Where to Stay in Milwaukee: The Coolest Hotels Worth Booking Tonight
By Eric Barton | May 21, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. He’s had one failed at-home sushi-making experiment. Email him here.
Milwaukee doesn’t try to impress you. It doesn’t flaunt rooftop infinity pools or make you feel underdressed in the lobby. Instead, it does what good Midwestern cities do—it hands you a local beer, offers you a seat, and lets you settle in. The best hotels here aren’t trying to reinvent hospitality. They’re simply getting it right: sharp design without the smugness, friendly staff who don’t sound like they’re reading off a card, and bars you’d actually go to even if you weren’t staying upstairs. I stayed at a few, wandered into a couple more, and ended up with this list—places where I’d send a friend, or at least someone willing to buy the next round.
1. The Kimpton Journeyman
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Located in the heart of the Historic Third Ward, The Kimpton Journeyman Hotel manages to balance style with comfort, which is a hard trick to pull off in a city that invented beer as breakfast. It’s part of the Kimpton family, so you know the service is good, and the rooftop bar is where the locals and out-of-towners mingle while pretending they’re not paying for overpriced cocktails.
2. The Iron Horse Hotel
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If you’re into motorcycles or just want a place with a little more grit, The Iron Horse Hotel should be on your radar. This converted warehouse near the Harley-Davidson Museum is Milwaukee through and through. It’s got that cool industrial vibe without trying too hard. Expect to find leather accents and a crowd that looks like they could ride off into the sunset at any moment (though, let's be real—they’ll probably just Uber).
3. Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
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Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel isn’t just a place to sleep—it’s where Milwaukee’s artsy side goes to hang out. Part hotel, part gallery, it’s perfect if you want to immerse yourself in creativity and culture without leaving the lobby. Plus, the on-site bar has a piano, so you can pretend you’re in some noir film while sipping your old-fashioned.
4. The Brewhouse Inn & Suites
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Housed in the former Pabst Brewery, The Brewhouse Inn & Suites leans into its beer-soaked history with copper brewing kettles turned into décor. The rooms are spacious, and you’ll feel like you’re staying in a piece of Milwaukee’s brewing history (because you are). It’s perfect for anyone who wants to sleep where beer was made, because of course you do.
5. The Dubbel Dutch
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The Dubbel Dutch is a 17-room boutique hotel in a restored 1898 mansion that somehow avoids being precious. It's small, intimate, and has all the charm of a B&B without the weird family photos. Staying here feels like you’ve found a secret—one that’s equal parts history and modern comfort, and the best part? No one else seems to know about it—yet.
6. Kinn Guesthouse Downtown
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Minimalist, communal, and surprisingly cozy—Kinn feels more like crashing at a well-designed friend’s pad than a hotel. It’s eight rooms, all with exposed Cream City brick, luxe bedding, Apple TVs, and bathrooms that don’t feel like an afterthought. The real draw? A shared kitchen, lounge, and lounge-y workflow space where you can sip your morning coffee beside other travelers—not forced, just natural. Makes a quiet corner in Walker’s Point feel like home.
7. The Pfister Hotel
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If Milwaukee had a hometown grand dame, it’d be The Pfister—built 1893, dripping with Romanesque charm and stocked with more Victorian art than your history teacher’s slideshow. Slick lobby, rooms with skyline or lake views, and a 23rd‐floor pool that feels like a quiet city retreat. Blu bar upstairs? Perfect for a cocktail after a long day. Doesn’t try to be hip—it is hip, by default.
8. Hotel Metro
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A little art deco, a little funk, and a lot more attitude than your average chain. Hotel Metro, Autograph Collection channels old‑school Milwaukee energy—the lobby pulses with an '80s vibe, rooms are spacious, and the onsite restaurant keeps things local and lively. It doesn't need gimmicks—its design and attitude do the talking.
9. Ambassador Hotel
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Classic meets fly. Art deco architecture, rooms lined with Egyptian cotton, and a downtown address that means you’re always within walking distance of something good to eat or a bar worth lingering in. Fitness suite if you care, but if you don’t—cool. The vintage look is enough to make you feel like this building’s got stories worth hearing.
10. The Plaza Hotel
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The Plaza is the kind of hotel that feels like it’s been quietly doing things right for a hundred years—because it has. Family-owned and stubbornly independent, it sits just off the edge of downtown, close enough to walk but far enough to sleep. The rooms are small, the charm is big, and the downstairs café still serves a proper old-school brunch with eggs Benedict and black coffee that doesn’t apologize. It’s not trying to impress you. That’s sort of the point.
