THE (IM)PERSONAL TOUCH

The Virgin Hotel in Chicago has done away with humans at reception. Instead it has a smartphone from which you scan a QR code and get your room key from a vending machine. The hotel, in the 1928 Old Dearborn Bank Building, also offers a mobile app named Lucy, a “personal comfort assistant”, who can order more pillows, control the lights and temperature in your room, and put you in touch with flesh-and-blood staff. ● virginhotels.com/chicago.