Haunted Hotels in Chicago: The Most Haunted Places to Stay
Chicago has a reputation as one of America’s most haunted cities, and two of its grandest hotels sit right at the center of it. Here is where to stay, which rooms to ask for, and what guests say they have seen.
Chicago rebuilt itself after the Great Fire of 1871 and then put on the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, the same year the Congress Plaza opened to house the crowds. That fair also drew H. H. Holmes, the killer whose ‘murder castle’ stood a few miles south, and Chicago tour guides still say he looked for victims in the hotel lobbies along Michigan Avenue. Add Prohibition gangsters and a 1920 opening-night tragedy at the Drake, and it is easy to see why the city tops lists of the most haunted cities in America. Every hotel below is open to guests, has a ghost story told by staff, guests or local historians, and has been checked against current sources. We have added Hotel Baker, about an hour west in St. Charles, for anyone who wants a quieter haunted weekend out of the city. For the city’s other ghost spots, see our guide to haunted places in Chicago.
Address 520 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605
Where to look Room 441, the 12th floor, the Gold Room, the eighth-floor elevator, the South Tower
Reported ghosts A shadow woman in Room 441; Peg Leg Johnny; the 'hand of mystery'; a mother and two sons tied to 1939
Booking the haunted room Call the hotel after booking and ask for Room 441 or a room on the 12th floor. Requests are not guaranteed.
The Congress Plaza opened in 1893 as the Auditorium Annex, built for crowds heading to the World’s Columbian Exposition, and it still faces Grant Park across Michigan Avenue. Presidents from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt stayed here, Theodore Roosevelt spoke to a crowd from its balcony in 1912, and the Army took it over in World War II. With 871 rooms, it is one of the largest historic hotels in Chicago.
It is also the Chicago hotel with the longest list of ghost stories. Security is said to be called to Room 441 more than any other room, after guests report a shadowy woman at the foot of the bed. A room on the 12th floor is said to have been sealed, staff talk about a one-legged drifter called Peg Leg Johnny, and wedding guests in the Gold Room tell of bridesmaids missing from photos.
Haunted Rooms tip: Request Room 441 or a 12th-floor room when you book, and walk Peacock Alley and the Gold Room level in the evening. Rooms with a lake view look straight over Grant Park.
Address 100 West Main Street, St. Charles, IL 60174
Where to look The top-floor penthouse (former staff quarters), the riverside, the Rainbow Room
Reported ghosts A jilted chambermaid said to have drowned in the Fox River
Booking the haunted room Ask the hotel for the top-floor penthouse suite, the former staff quarters, when booking.
Colonel Edward J. Baker opened his Spanish Revival hotel on the Fox River on June 2, 1928, when a room cost $2.50 a night. Its Rainbow Room had the first lighted dance floor, with 2,620 colored lights under glass, and Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and Lawrence Welk played there. Nicknamed the ‘Honeymoon Hotel’, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and has 53 rooms, about an hour west of Chicago.
Its ghost story is a sad one. Local legend says a chambermaid who was jilted by her fiance drowned herself in the Fox River, right below the hotel, and came back to work. The maids once lived on the top floor, now a penthouse suite, and guests there have reported sobbing, voices and bedding tugged by unseen hands.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask about the penthouse suite on the top floor, where the maids once lived, and walk the riverside terrace after dark.
Where to look The 10th floor, the Gold Coast Room, the Palm Court, the eighth floor
Reported ghosts The Lady in Red; Jacob and Flora Franks; a Woman in Black
The Drake opened on New Year’s Eve 1920 at the top of the Magnificent Mile, an Italian Renaissance palace by Marshall and Fox built for brothers Tracy and John Drake. Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, Walt Disney and Frank Sinatra all stayed, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio carved their initials into a bar here, and afternoon tea in the Palm Court is still a Chicago ritual. It is now part of Hilton, with 535 rooms.
Its ghost is the Lady in Red. The story says that on opening night she found her fiance with another woman and jumped to her death from the 10th floor or the roof. Guests report a woman in a red dress on the 10th floor, in the Gold Coast Room and in the Palm Court. Other stories tie the parents of murdered boy Bobby Franks to the hotel.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book a room on the 10th floor if you can, and take afternoon tea in the Palm Court. Pets are welcome for a fee.
What changed in this guide: We kept the Congress Plaza and the Drake and added Hotel Baker in St. Charles, which has its own guide. We corrected the Congress Plaza story of a mother and her sons: news reports place the 1939 tragedy on the 13th floor, not the sixth, and we no longer say Al Capone ‘called the hotel home’. Several other downtown hotels, including the Palmer House, are linked to ghost stories online, but we could not find reliable published accounts, so they are not listed.
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We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
The Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Avenue is the one most often named. It opened in 1893 for the World’s Fair, and guests and staff tell stories of a shadowy woman in Room 441, a sealed room on the 12th floor, a drifter called Peg Leg Johnny and figures missing from wedding photos in the Gold Room.
Is the Drake Hotel in Chicago haunted?
The Drake’s ghost story is the Lady in Red. Legend says she jumped from the 10th floor or the roof during the hotel’s New Year’s Eve opening gala in 1920 after finding her fiance with another woman. Guests report a woman in a red dress on the 10th floor, in the Gold Coast Room and in the Palm Court. No record of her death has been found, so treat it as a story.
Did Al Capone stay at the Congress Plaza Hotel?
Local legend says Capone kept a suite on an upper floor and that his ghost still walks the halls, but there is no record that he owned or lived at the hotel, so treat it as a story.
Can you book Room 441 at the Congress Plaza?
You can request it. Book a standard room, then call the hotel and ask for Room 441 or a 12th-floor room. Requests are not guaranteed, so ask again at check-in.
Did H. H. Holmes kill anyone at a Chicago hotel?
No. Holmes ran his own building in Englewood, several miles south of downtown. Tour guides say he met people in downtown hotel lobbies during the 1893 fair, but we know of no record of a killing at the Congress Plaza or any other downtown hotel.
Are there haunted hotels near Chicago?
Hotel Baker in St. Charles, about an hour west on the Fox River, is the closest, with its story of a jilted chambermaid. The DeSoto House in Galena is about three hours west. See our Illinois guide for the full list.
Sources and how we research
Every hotel in this guide is checked against the hotel’s own website, historic register listings and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as the hotels, guests and local historians tell them; we note where a story can’t be confirmed. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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