The Study at University of Chicago

A scholar's hotel for a South Side museum day

★★★★★📍 Hyde Park, Chicago (University of Chicago)$$$

Hyde Park has been the University of Chicago's home since the 1890s and was the site of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, whose surviving Palace of Fine Arts now houses the Museum of Science and Industry. Staying here puts the fair's legacy, the university's architecture and the museums of the South Side within easy reach, and the neighborhood has a strong independent-bookstore and coffee-shop culture that suits the hotel's literary theme. The Study is the third property from Study Hotels, and its lobby library, curated by New York's Strand Bookstore, and a rotating gallery of student art make the campus connection more than decoration.

The stay craft: ask for a room facing the Midway for the view, walk the campus in the morning — Rockefeller Chapel and the Robie House are highlights — and head to MSI at opening to beat the crowds at the U-505 submarine. Use the Metra Electric line to reach the Loop and the Museum Campus for a day at the Field Museum and the Art Institute. The hotel can also arrange guest experiences such as tours at the Renaissance Society contemporary art space, campus architecture walks and shows at the Court Theatre.

Practicals: 1227 East 60th Street, Hyde Park, valet parking, pet-friendly, about seven miles south of downtown and eight from Midway Airport. Fit: families, campus lovers and anyone planning a museum day on the South Side.