The Drake Hotel
Chicago, Illinois

Out one door, the beach. Out the other, world class shopping. In between, history and high tea. The Drake—classic location, classic hotel.

In 1920, the Drake was built as a summer resort in the middle of the city. Built on a curve of Lake Michigan, it was a mile north of the recently completed Michigan Avenue bridge. The foresighted Drakes chose the only place in Chicago where a hotel can be on the Magnificent Mile and on the lake. Peter Ustinov quipped about its current real estate value, "each step you take in the Drake Hotel is like walking on diamonds."

The Drakes wanted—and got—a world class hotel. They worked with the flamboyant, self-taught architect, Ben Marshall. Can’t you just picture these Chicagoans filing away ideas from their stays at Paris’ Plaza Athénée and London’s Ritz. Perhaps, it was over cocktails on Rome’s Excelsior they decided on the Italian Renaissance plano nobile design—raising the main public rooms above ground level. The design both captured the lake views and gave travel-weary patrons the opportunity to go straight to their rooms without being seen.

Also from the Italians, the hotel’s Gold Coast Room, then the main dining room and now a banquet room, is pure Italian Renaissance. From the English, they borrowed Georgian design for the ballroom. The Library and Ladies Lounge (now the private International Club) was a reproduction of Derbyshire, England’s Hadden Hall. French design reigned in their very Louis XVI French Restaurant. Capturing the European courtyard feel, the Drakes installed a rolling skylight in the Palm Court. In the summer, the skylight rolled open creating an airy courtyard complete with its own fountain and ducks. In the winter, the skylight was closed and a grand fireplace replaced the fountain.

In 1920, on New Year’s Eve, 2000 Chicagoans attended The Drake’s opening night. It became the most talked about hotel in the country. The Gold Coast Room hosted lavish floor shows and big bands. The depression hit and then prohibition—but the bands played on. At prohibition’s end the Coq d’Or, Drake’s famous bar, stocked 200,000 gallons of whiskey for an all-night celebration.

During WWII, The Drake was used to house the military. Refurbished at war’s end, she continued as Chicago’s grand dame. By 1980, however, she was none-too-gracefully showing her age.

In 1981, The Drake was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She also found, in Hilton International, the rich admirer she needed to restore her to her former glory. Hilton, like many a suitor, underestimated the cost of keeping its new love in style. They had planned a lavish $4 million restoration and $41 million later, they are still at it.

Today, her stately public rooms are once again elegant grand dames. Their original carved wood ceilings have been repaired and the palm plaster—applied entirely by hand—has been lovingly restored. In the Palm Court the fountain flows again, now through a 250 year old Italian urn. It’s the ideal spot for afternoon tea or evening jazz with cocktails. Hilton International manages The Drake as a Hilton, once again catering to conferences and hosting Chicago’s finest in the restored-to-their-former-glory Ballroom, Gold Coast Room, and French Room.

The 527 guest rooms (down from over 800 rooms when the original hotel housed maids, butlers and chauffeurs on the first and top floors) are still a work in progress. Mine, a Gold Coast Jacuzzi Suite is large and lovely. The living room—with a view of the lake—has space left over after the reproduction antique furniture provided areas for sitting and entertainment, dining and working. Ornate drapes cover the windows and technoid toys cover the desk. The bedroom’s big comfortable bed is draped to match the room’s elegant drapes.

The jewel in this suite’s crown, however, is the bathroom. It’s bigger than some hotel rooms. And then there’s the Jacuzzi. Banish any idea of those little old bath tubs with jets. This Jacuzzi could be the centerpiece of a day spa with room for at least two couples. It has sexy underwater lights and the room’s main lighting can be turned romantically low. When the jets are turned on in this Jacuzzi, a small waterfall cascades over the side, positioned so you can sit under its invigorating flow. A great spot to drop after a day of shopping.

Not a bad way to end your beach time either. The beach is out the back door, through a park garden and under Lake Shore Drive by way of a pedestrian tunnel. Once settled on this long curve of sandy beach, the sound of the waves, the kids and the gulls drown out the traffic noise. Lake Michigan is cold, the sand hot and the bodies buff that run, bike and skate the shoreline path. Snacks, drinks, meals, chaises? Get them right here at the Beach-stro.

Back at The Drake, swing through the original iron filigree revolving door and right onto an elevator. No schlepping your beach-weary self through the grand public rooms—it’s the way the Drakes planned it.

The Drake Hotel on the web.