At the Hollander, guests can bond through Instagram
Chicago spot aims to foster a community of travellers
At a new hotel in the vibrant Bucktown neighbourhood of downtown Chicago, you can check out the scene before you even check in.
The Hollander is home to a new “social-stay” concept, where guests can connect and engage with each other through Instagram. The goal is to create a community where digitally connected travellers can meet before their visit and share adventures during their stay.
French studios Ciguë and Delordinaire designed the hotel, which is operated by Mexican-based developer Grupo Habita.
Located in the historic Hollander Fireproof Warehouse, the property features 66 beds in 12 private rooms and eight shared rooms. Average nightly rates for shared rooms start at $45 (U.S.) and private rooms start at $165.
Guests get access to personal lockers with charging outlets, on-site laundry facilities, a café serving brew from Metric Coffee and a bike rental shop from Banker Supply Co. There’s also a social room for hosting special events, free Wi-Fi and Beessential natural skin-care toiletries in every room.
We asked Grupo Habita’s founder, Carlos Couturier, about opening its first social-stay hotel. What’s different about this hotel?
We believe it’s an original and innovative concept. We like to describe it as a “social stay” — a place where social media becomes physical. You can share your Instagram account when booking, share a room with other guests and share the hotel’s social spaces — a café, bar, bike rental shop and laundry room — with locals. How did the idea for the hotel come about?
We conceived a space in Mexico City named Downtown Beds that became very successful. It’s basically a hostel that integrates great design. Our local partners in Chicago thought the concept could travel to the United States, so we came up with this new experience of social media meets social stay. A way for the virtual world to become physical. Kind of like Uber Pool. Who is your target audience?
The social stay is aimed at all openminded people who feel comfortable with sharing.
We also offer private rooms for our less sociable guests but the collective experience is available to all visitors in the communal areas of the hotel. What’s your favourite thing about the hotel?
The design. It’s warm, modern and clean.
Adrian Hunfalvay and his team of designers in Paris did a great job. They were able to preserve the industrial aspect of the space while making it comfortable and cosy. Do you think social-stay hotels are a growing trend?
I think the sharing economy is a global trend that is here to stay. The social-stay hotel concept is the hospitality industry’s response to this trend. How would you describe the hotel in one word?
Unique. Denise Dias (denisediasto@gmail.com) is a Toronto writer.