New hotels in West Loop & Fulton Market, Chicago

West Loop and Fulton Market lie directly west of the Loop, on the far side of the Kennedy Expressway. Until the 2000s this was Chicago's meatpacking and wholesale produce district, a grid of brick warehouses and cold-storage buildings that worked at night and emptied by morning. Today it is where the city goes to eat, and where a growing number of tech and corporate employers have moved their offices. The guide to Chicago as a whole is at Chicago; the stretch covered here runs west of the river, between Madison Street to the south and Lake Street to the north.

Four hotels are tracked here. The Hoxton, Chicago opened in April 2019 and Nobu Hotel Chicago in July 2020. The Neighborhood Hotel, West Loop is targeted for 2027, and 1016 W. Lake Street Hotel, Fulton Market has approval but no construction start and no announced operator.

How the district is laid out

The names get used loosely, so a short map helps. West Loop is the wider area. Fulton Market is its northern part, centred on Fulton Market street and the blocks around Green, Peoria and Morgan streets, and it is where the converted warehouses, showrooms and offices are densest. Randolph Street, running east to west between roughly Ogden Avenue and Halsted Street, is the restaurant strip known as Restaurant Row. South of that, Madison Street marks the edge toward Greektown, which starts on Halsted a little below Madison.

Getting around is simple on foot, harder if you rely on the L. The Green and Pink lines stop at Morgan, at Lake and Morgan streets, which is the practical station for Fulton Market and for the Lake Street hotel site. Ogilvie Transportation Center, the commuter rail terminal for the Union Pacific lines, sits at the eastern edge of the district. Between the two there is a good deal of walking, usually flat and along streets that are heavily trafficked with delivery trucks on weekday mornings.

What to do in West Loop & Fulton Market

Eating is the reason most visitors come, and booking ahead matters on Friday and Saturday nights. Randolph Street carries Au Cheval at 800 W. Randolph, known for its burger, and Girl & the Goat at 809 W. Randolph, Stephanie Izard's first Chicago restaurant. Izard also runs Cabra, the Peruvian-inspired rooftop restaurant at The Hoxton. Fulton Market street adds The Publican at 837 W. Fulton Market, a pork and oyster restaurant in a former warehouse.

Fulton Market itself rewards a slower walk in daylight. Several blocks still keep the cobbles and loading docks of the old market, with galleries, design showrooms and shops installed in the former packing houses. Google's Chicago office opened in December 2015 in the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building at 1000 W. Fulton Market, and McDonald's moved its global headquarters to the old Harpo Studios site on Randolph in 2018. Both feed weekday hotel demand that is as much corporate as leisure.

Mary Bartelme Park, at 115 S. Sangamon Street, is the neighbourhood's small green space, popular with residents and their dogs, and a reasonable place to stop between meals.

Further out, the United Center, home of the Bulls and the Blackhawks, is about a mile west on Madison Street, which is a short rideshare. The Loop lies east across the river and the expressway, a walk of 15 to 20 minutes from Randolph Street, or a short ride from Ogilvie or the Green line. North of the Chicago River, River North is a quick rideshare away and holds many of the city's other recent openings.

Where to stay in West Loop & Fulton Market

Fulton Market

The Hoxton, Chicago stands at 200 N. Green Street. It opened in April 2019 as the brand's first Midwest hotel, a new build of 182 rooms run by Ennismore. Cabra occupies the rooftop around a seasonal pool, and the building also has Cira restaurant, Lazy Bird bar and a members' coworking space. Rates start from about $150 a night, according to the listing we hold. Google's headquarters is a short walk away, and the Green and Pink line stop at Morgan is within a few blocks.

