The Drake Hotel: A Century of Presidents, Royalty, and a Ghost on the 10th Floor

The Drake Hotel at 140 E Walton Place opened on New Year's Eve, 1920, and has occupied the northern terminus of the Magnificent Mile ever since, positioned where Michigan Avenue ends and Lake Shore Drive begins. For over a century it has hosted American presidents, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, Winston Churchill, and virtually every major celebrity and head of state passing through Chicago. Its Palm Court tearoom remains one of the finest rooms in the city. The hotel carries a ghost story as old as the building: the story goes that on opening night, New Year's Eve 1920, a woman in a red dress fell from a 10th-floor window during a party. No contemporary record of such a death has been found, but local legend has kept the "Woman in Red" alive. The tenth floor and the Palm Court are the sites most associated with her reported appearances: flickering lights, cold spots in warm rooms, the smell of perfume in empty corridors. Whether or not the ghost is real, the Drake's century-old Palm Court — with its gilded ceiling, afternoon tea service, and view of the lake — is worth the visit on its own.