The Burnham still retains its opulence from the late 1800s: mosaic floors, marble ceilings and walls, ornamental metal elevator grills, stairwells, leather sofas and mohair chairs. The Hotel Burnham features free morning coffee and evening wine receptions, a fitness facility and passes to a nearby extensive facility. Locals and guests make bee lines for the hotel's Atwood Café to revel in lavish breakfasts and pre-theater dining on American delicacies, such as butternut squash risotto, pan seared duck breast or big bowls of mussels.

Enveloped in rich fabrics of golds and blues, guest rooms feature bay windows with magnificent skyline views. Canopied beds serve as the focal points with blue velvet headboards and cotton sateen bedspreads festooned with mischievous cherubs. Guests even can pick their preferred pillow fluff levels, including buckwheat. Did we mention the desks, cotton chaise lounges, high-speed Internet access, bathrobes, minibars stuffed with gourmet snacks, and CD stereo systems?

Pampered pooches, finicky felines and other domestic pets will enjoy treats, snacks, food dishes, toys, bedding, and dog-walking and grooming services.

A member of the Kimpton Hotel group, the Hotel Burnham, named in 2004 by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the world's best places to stay, attracts a healthy share of vacationers and business travelers, who mingle around the roaring lobby fireplace and browse through coffee-table books about Chicago.