Local market data · Boutique hotels · Chicago
AI for boutique hotels in Chicago
The Chicago metro area had 920 boutique hotels in 2022, the 7th most of 387 US metros and 2% of all in the country. They employed 28,948 people at an average of $44,678 a year. 39% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.
Talk through your hotel with the person who builds it
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your boutique hotel to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.
Boutique hotels in Chicago vs the US
| Chicago metro | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 920 | 56,920 |
| People employed | 28,948 | 1,366,502 |
| Average staff per business | 31.5 | 24.0 |
| Average yearly pay per employee | $44,678 | $35,805 |
| Share with fewer than 10 staff | 39% | 47% |
Pay here is 25% higher than the national average for boutique hotels, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average boutique hotel here has 31.5 people on payroll, 31% higher than the US figure of 24.0.
How big boutique hotels in Chicago are
Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.
Boutique hotels by county in the Chicago area
Cook County has the most, with 476 of the metro's 920 (52%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 4th for average pay and 7th for the share of small firms.
| County | Businesses | Employees | Avg pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 476 | 21,189 | $49,101 |
| DuPage County | 126 | 2,681 | $36,971 |
| Lake County | 79 | 2,000 | $36,499 |
| Lake County | 63 | 837 | $23,662 |
| Will County | 59 | 775 | $28,908 |
| Kane County | 35 | 545 | $28,888 |
| Porter County | 27 | 352 | $23,460 |
| McHenry County | 20 | 220 | $25,086 |
| DeKalb County | 12 | 121 | $26,116 |
| Grundy County | 9 | 129 | $28,581 |
| Jasper County | 6 | 45 | $24,600 |
| Kendall County | 5 | 44 | $21,705 |
1 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.
Where AI helps a boutique hotel first
A boutique hotel should start with the guest questions that repeat every day: check-in time, parking, pets, late arrival, and what is nearby. AI can answer those on your site, by text and by email, and move more guests toward booking direct. Westward builds this for small hotels, and a person approves anything sensitive.
What your team's admin hours cost in Chicago
Change any number. The starting values are the Chicago averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.
Those hours cost you$260,400 a year
The share you would hand off$78,120 a year
Hours your team gets back3,720 a year
See what we would build for thisGuides for boutique hotels, one job each
- Get more customers for boutique hotels
- Never miss a call for boutique hotels
- Follow up automatically for boutique hotels
- Booking and scheduling for boutique hotels
- More reviews for boutique hotels
- Marketing and content for boutique hotels
- Show up on Google and ChatGPT for boutique hotels
- Cut admin and paperwork for boutique hotels
- A dashboard that runs itself for boutique hotels
Boutique hotels in other big metros
| Metro | Businesses | Avg pay | Rank of 387 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 1,762 | $47,621 | 1st |
| New York | 1,664 | $60,962 | 2nd |
| Miami | 956 | $41,441 | 6th |
| Dallas | 1,261 | $34,667 | 3rd |
| Houston | 1,253 | $31,976 | 4th |
| Atlanta | 1,000 | $33,280 | 5th |
| Washington | 690 | $44,815 | 9th |
| Philadelphia | 505 | $37,823 | 14th |
| Boston | 532 | $42,517 | 11th |
Where these numbers come from
From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 721110 (Hotels and motels), for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (13 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.
Find the hours your hotel can get back
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your boutique hotel to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.