Sandwiched between the silvery curvature of the Trump tower and the twin corncob structures of Marina City, the former IBM Building, a starkly rectilinear monolith designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, becomes home this week to one of the world's swankiest hotel brands.

The Langham, Chicago, a posh 316-room inn carved out of floors 2 to 13 of the 52-story office building at 330 N. Wabash Ave., will open its doors Wednesday, with the intention of taking on Chicago's highest echelon of hotels, including its soaring neighbor along the Chicago River, the Trump International Hotel & Tower.

"Trump has been very successful there, and that really gave us a lot of confidence in that location," said Brett Butcher, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group. "It's good to have competition around you. It makes you better, don't you think?"

The management company, and its Hong Kong-based parent, Great Eagle Holdings, the project's owner, are taking a big gamble. Great Eagle is investing about $250 million, with the aim of converting the former office space into ultraluxe accommodations that can command $400 a night for guest rooms and $6,000 a night for its fanciest suite.

While its brand is known and highly respected in Europe and Asia, Langham is a relative newcomer in North America. In the Chicago market, it is up against formidable rivals, notably the Trump, the Peninsula, the Four Seasons and the Waldorf Astoria. The five-star contender is coming to market after a lull in hotel construction, but the pipeline is filling up, which could boost downtown supply by about 10 percent over the next few years. And its design choices already are generating intense scrutiny within Chicago's architecture community, with some questioning whether it sufficiently keeps with Mies' modernist style.