The Drake Chicago IL

Exploring Chicago & The Drake Hotel

The Drake Hotel is a singular landmark. Old-world elegance, stunning beauty, and peerless amenities combine to create a world-renowned Chicago hotel experience. A favorite among dignitaries, royalty, and celebrities alike, The Drake Hotel, Chicago, has been synonymous with luxury and sophistication since its opening in 1920. Revitalized for the new millennium, The Drake Hotel caters to most discriminating tastes – business or pleasure. Enviably poised on the Magnificent Mile, your downtown Chicago experience begins and ends…here.

Highlights:

* Located in Chicago’s most exclusive area, the Gold Coast on The Magnificent Mile
* Great views of Lake Shore Drive and Oak Street Beach
* 535 elegant rooms, including 74 luxurious suites.
* Four exquisite restaurants
* Well-equipped Fitness Center
* Fully staffed Business Center
* Arcade level specialty shops
* Within minutes of many Chicago sporting facilities, including biking, tennis, and beach volleyball.
* Two famous and full-size ballrooms
* Perfect for intimate meetings to large conferences for up to 600 guests.

The Drake Hotel: A Chicago Icon For Over 80 Years

The Drake Hotel, Chicago, was built in 1920 by brothers John and Tracy Drake. From the very beginning, the Drake brothers set out to create a structure that would inspire awe and emulation. Built as one of the nation’s first urban resorts, The Drake gained in fame throughout the 1920s. The Drake was home to the famous “Amos and Andy” radio show, and to numerous big band performances of the time. In 1924, HRH the Prince of Wales (later known as the Duke of Windsor) was a guest of The Drake, establishing The Drake’s 84-year tradition of serving as the Chicago home to the British royal family. Future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also a guest of The Drake during the 1920s, as were such notables as exiled Grand Duke Alexander of Russia and Queen Marie of Romania.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, The Drake saw a change in ownership as the hotel was purchased by the Brashears family of Chicago. For a period of ten years the hotel was managed by the Kikeby brothers’ hotel group, however, following the return of Edwin Brashears Sr. from military service in World War II, the Brashears family set out to reestablish The Drake as the premier luxury hotel in Chicago. The Drake was the first hotel in Chicago to have all its rooms air conditioned, and was later the first to have color televisions in all guest rooms. On the other hand, The Drake’s commitment to highest levels of guest service has, over the years, also led to certain humorous anachronisms. In the 1970s, for example, The Drake was the only hotel in Chicago that still retained elevator operators. Similarly, management at The Drake refused to incorporate ice machines until 1967, opting to wait until the quality of the ice thereby produced was comparable to “hand make cubes.”

The alluring combination of new amenities and traditional, exacting service standards kept The Drake on top of the Chicago hotel market throughout the 1950s and 1960s and well into the 1970s. As the Chicago Tribune wrote in a February 2005 article, “From its birth in 1920…The Drake was the Chicago oasis for visiting kings, queens, diplomats and entertainers.”

By the 1960s, The Drake was an established Chicago icon. The hotel’s Cape Cod Room was one of the city’s most popular restaurants; its Coq, d’Or was one of Chicago’s best-loved bars; and its private Club International enjoyed a waiting list for membership. By the 1970s, The Drake benefited by the fact that North Michigan Avenue had overtaken State Street as the premiere shopping district in Chicago, birthing the now world-famous Magnificent Mile. The Drake continued to attract a host of world leaders, including Emperor Hirohito of Japan, HRH Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, and Pope John Paul II. By 1981, Hilton International was brought in to manage The Drake, embarking on $40 million renovation project to help return the hotel to its original splendor. At around this time, The Drake Hotel received the honor of being placed on the National Resister of Historic Places, joining other landmark Chicago structures.

Restored to its original grandeur, The Drake became a set for several popular movies, including The Blues Brothers, Risky Business, My Best Friend’s Wedding and Hero. The 1992 filming of Hero actually had to be temporarily halted at one point because of tribute hosted by Oprah Winfrey on behalf of Michael Jordan, in which a “non stop parade of limousines dropping off a coterie of high-powered luminaries” rendered exterior filming almost impossible. Later in the 1990s, The Drake was front and center during one of Chicago’s most high profile visits ever, when the late Princess Diana stayed at the hotel for three days as part of an effort to raise money for cancer research.

Over the last 10 years, the number of luxury hotels on North Michigan Avenue has increased, yet The Drake has maintained its premier position as Chicago’s most distinguished hotel. The turn of the millennium has seen many changes, and The Drake has been at the forefront in terms of integrating the latest technology into its service and amenity portfolio. The Drake is a Chicago original with its roots right here in the city. No other hotel in Chicago inspires more local loyalty that does The Drake, nor affords an equivalent level of prestige, refinement, and service.

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