The Herrington has been Geneva’s best luxury hotel, restaurant, and day spa in Geneva, IL since 1993.
Historically, our location on the waterfront in Geneva, IL played an important role in the development of this charming Midwestern city. This site was not always the location of the Chicago area’s best boutique hotel and spa, it is rooted in history as it’s small town’s first dairy.
Circa 1835, James and Charity Herrington left Philadelphia in search of new beginnings. Traveling west from Chicago, the couple came across the banks of what is now the Fox River, settling on the former camping grounds of the Pottawatomie Indian tribe. The area was ripe with choice timber and a fresh water spring. In building their first log cabin home and raising six children, the Herringtons became Geneva’s first settlers.
Years later, in 1874 a small dairy creamery was built on the site of the family’s homestead. Butter and cheese were produced here and milk was stored in barrels that were kept cold in the rushing waters of the Fox River. The once-tiny creamery grew and later became known as the Geneva Rocks Spring Creamery.
In the years that followed, the creamery building went on to have various uses. In 1982 when Geneva began to revive their riverfront district, city officials were looking to redevelop the building that had been vacant for many years. After negotiation, the city finally approved an ambitious plan for a riverfront hotel by Kent ShoDeen of Sho-Deen, Inc.
In 1992, Sho-Deen began the impressive restoration project of renovating the property’s former pump house in 1999, restoring the 5,800-square foot building to serve as the hotel’s very unique event space. A pedestrian walkway was also developed to connect the two complexes on the west bank on the Fox River.
Just two years later, The Herrington unveiled a $5 million addition that included a full service spa, 21 new guest rooms, new furnishings and fixtures, which demonstrate an ongoing commitment to maintaining The Herrington as Chicagoland’s premier hotel.
