Oasis in the City, Sparkling Views

About the Homestay

• Welcomes
• Males
• Females
• Couples
• Families
• Students

I am a critically acclaimed American jazz vocalist living with my friend and partner of 20 years who is a German restaurateur; we share a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom (which we have craftily turned into a 3 bedroom) 1500 square foot condo in a centrally located high-rise of Chicago's famous/prestigious River North/Magnificent Mile neighborhood. Our kitchen is small and our refrigerator is rarely, if ever, full-- until recently I was certain the oven was an "extra storage bin" for my winter sweaters. (--Joking... but only a little). As far as breakfast goes, I can manage to make cereal or an omelette or scrambled eggs. Or salad. My answer to everything is salad (LOL). We have a french press coffee-maker and a traditional coffee-maker and Ralf lives by caffein so there will always be coffee in the home! The bedroom we are renting out is small but has a dresser available for your clothes and part of the closet space. The bathroom, which would be yours alone, is down the hall from the bedroom (not ensuite). The family room/living room/sitting area is a shared space as is the kitchen and foyer. You will have clean sheets and blankets and towels as well as shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/soap and toiletries provided for you, obviously. And during your stay, at some point, there is a strong likelihood I will ask if you would like to join me for a glass of red wine while watching, say, an HBO series, if not the depressing News, but I digress...

We are night-people who works nights so "quiet hours" for us are 4am until noon as Ralf works until 4 or 5am most nights at the restaurant. (Yes, Chicago has very late night bars and dining!). I have a record player and some great vintage jazz records as well as a Bose CD player and about 3,000 jazz CDs which you are welcome to play in the afternoon/early evening hours. We have a piano and ask that only the guests who actually know HOW to play a piano do so, and not between the hours of 10pm and noon. There is a very large television in the sitting room and plenty of comfortable seating. Our home is artistically eclectic and warmly decorated with rich paint hues and plush textures. The balcony is quite large and juts out into the canyon of glittering skyscrapers which envelope our building; iconic towers, landmarks and high-rises can be seen day and night through the windows. As we are downtown, in the center of the 3rd biggest metropolis in the country, and close to a famously large hospital, there is never a reprieve from the sound of traffic and ambulance-sirens, so please be sure that is something you can handle while trying to sleep. But the upsides, in our view, far outweigh that inconvenience-- this is a cosmopolitan area offering some of the best cuisine-scenes in the city. With a bus stop directly in front of our building's entrance, and CTA subway lines a few blocks in either direction, we are in a walker's paradise as well as the easiest place to hail a cab or finds an Uber/Lyft driver at ALL times of the day and night. There are 3 grocery stores within 3 blocks of us as well as multiple all-night convenient stores and several late night bars and early morning breakfast spots (in case you do not feel like eating my famous salad for breakfast).

If you are an early-riser (aka before 1pm LOL), we will need to know *in advance* when you wish for us to make you breakfast as I may just stay awake all night so not to oversleep. ;)) The last thing you should know is that we have no pets or children (we are allergic to one and unlucky with the other-- take your best guess), and I am mildly compulsively-obsessive about cleaning, and, lighting candles, so, our home will definitely be spotless for you. We do not allow children to stay in the condo due to liability issues with the balcony etc. And we prefer only housing one guest, due to space-limitations, but will acquiesce to couples staying here when necessary. This is a non-smoking condo and we are adamant about this remaining a non-smoking environment, as Ralf has a pulmonary (lung) deficiency. I often have fresh flowers somewhere in the apartment but can easily refrain if you are allergy prone. In summer months we are very pro-air-conditioning! And winter months are toasty warm.

Aside from giving you a list of my favorite songs, colors and childhood memories (LOL) I think that pretty much sums it up. We are extremely sociable, hospitable people by nature and love meeting people from all over the world. The building is a secure building-- meaning: there is always a doorman/security guard on duty as well as a lot of surveillance on the property (entrance, elevators, garage etc) and yet we ask that guests refrain from offering the information to anyone in the building that they are "renting" from us as condo associations do not tend to favor such situations, so we do so discerningly and discretely.

Thank you for reading this and your interest in staying in our home; we look forward to hosting you!

House Facilities

Laundry
Parking
Internet Access
Wheelchair Accessible
Gym at home
Air Conditioning