Chicago hotels set for a boom year with Virgin Hotel debut

The hotel industry in Chicago is headed for good times. The debut of the Virgin Hotel could well mark the beginning of a boom year in the city with many hotels to be opened within the next three years.

The Virgin Hotel opened in second week of January 2015. The new hotel is housed in a former Old Dearborn Bank building. Media reports said that the opening of the hotel has set off the New Year on a good start in Chicago with at least 4,500 new hotel rooms expected during the coming three years. A 400-room Loews Chicago Hotel will also be opened in the city in March this year. The hotel is situated in a Streeterville building, which came up after demolishing a multistory parking facility.
 
The year 2015 will see the opening of several new hotels in the city. Other hotels scheduled to be open include Hyatt The Loop Chicago, a Hampton Inn and the Freehand Hostel. According to the reports, Hyatt The Loop Chicago will be located at Clark and Monroe streets. The Hampton Inn will be housed in the Chicago Motor Club building and is situated at Wacker Place. The Freehand Hostel will be located at 19 E. Ohio Street.

A luxury hotel is also likely to open in early 2016. The construction work has already started in January. The hotel will be situated on Erie Street, nearly 200 yards away from the Magnificent Mile.

The Chicago area presently has 36,000 hotel rooms. With several new hotels being opened or planned to open, about 4,500 rooms would be added over the next three years.

Chicago is currently witnessing tourism boom with a large number of tourists being attracted to the city with new events and attractions such as Maggie Daley Park and Lollapalooza. The city expects to see at least 50 million tourist arrivals in 2015. Chicago also wants to see this number growing with the arrival of 55 million tourists annually by 2020.