New hotels in Streeterville, Chicago

Streeterville is a small piece of land with an odd origin story. North of the Chicago River, east of North Michigan Avenue, bounded by Lake Michigan on two sides, it was water until landfill in the late nineteenth century built it up. A steamboat captain named George Streeter ran his boat onto a sandbar there in the late 1880s, declared the new ground his own "District of Lake Michigan," and spent three decades fighting eviction. Courts rejected his claim in 1918. The name stuck to the neighborhood anyway.

Today it is a district of towers, hospitals and museums, and it is where most visitors to the lakefront end up sleeping or walking through. The city's official boundary is smaller than the one most sources use; the residents' association places the western edge at Rush Street, one block west of Michigan Avenue. For a traveler the practical picture is simpler: the river to the south, the lake to the east, Chicago Avenue and the Water Tower area to the north, and the Magnificent Mile along the western side.

The hotel stock is already large. Wikipedia counts more than 25 hotels in the district, among them the Ritz-Carlton, The Peninsula and the Four Seasons. What we follow here is the new end of that list. One hotel has opened in the last two years, and two conversions of existing buildings are on the way, one with a date and one still without a lease.

What to do in Streeterville

Along the lake

Navy Pier is the obvious draw. It has been the most visited attraction in Chicago by most counts, and its Centennial Wheel rises 196 feet above the water. For summer 2026, listings put the fireworks at 9 pm on Wednesdays and 10 pm on Saturdays, a schedule worth checking on the pier's own site before building an evening around it.

Ohio Street Beach sits south of the pier, a short strip of sand with the skyline behind it. It is the nearest swimming beach to the hotels clustered on Ontario and Ohio streets.

Museums and the Water Tower

The Museum of Contemporary Art stands at 220 East Chicago Avenue, in a building by the Berlin architect Josef Paul Kleihues that opened in June 1996. It was his first American commission. The collection runs from 1945 to the present and numbers about 2,700 objects, plus more than 3,000 artists' books. A 34,000-square-foot sculpture garden at the back includes work by Sol LeWitt, George Rickey and Jane Highstein. Suggested admission is $15 for adults, and Illinois residents get in free on Tuesdays.

The Old Chicago Water Tower, at the northern edge where Streeterville meets the Gold Coast and River North, is one of the few public buildings that came through the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. It is a ten-minute stop, not a visit, but it marks where the Magnificent Mile's shopping begins.

Towers worth looking up at

The John Hancock Center rises 1,127 feet, and its observatory is the eighth most visited attraction in the city. Lake Point Tower, finished in 1965, stands at 645 feet on its own pier-side site. The Palmolive Building, at 565 feet, is older and more ornamented than either. Walking Michigan Avenue between the river and Chicago Avenue puts all of this within a few blocks, along with the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which opened in 1920 and connects the district to the south bank.

Across the river

From the bridge, the Chicago River separates Streeterville from The Loop, where Millennium Park and the Art Institute are. River North lies just west, over the same water, and Lincoln Park is a longer ride north. The whole city is described on the Chicago page, which is the place to start if Streeterville is only part of the trip.

Where to stay in Streeterville

150 East Ontario Street

Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago opened in July 2024 and is the one opening we track here that you can book today. It has 390 rooms in a newly built 28-story tower, a block off Michigan Avenue. The Spanish group counts it as its fifth urban hotel in the United States and its eleventh worldwide, a step for a chain better known for beach resorts than city skylines. Rates start around $160 according to our listing, which puts it in the upscale tier, not the luxury one that the Peninsula and Four Seasons occupy a few blocks away.

The location is the argument for it. Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the MCA and the bridge are all reachable on foot, and the address sits on the city's public transit network instead of at its edge.

162 East Ohio Street

The Inn of Chicago has had several lives. It was built in 1927 and opened in 1928 as the Hotel St. Clair, designed by Oman and Lihienthal, with half of its floors given over to one-bedroom residences for prominent Chicagoans and the rest to hotel rooms. Judy Garland, Gypsy Rose Lee, Bob Hope and Dean Martin were among its guests. The Chicago Press Club held the top-floor Skyline Terrace Penthouse from 1960 to 1978. A 1980 renovation, costing $13 million, produced the Inn of Chicago name; Best Western ran it from 1982, and it was sold in 2006 for $40 million, with 359 rooms and six suites after refurbishment.

Ruby Hotel Chicago is the next chapter. IHG and the German lifestyle brand Ruby announced it in January 2026 as Ruby's first hotel in the United States, a 30-year franchise arrangement with developer Berk Properties. The plan is 412 rooms and suites in a 22-story building, about 15 percent more than the 359 the property had before, with a rooftop terrace and bar. Construction was slated to start in the second half of 2026 and the opening is targeted for 2027. No exact date has been published, and no rates yet.

875 North Michigan Avenue

EDITION Chicago is the least settled of the three. In May 2026, trade press reported that Marriott was in advanced talks with Hearn, the owner of the office and parking portions of the former John Hancock Center, to take roughly 400,000 square feet of largely vacant office space on floors 23 to 34 and turn it into a 350-room luxury hotel. Hearn bought those portions in 2013 for $140 million. The lease had not been signed at the time of the reports. No opening date and no renderings have been released.

If it goes ahead, it will be a hotel inside a building known for its observation deck, on the Magnificent Mile itself, not a block back from it.

Which hotel in Streeterville for your trip

For a stay you can book now

Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago is the only choice among our three. It suits a first trip built around Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile and the lakefront, where the point is to be near things rather than to buy a design statement. It is a chain hotel in a new tower, and it is priced like one.

For design-minded travelers, later

Ruby is a German lifestyle brand and this is its first US address, so there is no American hotel to judge it by. The plan includes a rooftop terrace and bar in a 1928 building, and the rest will become clear closer to opening.

For those who want the tower address

EDITION would put a Marriott luxury brand in the Hancock tower. Because the deal is unsigned, it belongs on a watch list, not an itinerary.

For a hospital stay or a conference

Northwestern Memorial Hospital anchors the district's medical campus, and Prentice Women's Hospital opened there in October 2007. The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago followed in June 2012. Riu Plaza is the only new hotel in the district open to them today.

Frequently asked questions

Which new hotel is open in Streeterville?

Hotel Riu Plaza Chicago, at 150 East Ontario Street. It opened in July 2024 with 390 rooms in a 28-story tower and is RIU's first property in Chicago.

When does Ruby Hotel Chicago open?

2027 is the target, with no day announced. The 412-room hotel is a conversion of the former Inn of Chicago at 162 East Ohio Street, a 1928 building, and is Ruby's first in the United States.

Is EDITION Chicago confirmed?

No. Marriott was reported in May 2026 to be in advanced talks for floors 23 to 34 of the former John Hancock Center, 350 rooms in all, but the lease had not been signed and there is no opening date.

How far is Streeterville from The Loop?

The two are separated by the Chicago River and linked by the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which has been open since 1920. The Loop is on the other bank, with Millennium Park and the Art Institute.

What is there to do near the hotels?

Navy Pier, with its 196-foot Centennial Wheel, Ohio Street Beach, the Museum of Contemporary Art at 220 East Chicago Avenue and the Old Chicago Water Tower are all in or at the edge of the district.