Get in touch with your inner superstar when you spend a night at this classy Chicago hotel that rocks out downtown.

Your taxi stops at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago on Wacker Place, at the corner of Michigan Avenue. An energetic, black-clothed Hard Rock employee opens the car door and smoothly welcomes you. The pin on his jacket identifies him not by name, but by favorite musician.

He keeps talking - "Have you been here before?" "You're going to love this place!" - while he ushers you into the hotel's dimly lit lobby/lounge, all metallic, black and plum with mod, low-to-the-ground furniture. The Van Halen classic "Jump" plays overhead and on video screens as you take in the hip details of this, the first Hard Rock Hotel in the Midwest.

Housed in the 40-story Carbide and Carbon building, an Art Deco landmark inspired by a champagne bottle, the 381-room Hard Rock is in the heart of downtown. After shopping, museum-hopping or perhaps grabbing a drink among locals in Hard Rock's popular lobby-level Base Bar, retreat to your room with its polished chrome, mirrors and gray walls, bare except for a screen print on metal of a rock icon in action.

Take advantage of the 27-inch flat-screen TV and free loaner Nintendo games or DVD movies, many with a rock 'n' roll theme. Order something from the 24-7 room service-or wait for morning. Breakfast choices include basics like bacon and eggs, as well as specials such as the "Damn, It's Early": a mineral water, a Bloody Mary and a Power Bar.

Memorabilia-filled Hard Rock cafes around the U.S., cousins of the hotel, applaud the true rock star. But here, for the night, the rock star is you.

Visit: www.hardrockhotelchicago.com 

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