The Midwestern city is filled with hotels, but only a select few received recognition in the 2025 "World’s Best Awards.”

The reasons to visit Chicago are nearly endless. Home to world-class art—like the famous Anish Kapoor “Cloud Gate” sculpture, otherwise known as “The Bean”—fascinating historic and architectural sites, and an energetic atmosphere centered around professional sports teams, the Windy City is bursting with ways to fill a weekend itinerary. It also has an extensive list of hotels that nicely complement any trip. Here, see which properties Travel + Leisure readers chose as their favorites in the 2025 World’s Best Awards.

How Voting Works

Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Nearly 180,000 T+L readers completed the 2025 survey. A total of more than 657,000 votes were cast across over 8,700 properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.).

Hotels were classified as either resort hotel, city hotel, inn, or safari lodge based on their location and amenities, and they were specifically rated on the criteria below:

Rooms/facilities
Location
Service
Food
Value

For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses.

What Readers Loved

One thing is abundantly clear: Our readers prefer hotels in lively neighborhoods and within close proximity to Chicago’s most popular attractions. Nobu Hotel Chicago (No. 8), for example, is located in the Fulton Market District, which one reader said makes it “ideal for dining and shopping.” In the summer months, make your way up to its seventh-floor open-air rooftop, where you’ll get to enjoy incredible views of downtown Chicago alongside your cocktails. Coming in at No. 3, up from No. 9 in 2024, 21c Museum Hotel Chicago sits slightly northeast of the Nobu property, steps from the Magnificent Mile. It was commended for its “incredible value” and “great amenities,” including an art gallery. Free and open to the public, the art museum features rotating exhibitions and permanent installations from some of the most celebrated contemporary artists.

Read on for the full list—and to find out which property was deemed the official winner of the World’s Best Awards for Chicago city hotels.

The Winner

Park Hyatt Chicago

This year, Park Hyatt Chicago climbed its way up from fifth place in 2023 and 2024 to take the very top spot. Described by one reader as “the best luxury hotel in Chicago,” the 182-key property is the definition of sleek and stylish—and its overall opulent vibe aligns perfectly with the luxurious Gold Coast Historic District. Following the completion of a $60 million redesign in 2022, the hotel offers a bright, modern, residential-style oasis for travelers, one where a reader says you’re “always treated as a VIP, no matter what.” While another reader noted that the spa is on the smaller side, they said that the hotel’s “wonderful” service, “great location,” and “incredible guest rooms” more than make up for it. The latter are outfitted with curated local artwork, dual-vanity bathrooms, and stunning views of Chicago Avenue and Lake Michigan; some of the accommodations even come with their own private terraces.