Located at the corner of Wacker and Wabash, overlooking the Chicago River and on the cusp of the city's North Michigan Avenue shopping area and its bustling Loop financial district, the Hotel Monaco is a $27.5 million renovation of the Oxford House Hotel. The building was originally constructed in 1912 for D.B. Fisk & Company, a wholesale dealer in millinery goods, and was subsequently renovated in 1958 as the Oxford House. Under the ownership of San Francisco's Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Inc., the Oxford House underwent a sweeping renovation to become the sophisticated and urbane Hotel Monaco Chicago. Responsible for the unique style is acclaimed interior designer Cheryl Rowley, whose other projects include the Kimpton Group's Hotel Allegro Chicago, Hotel Monaco San Francisco, Hotel Monaco Seattle, in addition to the Hotel Bel Air.

The interior aesthetic of the 192-room boutique-style hotel draws its inspiration from the French Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s, yet Rowley infuses her eclectic touches to yield a softer, more stylized feel both in color scheme and furnishings. Rowley's design is specifically a derivative of the works of Emile Jacques Ruhlmann, a French furniture, theatrical and set designer, known for his distinctive Deco details.

The exquisite lobby of the Hotel Monaco serves as a comfortable "living room" featuring a large-scaled fireplace in cast limestone and a registration desk modeled after a classic steamer trunk. The 21-foot tall ceiling creates an exaggerated vertical space that works in proportion with the paneled woodwork and fluted column pilasters. The woodwork, painted and hand-glazed to give depth, evokes a jewel box feel with its "string of pearl" detail. The opulent furnishings in damask and velvet combine a jewel-toned color palate of gold, coral reds, copper tones, rich wine red, and chocolate browns, set against the supplemental colors of light gold and cream. The marble floors are inset with a custom hand-tufted wool rug, based on antique European rug designs. Inspired by French painter Dunand, a spectacular series of four complementary murals, 7 feet by 5 feet each, adorn the walls, depicting the four seasons. In addition, the lobby is filled with opulent antique mirrors.

Ascending to the third floor pre-function and meeting rooms, the wallcoverings are replaced with a glazed wall finish in a rich ochre color crackle. The three meeting rooms-the Paris Room, the Tokyo Boardroom and the Athens Room-are warm with natural light through oversized picture windows and large-scale striped wallcoverings in melon and pistachio green.

As visitors exit the elevator leading to the guest rooms on floors 2-14, they are greeted by a rich, warm rhubarb wallcovering, complemented by carpets in deep green and red ochre. Each guest room door is stained mahogany, lending a regal air to the corridor. The guest rooms at the Hotel Monaco are intended to serve as a retreat and welcome haven for travelers, enveloping them in sheer comfort. To this end, Rowley creates a radiant atmosphere alluding to the Deco style in both her choice of patterns and furnishings. One example of this is the oversized, lipstick red, diamond-patterned quilted headboard, a pattern that was prevalent in the carpets of the Deco period. The rooms are wrapped in six-inch vertical striped wallcovering in pistachio green and butter yellow, and the bed features a floral bedspread in yellow, copper, lipstick red and green.

Highly detailed furnishings fill the room, including a rich mahogany Ruhlmann writing desk, complete with the added touch of gold detail in a diamond pattern, mimicking the headboard design. The armoire is mahogany with a whimsical cornice and wavy, undulating canopy at the crown, and a paisley lounge chair is draped in a rich copper, gold and green palate. Other distinctive touches include an over-scaled round starburst dressing mirror in mahogany and gold leaf detail; a whimsical desk light composed of a series of stacked clear and ochre glass balls; and character lighting pieces.

Alluring, entirely accommodating, and above all, stylish, the Hotel Monaco Chicago is a world apart from any other hotel in Chicago.