Historic hotels in Lincoln Park

Named for the sprawling lakefront park that anchors it, Lincoln Park is one of Chicago’s most beloved residential neighborhoods — brownstones, a free zoo and conservatory, and miles of green along the water. Its small historic inns and boutique hotels make a calm, leafy base.

The neighborhood sits a short ride north of downtown, with the lakefront trail and park at its doorstep.

Two of the four are worth knowing about before you book. Hotel Lincoln spent a decade empty after a stint as a motel before reopening in 2012; its rooftop bar, the J. Parker, turns a full circle over the park and the lake. The Neighborhood Hotel is an 1893 building of limestone and stepped gables that spent forty years as the Wrightwood Hotel and decades more as apartments before returning to guests.