New hotel opens in slender skyscraper

Club Quarters to manage

6-May-09 – A new hotel has opened across the Chicago River from Marina City in Chicago’s most slender skyscraper. River Hotel opened Monday at 75 East Wacker, also known as Mather Tower.

Occupying floors 3-10 of the 41-story octagonal-shaped building, the boutique hotel for business and leisure travelers offers 100 rooms, ranging from single rooms to two-bedroom suites with kitchenettes. Club Quarters is managing the new hotel for private investors. With hotels of its own in London, New York, Chicago, and five other U.S. cities, Club Quarters hotels are generally private, meaning a guest must belong to an organization that is a member of the hotel. (Left) 75 East Wacker, as seen from Marina City in 2007. Photograph by Steven Dahlman.

River Hotel, however, is distinct from Club Quarters and will be less exclusive. Special introductory rates will range from $79 for a single room to $119 for a suite on weekends.

Zorianna Paslawsky, Membership Services Director for Club Quarters, says everything in the hotel is new. “Rooms, furniture, soft fittings. New registration area, new meeting rooms.”

Paslawsky declined to specify how much the renovation cost but says the hotel should do well in a challenging economy. “The current economy actually makes the River Hotel’s value proposition even more attractive to business and leisure travelers who are eager to find a modern boutique hotel with a superior location and affordable rates.”

75 East Wacker was built in 1928 as the headquarters of Mather Stock Car Company. The company’s founder, Alonzo C. Mather, wanted to build an identical structure next door but cancelled those plans when the stock market crashed in 1929.

According to Emporis.com, it has the smallest floors of any skyscraper in downtown Chicago. In 2000, the top four floors were demolished for safety reasons after pieces of the building fell. A replacement was installed by helicopter in November 2002. It has been an official City of Chicago landmark since 2001.

(Above) A Sikorsky Sky Crane helicopter lowers a steel cupola onto Mather Tower in late November 2002. Photo by Dr. Martin Flynn.

 Web site: River Hotel