Congress Plaza Hotel

The Congress Plaza Hotel is a grand historic hotel on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, overlooking Grant Park and the lakefront. Its original south building opened in 1893, designed by Clinton Warren to accommodate visitors to the World's Columbian Exposition, and it was later expanded with additions associated with the noted firm Holabird & Roche. For decades it was one of the city's most fashionable hotels, hosting presidents, conventions and society events, and its opulent public rooms reflect the confidence of turn-of-the-century Chicago.

The hotel has a well-established reputation in local ghost lore, with stories attached to particular rooms and to figures glimpsed in corridors and stairwells. Guests occasionally report cold spots, knocking and other unexplained experiences. Such accounts are subjective and anecdotal, and are not supported by documentary evidence.

The Congress Plaza's true interest lies in its architecture and its place in Chicago's history, from the 1893 exposition through more than a century of civic and political life. It remains a substantial piece of the city's Michigan Avenue streetscape and a landmark worth appreciating on its own merits.

The Congress Plaza Hotel is an operating hotel in downtown Chicago, offering rooms, event and meeting spaces, and dining to the general public year-round. As a large historic property, room types and amenities vary, and reservations can be made directly or through the usual booking channels.

Visitors should treat it as a working hotel, respecting the privacy of other guests and staff rather than the property's ghostly reputation.