I’ve been in Chicago the last couple of days on business.  Every time I come here I’m reminded how much I like visiting, especially when it’s 80 degrees and sunny.

Our hotel, the Hotel Monaco, is kind of funky which is a nice change of pace.  My client doesn’t like the business part of it much (the meeting room is way too hot), but the staff is courteous and my room is very comfortable.  They provide robes, and since my room is a kind of Africa theme my robe is "leopard spot" design.

The hotel’s location is right on the Loop and the Magnificent Mile and other attractions are an easy walk. This is also the first hotel I’ve stayed in that provides free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, including individual rooms.  No need to hook into an old ISDN set up!

I definitely recommend the hotel if you’re traveling for fun or if you just need a room while on a business trip, but probably wouldn’t recommend it for any kind of larger (over 10 people) business meeting.

Working dinners this week were at House of Blues, where the food was surprisingly good and then at the Mid-America Club on the 80th floor of the Aon building.  We had a great guy from South Africa at our table at the Mid-America Club and he was thrilled to be that high up for dinner…apparently the tallest building in South Africa is 50-something stories.

All-in-all it’s been a great business trip.  Now I just have to figure out how to convince Celeste that it’s actually business and not pleasure:)