Historic Hotel Tours | Luxury Escapes in Chicago: Palmer House, The Drake, Hilton Chicago

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  • Опубликовано: 3 ноя 2023
  • The Palmer House, The Drake, and Hilton Chicago are all iconic hotels in Chicago, Illinois. Come with me as I take you on a tour of all three and provide a few fun facts along the way!
    Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Thanks for watching!
    _______________________________________________
    Social Media: (Follow along with our adventures)
    Instagram: @magical.familytravels
    Facebook: Mark.DestinationMagic
    📧 Email: Mark@Destinationmagic.com
    #chicago #chicagovlog #hilton #hiltonhotels #chicagotravel #hotels #urban #hospitality #history #historical #iconic
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Комментарии • 53

  • @CellaBella241
    @CellaBella241 16 дней назад +2

    My dad worked at The Drake for 40+ years. I have great memories of visiting there for various functions and Dad taking us "behind-the-scenes." My fave rooms/spaces are the French Room and, of course, the Gold Coast Room. 💜💜💜

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  16 дней назад +1

      That’s amazing! I’m sure your dad has seen a lot through out the decades. You picked two great rooms 😁 thanks for watching and commenting!

  • @user-kx8mb5bl2j
    @user-kx8mb5bl2j 6 дней назад +1

    I stayed at the Palmer House many years ago and loved it very much and I also ate lunch at the Drake Hotel with Apple executives that called us and wanted to see what we were doing at Gamemaster. I remember eating Bookbinder soup. There were several magazine articles about what we were doing developing a whole new client interface and a company that was lightyears ahead of everyone else (even Facebook). I still have that totally now-devalued Gamemaster stock that someday I will frame and hang on the wall in my office.
    ♦️(PS regarding my business stay at the Palmer House … I remember treating myself to somewhere on the top one or two floors where I procured a room and it was an “executive level” floor, where they had treats available, fresh coffee, and the WSJ. I was able to connect with other guests who had also chosen to stay on that “special” floor too. I have very fond memories of my stay at the Palmer House.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  6 дней назад

      Thank you for sharing your stories!! I’m sure you remember that lunch with Appel executives like it was yesterday.
      The Palmer House invented the concept of “executive level”. It’s evolved over the years but it’s like a concierge level now days. Of the 3 The Palmer House is my favorite with the most memories.

  • @sandrat1205
    @sandrat1205 8 месяцев назад +4

    Thank you for the hotel tour! The Palmer House was my favorite with the peacock doors!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  8 месяцев назад

      We LOVE the Palmer House! It's our favorite of the three as well :) Peacock doors are pretty amazing

  • @cgimovieman
    @cgimovieman Месяц назад +1

    I grew up in the Midwest and Chicago is my absolute favorite big city in the U.S. We share some common ground as I too live in Florida, in the Orlando area, and have for 26 years now. But I get back to Chicago at least once every year. Usually in October for the marathon, as I’m a very avid distance runner running it every year. Also a huge Cubs fan. But I’ve tried to make my way around staying at many of Chicago’s great hotels over the years. I stayed in the Palmer House way back in 2003, and the main Hilton on Michigan Avenue in 2007. I’ll finally be staying at The Drake later this year in October. Just made a reservation and I’m very excited. But the city has so many cool venues to stay at. The Intercontinental is also very historic and beautiful. The Club Quarters by the river in the historic Mather Tower is another, albeit with smaller rooms. As more modern hotels go, I love the Swissotel by the river and the Fairmont. I could go on and on. These 3 though are definitely at the top of the list.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  Месяц назад

      Thanks for watching and commenting! We are going back next month and hope to capture some our trip into a video. They defiantly do not make hotels / buildings like they used to. We defiantly do not get that here in Florida. Maybe St. Augustine but even that is different. The Drake is another iconic hotel in Chicago and its nice that Lake Michigan is right across the street

  • @snv648
    @snv648 8 дней назад +2

    My great gramdfsther used to visit Bertha Palmers boudoir every Saturday morning, to pick up her soiled kid gloves. He was a cleaner.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  8 дней назад

      How cool is that!? Thank you for sharing that!

  • @topat3
    @topat3 4 месяца назад +1

    I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Loved learning about the history of these three absolutely amazing hotels in Chicago. Such great history. So glad these hotels have survived and hope they continue to survive and will be cared for and maintained. So many cities tear down these building old hotels and other historic buildings to replace them with new buildings/highways/whatever, not realizing that so many people truly love history!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  4 месяца назад

      We are happy to hear that you enjoy this video! 😊 we LOVE these hotels in Chicago. I’m happy Chicago kept most of them around. They had an unfortunate opportunity to rebuild the city after the great Chicago Fire. Buildings are not built that these days!

  • @easternpa2
    @easternpa2 4 месяца назад +1

    Great tour, thank you. I stayed at The Drake when we had a series of meetings for a week and spent a winter at LondonHouse on the river.
    I booked a room at the Hilton Chicago later this year for the Phillies at Cubs and the NASCAR race both within a few days apart. I had to cancel, though, since I can't make it work. Thank you for these great tours. I really enjoyed it.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  4 месяца назад

      Thanks for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed the hotel tours! LondonHouse is a perfect location.

