2024 12 03

Skyline views from The Robey Hotel. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

One low-key highlight during our incredible wedding weekend this September was staying at The Robey. You know, that tall building in The Crotch of Wicker Park that used to be abandoned and is now a boutique hotel. We splurged on a corner suite on a high floor and, while expensive, I loved it so much it had me wanting to live there.

“How long will you be staying with us, sir?”

“Indefinitely, I’m being sued for divorce,” I joked with myself in my head, hours before getting married (it’s a Rushmore reference, for those confused).

In the early-morning hours, the sun creeps up over the skyline before blasting you in the face with a nice natural wake-up call. Surely, if I lived here, I’d get comfortable with the blackout blinds, but seeing as I only had two morning to enjoy the views, I was up early snapping photos while I should’ve been catching some beauty Z’s.

It has been interesting to see the city’s downtown creep westward in recent years, as the West Loop and Fulton Market continue to be hot. Part of me regrets not grabbing a loft back when they were somewhat affordable, but I still love our home in the more modest and somewhat chill westside neighborhood off The 606, which has shaped my life quite dramatically in the last decade. I still long for those million dollar city views, though. One day, perhaps.

-Clayton