Youth hostel company Selina opens at site of former Tremont Hotel

Chicago Business Journal

By: Ben Miller

Selina, a European company specializing in travel lodgings for younger travelers, has opened a 600-bed hostel at the site of the former Tremont Hotel in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.

The 16-floor Selina location at 100 East Chestnut Street, near the site of the former Mike Ditka's restaurant, has community rooms, lofts, apartments, suites, and hybrid rooms. The London-based company said rooms start at $110 per night for a private room and $40 for a bed in a community room to $500 suite with a grand piano. The hotel also includes a communal kitchen, library, cinema, wellness center, and full-service restaurant HOWM Cafe & Concept store.

"Opening in Chicago marks a major milestone for Selina as we continue to grow our brand globally. We are looking forward to sharing our experiential lifestyle and Latin roots with major U.S. cities like Chicago, and our planned location in Washington D.C.," said Rafael Museri, CEO and co-founder of Selina, in a statement.

The company said it operates 116 properties in 20 countries, including five others in the U.S., and the Chicago Selina will be one of five new properties, all containing about 2,000 beds, that it plans on opening by the end of the third quarter of 2021. The other properties will be located in D.C., Guadalajara, Jerusalem and Paros, Greece.

Hotel Capital LLC, an Indianapolis private equity real estate investment firm, bought the Tremont Hotel and Ditka's in June 2018 from Marriott International Inc. In July, a Hotel Capital spokesman said "the deal we did with Selina is structured as a master lease of the hotel which is somewhat unique for Chicago but fairly common with the rest of that company's portfolio."