A new agreement forged between Mayor Emanuel and labor unions which will make McCormick Place much more attractive to convention organizers is already having positive residual effects. Hotels in Chicago have promised more than $500 million in improvements.

The specific details behind the promises were not released (and probably haven’t even been decided yet). Early speculation focuses on parking/transportation and services, as opposed to actual physical remodeling.

I talked to a few hotel officials who felt hotels would be concentrating on improving their attention to the individual needs of their guests. The prevailing throught is that with McCormick Place being more convention-friendly, hotels must become more conventioneer-friendly.

The hotels in the Midway Hotel Center are especially excited. This group of hotels is a short 15-minute cab (or shuttle) ride to McCormick Place and is a high-quality, cost-friendly alternative to the 5-star hotels of downtown. Staffers feel they will improve their transportation services and dining possibilities.

These are exciting times in the Chicago hotel industry. Staffers from Midway to the Loop to Rosemont were talking about the expected increase in business. It’s going to be interesting to see all of these promises and expectations come to fruition.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist