The Stevens Hotel The hotel, designed in the
Beaux-Arts architecture style, opened on May 2, 1927, as the
Stevens Hotel, across Balbo Street from the older
Blackstone Hotel. At the time, the Stevens was the
largest hotel in the world. The first registered guest was then-vice president of the United States
Charles G. Dawes. The
Great Depression ruined the Stevens family, and the State of Illinois charged the hotel's owners with financial corruption. They were convicted of embezzlement, but the conviction was reversed unanimously on appeal. Like four out of five American hotels during the Great Depression, the Stevens Hotel went bankrupt. On December 7, 1944, delegates from 54 nations gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Stevens Hotel to conclude and sign the
Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known more popularly as the "Chicago Convention", the defining international agreement which has since permitted the global civil aviation system to develop peacefully and in a manner benefiting all peoples and nations of the world.
The Conrad Hilton As World War II drew to a close,
Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel from Healy in February 1945. The board of directors changed the name of the hotel, naming it after Conrad Hilton himself on November 19, 1951. Hilton continued to use his
Hollywood connections to entice film stars, politicians, and royalty to the hotel. Among improvements made to the hotel was the installation of a large ice stage in the Boulevard Room Supper Club which began featuring elaborate ice shows in 1948. In January 1958, Darlene and
Jinx the skating chimpanzee performed. The
Hilton Center was added to the building in 1962, featuring a three-level structure containing expanded exhibit space, the Continental Ballroom and the International Ballroom. In April 1951, crowds gathered in the Great Hall to hear a speech by general
Douglas MacArthur defending his conduct of
the war in Korea, calling for a new American policy toward the conflict to replace the current "political vacuum". outside the Conrad Hilton during the
1968 Democratic National Convention. During the
1968 Democratic National Convention, the streets outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel were the scene of a police riot as
antiwar demonstrators, being beaten and arrested, began to chant "
The whole world is watching". Some protesters escaped into the hotel, along with tear gas and "stink bombs", and the hotel suffered minor damage as a result of the violence as a couple of street level windows gave way under the weight of dozens of protesters being pushed up against them by the police.
Chicago Hilton and Towers The Conrad Hilton Hotel was aging and in the 1970s, its demolition was considered. However, in 1984, the hotel closed for over a year for what was then the most expensive hotel renovation ever undertaken, at $185 million. The hotel's 3,000 guest rooms were rebuilt into 1,544 larger and more elegant rooms; 600 were converted to double-sized rooms with two adjoining bathrooms. The renovated hotel helped to sustain a revival period in Chicago's
South Loop neighborhood. The newly renamed Chicago Hilton and Towers reopened on October 1, 1985.
Hilton Chicago In 1998, under a new initiative by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Hilton name was placed first in branding, and the Chicago Hilton and Towers became simply "Hilton Chicago". Under general manager John G. Wells, the hotel continues its track record of having hosted every U.S. president since it opened in 1927. In March 2020, the hotel closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened again 15 months later in June 2021. ==The Conrad Hilton Suite==