Ever since Chicago's 1873 World's Columbian Exposition, the city has been welcoming visitors with unparalleled gusto. Chicago offers delicious cuisine, great sports teams, inviting museums, elegant shopping, diverse neighborhoods--and some of the most opulent hotels in the country. A Chicago Tradition: Hotels and Hospitality is a tour of The Palmer House, The Drake, The Stevens, and one of the town's newest hotels, The Peninsula, and its restaurants. The Palmer House was built in 1871, only to burn down thirteen days later in the Great Fire. Two years later it was rebuilt as America's first fully fireproofed hotel, and the first hotel in Chicago to have electric lights. Every room had a phone, and elevators were considered a "perpendicular railroad." The Palmer House makes one of the best chocolate fudge brownies going. The Drake burst on the scene on December 31, 1920, as a magnificent resort hotel, right on Lake Michigan, and for years attracted top celebrities to its Gold Coast Room. The famous Cape Cod restaurant is known for its Bookbinder Soup. The Stevens, now the Hilton Chicago, opened in May 1927, with 3,000 rooms with baths, an in-house hospital, a five-lane bowling alley, a private library, and a host of other amenities unusual for the time. Renovated in 1984, it is a delightful fusion of historic luxury and contemporary amenities, including its Baked Alaska. The Peninsula opened in 2001 and is already rated the number one hotel in America by Zagat's. This glamorous, lavish sanctuary offers a $485,000 weekend for couples, along with delicious tomato soup.
Joan Greene presents many more historical details and asides, providing a wonderful accompaniment to the images-and recipes-of four gracious, inviting, and grand hotels in America's heartland.
