Drake Hotel Set For Extreme Makeover: Ty Pennington to Stay Mercifully Absent
By Andrew Peerless in Miscellaneous on Feb 28, 2005 5:36PM
The venerable old Drake Hotel, nestled in all its glory upon the northernmost reaches of Michigan Avenue, has long been the Chicago hotel equivalent of your loveable, old, slightly intimidating rich great aunt… you know, she used to be the belle of the ball and has hung out with royalty a few times, but is looking kinda haggard and just hasn’t been herself lately. Well, in a move that is essentially akin to giving that beloved ol’ gal a tummy-tuck, suitcase full of Botox and brand new pacemaker, the owners and general manager of the 84-year-old Drake have announced the second phase of a combined $60 million in improvements that began in the late 1990s and is expected to continue for the next few years.
The Drake pulled itself out of an early 90s slump with a five-year, $45 million renovation of its guest rooms and hallways, and now that relative newcomers like the Peninsula, Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton have stolen its antiquated thunder, the work will continue. The newest spate of improvements, estimated to cost $15 million, will include the addition of a 4,000-square-foot fitness center and 7,500-square-foot executive conference center, as well as new luxury bedding and oversized desks for each and every room.
Competing for top hotel honors in this town won’t be easy for the Drake, whose Italian Renaissance façade contains rooms whose size and functionality reflect a different era of travel. But Chicagoist likes the history and classic styling of the Drake, and when our exceptionally rich relatives (who simply must be out there somewhere) finally decide to pay us a visit, we’ll send them straight over.
In hotel news that falls a bit further south on Michigan Avenue, the stylin’ Art Deco InterContinental Hotel is being sold for a whopping $210,000 a room to Chicago-based Strategic Hotel Capital Inc. While London-based InterContinental Group PLC will retain a 15 percent stake of the property and will continue to manage it, the new owners are expected to add increased retail development on the hotel’s first floor. Chicagoist doesn’t care what they do, as long as they don’t touch the hella-ornate swimming pool.
Drake Hotel photo courtesy of tripadvisor.com