09.08.12

The Hilton’s New-old Monarch Lounge Downtown

Original Article – JSOnline.com

Dressed up for a show downtown? An elegant new lounge might go with that outfit. 

New but old, actually. The Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., has reinstalled its second-floor Art Deco lobby cocktail lounge and reinvigorated the space.

While it still has the 1927 hotel’s original wrought-iron metalwork, trio of enormous crystal chandeliers and wooden paneling ringing the room under the 18-foot ceiling, the spacious lounge now has a contemporary fireplace at one end and a pair of flat-screen TVs at the other.

Between them is a full bar. In addition to cocktails, wine and beer, the Monarch serves small plates such as chicken potstickers and tuna crudo, and in the evenings, a pianist plays jazz.

Leather club chairs and other comfortable furniture in groupings are conducive to conversation — one pleasure of the lounge when I stopped in recently was that I could actually talk with a friend without having to shout. There also are communal tables and a work area for business guests, with iPads and printer.

A side benefit of the renovation: It exposed previously covered large windows on the hotel’s east side.