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It’s those dreamy black and white photos that put me in this mood: prairie skies, foggy nights, beaches at high noon, sailboats at sunset, big buildings, ivy walls and small gargoyles - Chicago in all its moods. The Park Hyatt commissioned four of Chicago’s finest to create this striking collection for its flagship hotel.

An elongated triangular edifice sails into Chicago’s architecturally compelling skyline. Towering above the three-storied curl of the Sofitel’s lobby. It leans into the Windy City’s wind, swelling thirty-three feet one foot each story on the way to its apex. The side façade, a white and glass rectangle, reflects both Chicago’s skyline and her weather-y weather blowing in from Lake Michigan. If the sun is shining, a few minutes before high noon, it shines on both sides of the hotel.

Entering the cool restaurant, we leave steamy Chicago behind. Our eyes adjust to the dim light. We spy two square squat chairs, one burned, as if by an opium addict’s cigarette. Antique teapots adorn shelves in what could be an old Chinese tea shop. An Asian woman, dressed in black Chinese silk pajamas, escorts us to our table. We trod polished floors past walls of silk and Chinese lanterns. Our table, embellished by a single pale green orchid, is set with silver-tipped, black lacquer chopsticks.

In 1920, the Drake was built as a summer resort in the middle of the city. Built on a curve of Lake Michigan, it was a mile north of the recently completed Michigan Avenue bridge. The foresighted Drakes chose the only place in Chicago where a hotel can be on the Magnificent Mile and on the lake. Peter Ustinov quipped about its current real estate value, "each step you take in the Drake Hotel is like walking on diamonds."

The Spa offers classes (from power Hatha yoga to Pilates) and VR2 Cybex Weight Equipment (I assume you know what those are if you care.) Spa and beauty treatments, from the exotic hot stone therapy to the more prosaic manicure, help The Peninsula Spa do for Chicagoans and its visitors what good genes did for Gina Lollobrigida almost.