Lotte Hotel to launch boutique hotel in Chicago next year

Lotte Hotel, the hotel chain owned by Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group, said Monday that it will open a new hotel in Chicago next year, the first overseas launch under its lifestyle boutique hotel brand L7.

Lotte said it completed an acquisition of Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago for 42.8 billion won ($35.9 million) on Friday (US time) in a joint investment with the state-run Korea Overseas Infrastructure Development Corp.

The 13-story hotel with 191 rooms is expected to be refurbished into “L7 Chicago” by the end of next year. Lotte launched the L7 brand in 2016, with three branches being operated in Seoul.

“Following Lotte New York Palace and Lotte Hotel Seattle, we are entering the central US with the upcoming L7 Chicago. Based on our hotel porfolios, we plan to expand our footprint in the global market,” said Lotte Hotel CEO Ahn Se-jin in a statement.

By Byun Hye-jin (hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)