Milwaukee's annual Summerfest music festival (considered the world's largest music festival) has begun and runs through July 5. This festival is one not to be missed with over 700 bands and heavy headliners like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Bon Jovi, No Doubt, Kid Rock and The Fray. If you make it to Summerfest this year, consider this your luxury guide for hotels, restaurants and more in Milwaukee.

Hotels
Recommended luxury hotel recommendations in Milwaukee include the stylish and sexy (great for couples) Iron Horse Hotel (close to the Harley Davidson Museum) with an on-site spa, bar, restaurant and game room with board games and enough books to keep you busy for weeks; and Hotel Metro, a boutique-style hotel in the center of Milwaukee and the only hotel in the city to make Travel + Leisure's Top 500 Hotels in the World.  The Pfister hotel is also an option, and is the only hotel to have had all presidents stay there. It is the "grand dames" of hotels with history around every corner, and concierges who can spend hours telling you stories about the hotel and its legendary guests. It also has a newly renovated spa and guest rooms and on-site restaurant (Mason Street Grill) that is not to be missed.

Restaurants
Bosley on Brady is getting good reviews ("Top 30 Restaurants" - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 2007) - upscale Key West-inspired food. The Dream Dance Steak in the Potawatomi Bingo Casino, which recently completed a $240 million expansion, is also being noticed by locals for its award-winning dining, including " Wisconsin Share Plates" – a “New Wisconsin Cuisine” concept with Lobsterwurst, Red Deer Venison and more. Insider tip: A new bar and restaurant is opening in Milwaukee July 7 - Stacked. (Owner is Tim Dixon, the genius behind The Iron Horse Hotel.) Stacked will be in the city's Fifth Ward area, inside the old Kramer Foundry building on First Street, and will feature a bar that "relies on local brews, large format beers, great affordable wines." Expect the burgers to be "stacked" high with "Wisconsin grass-fed Fountain Prairie Farms beef and artisanal Wisconsin cheeses, starting at under $10."

Sights and sounds
Before or after Summerfest consider checking out these Milwaukee favorites, including:

Discovery World
Milwaukee Art Museum
Harley Davidson Museum
Historic Third Ward
Lakefront Brewery Tour
Old German Beer Hall
Safe House.
 

Side trips
If you have time to add a side trip to your Summerfest plans, then definitely take an hour and drive north from Milwaukee to Destination Kohler, which has some of the country's best golf courses. It also has one of my favorite hotels - the Carriage House.

Getting to Milwaukee
Rated one of the best airports in North America, General Mitchell International Airport has direct flights daily from most U.S. cities. You can also take the Amtrak train into downtown Milwaukee, which has several direct routes daily from Chicago.

For more info: Summerfest; Visit Milwaukee

Photo: Interior, guest room at The Iron Horse Hotel