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The Blackstone, Autograph Collection
Chicago, Illinois, United States · Autograph Collection · Core Luxury
The phrase "smoke-filled room" entered American politics here: on the night of June 11, 1920, Republican leaders meeting at the Blackstone settled on Warren G. Harding while the convention sat across town at the Coliseum. Marshall and Fox's 21-story hotel opened April 6, 1910, for Drake brothers John and Tracy on the site of railroad baron Timothy Blackstone's mansion, and spent much of the century as Chicago's Hotel of Presidents. The ninth-floor smoke-filled room and tenth-floor presidential suite still survive the $128 million restoration.
- 332 rooms
- Opened 1910
- Neighborhood: Printer's Row
About The Blackstone, Autograph Collection
- John and Tracy Drake, sons of hotel magnate John Drake, also developed the Drake Hotel farther up Michigan Avenue.
- A presidential suite once hid a passage behind the fireplace so a sitting president could reach an eastern stairwell unseen; restoration turned it into closet space.
- During John F. Kennedy's stay he was informed of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi owned the closed hotel in the late 1990s before a failed condo conversion and Sage Hospitality's rebirth with Marriott.
- Designated a Chicago Landmark in 1998 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986.
The setting
0.8 miles from natural history exhibits at the Field Museum.
Amenities
- Spa
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- Illinois's Leading Boutique Hotel 2025 (World Travel Awards) (2025)
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