1016 W. Lake Street Hotel, Fulton Market, is a different matter. Chicago's City Council approved a 143-room, 15-story hotel in February 2024 for the northeast corner of Lake and Carpenter streets, on a surface parking lot acquired in 2023 for roughly $6.6 million. The developers, Cogswell Realty and Erol Stapleton, aimed for a summer 2024 groundbreaking and an early 2026 opening, and promised net-zero-carbon operation with WELL and LEED certification. As of August 2026 neither construction nor a brand announcement has been reported, so no opening date is set. The site is two blocks from Google's headquarters.

Randolph Street, Restaurant Row

Nobu Hotel Chicago opened in July 2020 on the 800 block of West Randolph Street. Nobu Hospitality, the group behind Robert De Niro and chef Nobu Matsuhisa's restaurants, built it from scratch rather than converting an older building: eleven stories, 115 rooms and suites, four years after breaking ground. Modif Architecture designed the building and Studio K the interiors. The ground floor houses a Nobu restaurant and the eleventh floor a rooftop bar, which has drawn more attention than the restaurant below it. Prices start from around $190, again per the listing.

Staying here means stepping out of the lobby into the competition. Au Cheval and Girl & the Goat are on the same block or close to it, which means long waits at peak hours, and the hotel's own restaurant gives guests a fallback.

The district's southern edge

The Neighborhood Hotel: West Loop will occupy the Mid-City Trust & Savings Bank building at 801 W. Madison Street, a landmarked 1912 structure vacant since 2005. The conversion adds 76 rooms. The architect is Pappageorge Haymes Partners and the general contractor is Bulley & Andrews. A renovation permit was issued in August 2024. The former bank vaults are planned as a whiskey bar and coffee lounge, and opening is now targeted for 2027. It is the operator's second Chicago property. No rates have been published.

The address is two blocks south of Randolph Street's restaurants and sits at the junction with Halsted, close to Greektown, so the surroundings are more mixed than in Fulton Market.

Which hotel in West Loop & Fulton Market for your trip

For a group dinner or a night built around restaurants, Nobu Hotel Chicago puts you on Restaurant Row itself. The price is higher than at The Hoxton, and the rooms are the more conventional luxury product.

The Hoxton suits a trip that mixes work and leisure. It is the older of the two openings, it has a coworking space, and it sits among the offices that supply much of the area's weekday trade. It also holds the rooftop that the Fulton Market dining scene tends to point to.

For business travel to Google, the Fulton Market offices or the Lake Street corridor, The Hoxton is the nearest open option. Guests visiting McDonald's headquarters on Randolph will find Nobu closer.

If you want something not yet built, the answer for now is to wait. The Neighborhood Hotel has a permit and a target year. The Lake Street project has neither a start date nor an operator.

Families with young children will find fewer attractions here than downtown, where museums and the lakefront are closer. West Loop works best for adults on a food trip, for a few days of meetings, or as a second stay after a first visit to the downtown core.

Frequently asked questions

What is the newest hotel to open in West Loop or Fulton Market?

Nobu Hotel Chicago, which opened in July 2020 on the 800 block of West Randolph Street. The Hoxton, Chicago opened earlier, in April 2019.

Which hotels are confirmed for the neighborhood?

Two: The Neighborhood Hotel, West Loop, a 76-room conversion of a landmarked 1912 bank at 801 W. Madison Street targeted for 2027, and 1016 W. Lake Street Hotel, Fulton Market, a 143-room project approved in February 2024 that has not yet started construction.

Is Fulton Market the same as the West Loop?

No. Fulton Market is the northern part of West Loop, the area of converted warehouses and offices around Fulton Market street, Green Street and Morgan Street. West Loop is the larger district, running south to Madison Street.

Which hotel is closest to Restaurant Row?

Nobu Hotel Chicago. It stands on the 800 block of West Randolph Street, in the middle of the strip.

Which L stop serves Fulton Market?

Morgan, on the Green and Pink lines, at Lake and Morgan streets.

How far is West Loop from the Loop?

About 15 to 20 minutes on foot from Randolph Street, or a few minutes by rideshare. The Loop is on the other side of the Chicago River and the Kennedy Expressway.