When new decides to inhabit old, the result has the potential to be intoxicating thanks to a mix of modern comforts in an ageless setting. The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, with a well-considered through-line through a century of styles, a determination to pay homage to the history of Milwaukee and its people, and maybe a few ghostly old spirits, is helping to reinvigorate a rugged Midwestern city (or, at least, helping to spur on a reboot of a specific neighborhood of the brewery town).
Dogs are very welcome at The Iron Horse Hotel
From the moment the sleek new Optima sedan and elegantly tough Sorento SUV — two vehicles reinvigorating Kia’s vehicle lineup in the same kind of way — dropped me and the rest of the MenWhoBlog crew off in the compact roundabout area in front of the Iron Horse, each of us knew that we were going to be treated to a unique hotel experience, one that defies the cookie-cutter nature of chains and the pretentiousness of many other urban boutique accommodations. A quick al fresco bite on The Yard, the Iron Horse’s outdoor patio restaurant, before we even checked into our massive corner rooms, confirmed our belief: holy crap is the food delicious and the setting sublime.
The Yardbird Sandwich at The Iron Horse Hotel
The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee is both biker and pooch friendly, offers up insanely good A.M. eats like The Wisconsin Classic and Brioche French Toast in The Library, provides a hip outdoor patio bar and restaurant with inventive and delicious grub (tempura battered cheese curds, Florida street tacos, bone marrow & bread, and the Yardbird sandwich were all highly memorable) for after hours mingling and wild roundtable discussions involving a handful of dude bloggers, and the rooms, my god, the rooms…
The best hotel bed ever at The Iron Horse Hotel
The Iron Horse hotel has at least one mattress in every guest room but once upon a time this stately brick building across the river from downtown was swimming with them while home to a mattress factory. Enormous corner rooms that each would fetch $3000 per month as Brooklyn apartments feature evocative artwork from local talents, modern rustic furnishings that blend in seamlessly with the exposed brick walls, and quite possible the most comfortable hotel mattress I’ve ever had the privilege of sleeping on.
Evocative bedroom wall art at The Iron Horse Hotel
Cool and comfortable furnishings at The Iron Horse Hotel
Whether you’re in Milwaukee visiting breweries with your significant other, on the road with a local motorcycle club, looking for a fresh new adventure with a gaggle of your best mates, out on the town with your pup, or if you happen to be lucky enough to spend a weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a bunch of new friends brought together by Kia for 3 days of brats, brews (craft root beer for me!), racing and laughs, The Iron Horse, a luxurious new pearl in Milwaukee’s oyster, is the absolute perfect Milwaukee hotel for you.
Drinking, yes, smoking, no, at The Iron Horse Hotel
Local artists on display at The Iron Horse Hotel
Stylish bathroom at The Iron Horse Hotel
Rack ’em up at The Iron Horse Hotel lobby pool table
Outside rugged decorations at The Iron Horse Hotel
Pad and pencil at The Iron Horse Hotel
There’s a seat at the bar waiting for you at The Iron Horse Hotel
*Kia paid for my travel to and experiences in Milwaukee. All opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased, as always.
The view of The Iron Horse Hotel from the Harley Davidson Museum
Read more about The Iron Horse, Kia and Milwaukee on MenWhoBlog.
