Peninsula Moments | The Peninsula Hotels

The Peninsula Chicago

Featured short film : The Peninsula Chicago

Click here to watch the latest short film of The Peninsula Beijing.

An amazing perspective of the “Windy City”, The Peninsula Chicago’s film reveals the vitality of the city on the edge of Lake Michigan and known as the home of the skyscraper. The tour takes viewers from the world-class Millennium Park, the theater district and shopping along the “Magnificent Mile” to an elegant dinner party on The Peninsula Suite terrace, the anticipation and preparation for a child’s arrival and finally a Shanghai themed soirée on The Terrace.

Enjoy an in-depth look behind the scenes and the facts, figures and stories involved in the making of the Peninsula Moments campaign.

Executive Pastry Chef Hsing Chen and her team start preparing for the legendary “Chocolate Bar” four days in advance of the weekly buffet ritual. More than 30 different chocolate-inspired, one and two-bite sized desserts are prepared weekly for the decadent display. This tradition started shortly after the hotel opened more than a decade ago and has continued to sell out every weekend.

Zooming around Chicago’s most famous landmarks and stunning architecture can be done in style with one of Peninsula Chicago’s two bespoke MINI Cooper Clubman cars – available with our compliments for guests staying in suites. The Peninsula MINIs also feature a custom-made rooftop luggage compartment – perfect for storing shopping from nearby Michigan Avenue, as shown in the film. The hotel has also just introduced a new bespoke BMW 2013 edition as a house car recently to transport guests in a two-mile radius.

Chicago has long been known for its jazz and blues music. Originally, “Chicago blues” was street corner-based music before gaining popularity and spreading throughout the city and today, the city has become known for great live music. The Peninsula Chicago is the only hotel in Chicago that features live music daily. The musicians perform from a Minstrels Gallery, located high atop The Lobby. Guests often hear live music but can’t figure out where it’s coming from until they discover the Gallery.

The Peninsula Suite features breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and the historical John Hancock Center from the private terrace. The filming of The Peninsula Suite features The Peninsula’s Page Bear and The Lobby’s Chef de Cuisine, Lee Wolen, setting up for a special dinner party and an amenity for a child with a sweet tooth. The hotel’s stuffed Page Bear, positioned appropriately to greet his next guest, measures in at 5’2” and weighs 30+ pounds. It’s all in a day’s work for Executive Pastry Chef Hsing Chen, whose focus is to surprise and delight her youngest guests (and not just those in The Peninsula Suite) with beautiful displays of all things whimsical, indulgent, chocolate and memorable. The candy wagon showcases a typical presentation when Peter Bear, the hotel’s mascot, visits the guestrooms of children.

The boat used in this scene is a Gage Hacker. It took over 6,000 man hours to craft the boat by hand and was completed in 2011. The couple experiencing the Chicago River journey is about to enjoy a picnic especially prepared by The Peninsula Chicago—which is a part of The Peninsula Academy Program. As they sail down river, they embark on the ritual of the raising of the bridges to allow sailboats to pass down the river, which takes place twice weekly seasonally.

The Terrace provides an unprecedented view of Chicago’s iconic John Hancock Center, one of two buildings in Chicago that rises 100 stories. The Peninsula Chicago was the first Chicago hotel to offer rooftop space dedicated to dining and cocktails overlooking Michigan Avenue. Providing a civilized, sophisticated experience for an outdoor dining venue, The Terrace offers spectacular views with an urban experience unlike any other in the city.

Known as one of the most exclusive venues in Chicago, The Bar is popular with local Chicagoans and visitors and has a reputation for a place to see and be seen. Featured in the short film as a bartender is Yuki Takimura, the manager at Shanghai Terrace, who is also shown at The Terrace greeting guests as they arrive. Originally from The Peninsula Tokyo, Yuki had such a great presence that the videographer wanted to use him in multiple scenes. Recently, The Bar was named among the ‘Best Hotel Bars’ in the world by Forbes magazine, while the TV show, ‘The Boss’ starring Kelsey Grammer as the Mayor of Chicago, filmed a scene for the second season in The Bar, which aired on October 12, 2012.

The Making Of The Peninsula Chicago’s Short Film

The faces, places, takes and breaks involved in the making of the Peninsula Moments collection of short films.

Watch the video

As much about our destinations as our hotels, “Peninsula Moments” showcases the very best and most unique aspects of each city with style, sophistication and elegance, to reflect an authentic sense of destination.

The Peninsula Chicago

Since its grand opening in 2001, The Peninsula Chicago has been awarded numerous accolades including prestigious Forbes Five Star and the AAA Five Diamond awards for the last ten consecutive years, as well as #1 ranking multiple times from Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Zagat Survey and more. The Peninsula Chicago is the city’s most luxurious and sophisticated hotel, offering guests Far Eastern graciousness together with Midwestern hospitality. Located at Water Tower Park on the “Magnificent Mile,” the city’s premier shopping district, The Peninsula Chicago is the city's most luxurious and sophisticated hotel, offering guests all possible amenities and services. The Peninsula Chicago's 339 luxurious guestrooms and suites are among the largest in the city and are exquisitely furnished in a contemporary yet classical style. The hotel also features three award-winning restaurants, a bar and a world-class Spa.

The Chicago River

The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of 156 miles (257 km) that runs through the city, including its center (The Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location as the link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley waterways. In the 19th century through a feat of civil engineering, the flow of the river was reversed to head toward the Mississippi River basin, away from Lake Michigan into which it previously emptied. The river is also noted for the local custom of dyeing it green on St. Patrick’s Day.

Cloud Gate at Millennium Park

Artist Anish Kapoor’s ‘Cloud Gate’ sculpture is affectionately known as ‘The Bean’ by Chicagoans, due to its shape resembling a giant jelly bean. The sculpture reflects the city’s skyline, images of passersby and offers an interactive experience for visitors looking for unique angles and perspectives to take photographs.

Water Tower Park

Located adjacent to The Peninsula Chicago in Water Tower Park, the Water Tower building (resembling a small castle) was designed in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington using big limestone blocks. This special building survived the Chicago fire of 1871 and is the second-oldest water tower in the United States, after the Louisville Water Tower in Kentucky. An iconic and historic destination, today it showcases photographs and art displays of Chicago.

Buckingham Fountain

This historic fountain is considered Chicago’s “Front Door” since it’s located in Grant Park, the city’s front yard. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, with each sea horse symbolizing the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, that border the lake. Buckingham Fountain is in operation with a large light and music display every hour for 20 minutes from April to mid-October, and is powered by three pumps with a water capacity of 1.5 million gallons per single display, shooting 150 feet into the air and using approximately 14,000 gallons of water per minute. This fountain has often been compared to those found in Europe and has found a place in Chicagoans’ hearts since its debut in 1927.

The Chicago Theater

Opened in 1921, The Chicago Theater is the first large, lavish movie palace in America and the prototype for all other theatre venues. The vertical "C-H-I-C-A-G-O" sign measures nearly six stories high and is one of the few such signs in existence today—and is a symbol of State Street and a Chicago landmark. The Theatre District is a few blocks from The Peninsula Chicago and has garnered a reputation for showcasing Broadway performances.