We had a great stay at The Drake, located on the north end of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It wasn't perfect and, separately, I'm kind of convinced this hotel is haunted. That said, we came away fans.
We visited for a wedding weekend. I don't recall if we booked as part of the wedding block, but three nights for one "Deluxe" room with a king bed on a "high" floor cost us $1,346.46 total after taxes and fees (equal to $448.82 per night). My wife did the booking through American Express Travel. We have Amex Platinum Cards and she used her Hilton Honors membership, and I think we got some perks as a result.
The hotel opened in 1920. It's historic and gorgeous throughout. We felt like we had been transported back in time to a luxurious hotel in the 1920s and 1930s. They've really managed to maintain that period's look and feel. We loved the old-world grandeur.
We stayed in Room 802 on the 8th floor. The room was very spacious, though felt a bit old and worn in places. Here are our gripes:
1. The room had doors that opened to reveal a bar, which was neat. However, the bar's sink was clogged.
2. The bathroom was small and lacked surface space.
3. The bathroom sink water was either too cold or too hot. It was hard to get the temperature in the middle. Plumbing needed work.
4. The toilet roll holder kept falling down. It needed to be repaired or replaced.
5. It was somewhat easy to hear our next-door neighbors on either side of us. Our room was connected to both adjacent rooms on either side of us (suites).
6. The coffee maker and mini fridge were located at the TV console. However, there was no outlet for the coffee maker. Therefore, we had to move the coffee maker to one of the nightstands to plug it in. Really odd and awkward placement.
Other than that, we enjoyed the room. The bed was comfortable and there were small touches of technology, which contrasted with an old hotel, like a wireless phone charger and a tablet (which we didn't use). I actually unplugged the latter so I could plug in my laptop.
Wedding events took place at the French Room (pre-wedding ceremony), Palm Court (a renowned spot known for high tea), the Gold Coast Room (wedding ceremony), and the Walton Room Ballroom (wedding lunch reception). Palm Court is really cool and has a separate listing here on Yelp, where I left another review, just for the high tea experience. The various rooms are architecturally beautiful, especially the Gold Coast Room, which is stunning.
As far as the hauntings go, you can look them up, but in short there are two I read and watched videos about while we stayed here:
1. The Lady in Red. This ghost is believed to be a woman who committed suicide by jumping from the 10th floor on the hotel's opening night in 1920 after seeing her fiance dancing with another woman. Her ghost has been seen on the 10th floor and in the ballrooms.
2. The Lady in Black. In 1944, a socialite named Adele Bourne Williams was shot and killed in her apartment at the hotel by a mysterious woman in black. The assailant fled and disappeared. Despite police investigations and a gun being found, no one was ever charged with the murder. Her ghost has since been seen on the 8th floor -- yep, the same floor we stayed on! I read about this while trying to fall asleep in our bed on the 8th floor, so that was fun. To be clear, nothing funny or unusual happened during our stay on the 8th floor.
A small group of us went up to the 10th floor out of my curiosity. The lighting was dimmer up there and there was a stairway that led into darkness. Creepy.
Now why I may be convinced this hotel is haunted is because of what my phone's camera did in the Gold Coast Room and the Walton Room Ballroom. The chandelier lights constantly and consistently flickered in both rooms. It was weird and I have never experienced anything like that with my phone before (and I take a lot of pictures and videos in all sorts of environments). When it comes to ghosts, I'm generally a skeptic, but this made me reconsider.
Maybe it was just banding or a strobe effect caused by my camera's shutter speed interacting with the frequency of old dimmed bulbs. :)
Finally, we had hotel credits which could be used at the coffee shop downstairs, Lavazza Espression. Like Palm Court, I reviewed the cafe separately too. read more