The Vibe: Retro now.

The Area: In Chicago‘s popular River North, a fashionable neighbourhood full of destination restaurants, cutting-edge art galleries, and one of Chicago’s architectural icons, the Marina Towers.

The DNA: Self-described as affordable lodging “for the modern explorer”, FOUND is a hip hybride hotel-hostel set inside a cast-iron building from the 1910s. The hotel (originally a single-room occupancy, low-income housing) appear to be comfortably lived-in. The lobby lounge, for instance, features herringbone floors, dark blue wall tiles, brass accents, and built-in niches displaying various art objects. In the 1970s-looking downstairs seating area vintage rugs are topped with multiple couches and stocked with vintage board games. The visual grandeur of the Chinese-restaurant-meets-Tiki atmosphere (leopard-print stools, fringed red-lit lamps, and gilded banquettes) provides an inspiring backdrop to a night out sipping on Asian-inspired cocktails and karaoke.

Suite-Me-Up: The efficient, but elegantly appointed guestrooms (nine which are shared with bunked bed) have wooden floors and dark carpeting, custom-made walnut beds and desks, bright marble bathrooms and Chicago style bay windows. Facilities include air conditioning and a flat-screen TV.

Seen: Wallpaper*

✅ free Wi-Fi • size matters: 60 rooms (14-19m2) (151-205 sq ft) • hotel opened: April 2018 • architecture: NORR • interior design: John Sofio, Built • parking possible nearby (charged) • no pets allowed • 24-hour front desk