 4th of July are nearly synonymous. Way back in frigid January, media warned us that the fireworks shows might fizzle out this year to save the city some dough. Don’t fret - there are still plenty of fireworks happening this year with three lakefront displays on July 4. Navy Pier has a fireworks show (in addition to all the shows they do throughout the summer) and there are two additional shows at the South lakefront (viewable from 63rd to Promontory Point at 55th) and North lakefront (viewable from Foster to Montrose). All three shows start at 9 p.m.

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy a safe and happy holiday.

Saving Green on Green Travel

TravelZoo’s Gabe Saglie talked about how to $ave green, while traveling green with ABC 7 this morning.  Watch this segment to hear what Gabe has to say about the Hotel Felix - Saving Green on Green Travel | ABC-7 News (video).

The Hotel Felix is proud to be Chicago’s first hotel to be LEED silver certified, Green Seal silver, and we don’t skimp on the luxury!

Readers Choice 2010: Best of Mindful Chicago

We’re thrilled to be a finalist in the Readers Choice 2010: Best of Mindful Chicago in the category of green hotels.  We’re among a great group of organizations and businesses who are mindful or green in their industry.

Please take a look at the survey and vote for Hotel Felix in the category of Green Hotels.  If you’d like to learn more about us, please take a look at our web site. Note: To find us in the survey, you’ll need to click through a few pages.  Thanks and good luck to all finalists.

To vote: www.mindfulmetropolis.com/vote

Hotel Felix in the News

Chicago Chef Week Diary - Hotel Felix’s Elate:

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2010/03/chicago-chef-week-diary-elate.html

Hot Tesla Test Drive Package at Cool Hotel Felix Chicago:

http://www.examiner.com/x-11782-Destinations-and-Lodging-Examiner~y2010m3d24-Hot-Tesla-Test-Drive-Package-at-cool-Hotel-Felix-Chicago

Check it out and hope to see you soon!

House of Balls (and art) Sculptor, Allen Christians, Visits Hotel Felix

Art sculptor Allen Christians from House of Balls stayed at the Hotel Felix this past weekend. While his car did not qualify for the free parking Hotel Felix offers for all hybrid vehicles, it did draw the attention of many people in the area. Christians, known for his belief that we all have a creative impulse, also made a trip to 360SEE Gallery over the weekend.
Christians’ House of Balls is located in Minneapolis. His pieces are created from found materials such as bowling balls, wine bottles, skillets and more. Learn more about Allen Christians and his work on his website.

Hotel Felix announced as finalist in Greater Chicago Food Depository Commerical Real Estate Awards

Every year, the Greater Chicago Food Depository Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards Dinner recognizes the outstanding architects, designers, developers and brokers responsible for the city’s best real estate developments. This year, the developer of the Hotel Felix, Oxford Capital Group, LLC, has been honored to have been selected as a finalist in the redevelopment category.

The annual event is a benefit of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, and has raised more than $10 million for the cause in the last 21 years. Award nominations are reviewed by a Blue Ribbon Panel, comprised of representatives from last year’s award winners, representatives from real estate associations and members of the real estate community. The panel selects two to six finalists per category and then finalists are voted on by the Executive Committee.
The dinner is considered “the Oscars of the real estate industry.” This year’s event starts with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at the Hilton Chicago.

The Hotel Felix would like to congratulate all who have contributed to this unique and distinctive project.

Follow us on Twitter and get an unbelievable deal

Did you know Chicago’s eco-friendly Hotel Felix, the first city hotel to be designed to be Silver LEED certified,  has a Twitter account? Check it out, and follow us to learn more about our great amenities, service, and eco-friendly features, and to be the first to know about our latest promotions and deals - like this one.

Right now, we have a special deal just for our Twitter followers. Use the corporate promo code “Twitter” when making reservations and snag a room for just $69 per night, now through Feb. 12.

Go green while you save green with this fantastic deal. Spend just $69 per night for the room at the green Hotel Felix and you’ll have more greenbacks to spend on dinner and drinks at our restaurant, Elate, shopping along the Magnificent Mile, or out exploring Chicago.

10 Ways to Go Green in 2010

Photo credit: jamieleto via Flickr

Make 2010 the year you go green in a big way. Here are 10 ways to live a greener lifestyle in the coming year and help conserve the Earth’s precious natural resources.

1. Green Lighting
The thousands of traditional light bulbs in a hotel (and even the dozen or so in your home) can waste a lot of electricity, unnecessarily. Switching to low energy-use lighting, such as the compact fluorescent & LED lights used throughout the Hotel Felix, can cut down on your energy usage and your energy costs.

2. Alternative Power
The Hotel Felix is currently conducting a study to determine how much energy could be harvested from wind power. Using alternative energy sources is a bit more difficult at home, but still possible. If you live in a very sunny area, the money you would save by using solar power could offset the investment costs. And as gas prices continue to rise, alternative sources of fuel like those employed by bio-diesel and hydro-electric hybrid cars are becoming more attractive.

3. Buy Locally Produced Items
The further an item travels from producer to consumer, the larger its carbon footprint. Cut down on the amount of fuel used to transport good by buying locally produced items whenever possible.

Photo credit: _e.t. via Flickr

4. Buy Sustainable and Organic Products
Sustainable products are made in a way that doesn’t deplete the natural resources used to create them. Organic products are made without potentially harmful chemicals. By purchasing items that are sustainable and organic, you help protect the environment and conserve limited natural resources. At the Hotel Felix, we only serve locally produced, organic Metropolis coffee and teas in our lobby.

5. Limit Waste
Buy only what you will use, and use only what you need. It’s easy to over-consume in our world, where so much is available, and often at a very small price. But consuming needlessly creates extra waste. Cut down on your consumption and there will be less trash to dispose of.  To cut down on paper waste, the Hotel Felix runs a paperless front desk and offers a limited supply of daily newspapers.

6. Compost Organic Waste
Food scraps and other organic waste won’t decompose when buried in a landfill. But when composted outdoors, they will break down quickly and turn into a nice fertilizer. Composting organic waste will help deposit nutrients back into the soil and reduce the amount of space needed for landfills.

7. Recycle
The Hotel Felix puts a strong emphasis on recycling. A “Recycle Room” is dedicated to sorting recyclable materials from the rest of the trash, all cups and wipes in the fitness center are recyclable, and recycling bins are located at the front desk and all offices. Recycling at home is vital to reducing the amount of waste that gets dumped in landfills each year. If recycling isn’t offered in your area, invest in a few heavy-duty bins and, at the very least, recycle paper, glass, and plastic.

8. Build with Sustainable or Recycled Materials
Carpets in the guest rooms and the floor in the fitness center of the Hotel Felix are made of recycled materials. Using recycled materials whenever possible reduces the need for new products to be created (reducing carbon emissions release during that process) and keeps salvageable materials from going into the landfill. Using recycled materials in your home projects can also help save you money.

9. Reduce Water and Electricity Usage
We’ve all heard the advice that we should turn off the water when brushing our teeth, take shorter showers, and turn off and unplug electrical appliances when not in use, but how many people actually do it? Making a conscious effort to take these steps can save you money and make a large impact on the amount of resources wasted annually. At the Hotel Felix, we’ve installed motion sensor heating, ventilation and air conditioning throughout building so that these functions aren’t used when they don’t need to be. We’ve also installed a water waste reduction valve and employ an enhanced energy management system throughout the building.

10. Use Nontoxic Cleaning Products
Runoff from toxic cleaning chemicals can get into the water system and pollute our lakes and rivers. Help the Earth by using nontoxic cleaning products whenever possible. Only eco-friendly chemicals (no bleach) are used for cleaning rooms and linens at the Hotel Felix. Eco-friendly products are used in the Hotel Felix spa, and throughout the hotel we only use products that are low VOC and Green Seal certified.

Hotel Felix to Harvest Chicago’s “Windy City” Power

The Hotel Felix, the first hotel in Chicago designed to be Silver LEED certified, is proud of its many green features and initiatives. Compact fluorescent and LED lights are used throughout the building, guest room carpets are made of recycled materials, eco-friendly cleaning products are used throughout the hotel, local organic coffees and teas are served in the lobby, and our front desk has gone paperless to reduce waste.

There are a few more upcoming green projects that the Hotel Felix is excited about as well. Like many of Chicago’s downtown buildings, both Hotel Felix and its sister property, Hotel Cass, are located in strong wind corridors. As part of a renewable energy study being conducted by both hotels in cooperation with  GSY Energy Inc., Hotel Felix and Hotel Cass have installed technology to measure the amount of wind power potential for each site. It’s estimated that the two hotels combined could produce more than 100,000 kilowatt hours of electricity from wind annually.

Findings of the wind study are expected to be released in spring of 2010. If Hotel Felix can harness the power of Chicago’s wind and transform it into clean energy, it will be just one more way we’re working to help protect the planet and conserve our precious natural resources.

Bachelorette Jillian Harris Visits (and Loves) The Hotel Felix

Jillian Harris Visits Chicago's Hotel Felix

ABC’s Bachelorette Jillian Harris recently visited the Hotel Felix’s Spa Asha for a relaxing treatment.  Her thoughts?”My time at the spa truly was incredible! From all my travels in the last year or so - I have visited my share of spas and my time at Felix was top notch,” said Jillian Harris.  “All I know is that when I left my face was glowing for days [from the facial]. Same goes for the massage, the therapist was truly one of the best I have ever had.”

Jillian’s parents also stayed at the Hotel Felix while they were in town and raved about the visit.

“My parents stay at the Felix was incredible - staff was so friendly and personable and of course the décor was right up my alley,” said Jillian, who works in the restaurant and hospitality design industry.

It’s also rumored that Jillian has set a wedding date with Ed Swiderski, although the date isn’t announced publicly.