  • @kendalson7100
    @kendalson7100 3 месяца назад +1

    The Cape Cod Room was fashionable for lunch when I was a kid. The Playboy Building was the building between The Drake and the Hancock Center. The shopping arcade at the Palmer House was fun. They had Peacock's jewelers, Trader Vics, a good coffee shop, a Pendleton shop and a store that sold British goods. Brownies were invented there. The Boulevard Room at the Conrad Hilton was a fancy nightclub at one time. I was born at South Shore Hospital! Chicago was nice a long time ago.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  3 месяца назад +1

      Many people I worked with in my department at the Palmer House were there for 25+ years. I've heard many stories of Trader Vic's (now a parking garage) and the many conventions that came to town. They still make the brownies to this day the way they were invented at the hotel! Thank you for sharing all of that great information. Chicago was in its glory days then.

    • @cocoaorange1
      @cocoaorange1 Месяц назад

      I live in Chicago, I want to try one of those brownies.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  Месяц назад

      @@cocoaorange1 they are delicious! 😋

  • @cocoaorange1
    @cocoaorange1 Месяц назад

    I enjoyed this video, cool to see the interiors.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  Месяц назад

      Thank you! We appreciate you watching

  • @cocoaorange1
    @cocoaorange1 Месяц назад

    I was shocked to see Peacock Jewellers closed post pandemic. I never knew the company had such a strong connection to the hotel.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  Месяц назад

      Yes! A lot of history at The Palmer House

  • @ericlee6495
    @ericlee6495 8 месяцев назад +1

    Hey 👋 Mark thank you for sharing with us 😊❤Magical family travel 😊❤

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  8 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you for watching! Hope you enjoyed the Drake😁❤️

    • @ericlee6495
      @ericlee6495 8 месяцев назад

      @@magicalfam yes I did

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  8 месяцев назад +1

      @@ericlee6495 I’m glad! 😁

  • @charleshamilton9274
    @charleshamilton9274 8 месяцев назад +1

    This was absolutely fun. Spontaneous. Genuine. Informative. I thought about moving to Chicago but, dude, those winters. What a challenge, to be the Director of Engineering for a very large building built over 100 years ago. Keeping everything up to contemporary code/standards…yikes! Did you relocate to Celebration, Florida? Best of all, no state income tax!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  8 месяцев назад +1

      The winter is part of the reason why we left 😂 That and we wanted to be closer to Disney World. We moved toward the Windermere/ Winter Garden area. Thanks for watching and commenting!

  • @timward3116
    @timward3116 6 месяцев назад

    Thank you for the tours! Great to see the inside of places I'll never get to go to.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  6 месяцев назад

      Never say never! Thanks for watching the video.

    • @timward3116
      @timward3116 6 месяцев назад

      @@magicalfam Funny true story: Many years ago, when I was in Chicago for training, there was a fast food restaurant (Burger King?) across the street from the Palmer House. Standing in front of the fast food place and looking across the street at the Palmer House, I chatted with a homeless drunk guy. I told him the story about Phil Collins's "No Jacket Required" album being so-named because the Palmer House would not admit him to a restaurant due to his many-thousand-dollar leather blazer being deemed inappropriate attire. When I finished the story, the homeless guy said with a birp, "Yeah, they did the same thing to me."

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  6 месяцев назад

      @@timward3116 😆 different ends of the spectrum but hey they were both denied access. Many of the restaurants they had at the Palmer House are no longer there. Trader Vic’s was a very popular one but was already gone before I worked there. The level it was on turned into a parking garage. More $ from valet/ parking I guess.

    • @timward3116
      @timward3116 6 месяцев назад

      @@magicalfam Interesting! I grew up in Chicagoland but have been a Phoenician most of my life (but the Chicagoan in me never left me). Phoenix has no hotels like the Palmer House or the Drake (or the Conrad Hilton, as I still call it). The era of gold peacocks is gone, and there are no remnants of it here anyway. The closest we come is The Arizona Biltmore - and I've never been to it.
      I miss the lake, the smell of bus exhaust, seeing my breath on a cold day, and and walking by heavy doors of wood, brass, and glass that I would never pass through. As mentioned, I had been there for training. And I actually moved back for two years almost 20 years ago, but life took me back to Phoenix and that's okay. But there's nothing like the Loop. You gotta go to Chicago for that!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  6 месяцев назад

      @@timward3116 I think I mentioned it in the video but we are from Chicagoland area too(now live in Florida. We went back to Chicago after living in California for two years. Then said forget the winter and moved to Florida. You had me at missing the lake but not seeing your breath on a cold day 😁Chicago is unlike anything else and we think it is one of the world’s best cities. So much to offer! If it just wasn’t so cold 🥶

  • @brentgindelberger8851
    @brentgindelberger8851 Месяц назад

    You scanned the list of movies at the Hilton Chicago. Probably the biggest one was The Fugitive. It's where the convention was being held that Harrison Ford interrupted and then the chase began.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  Месяц назад

      Thanks for watching and commenting! That is a good one! This is probably the most filmed hotel in Chicago.

  • @marksears1124
    @marksears1124 18 дней назад +1

    You don't need to apologize

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  18 дней назад +1

      For what, Hilton Chicago? Thanks for watching.

  • @fragwagon
    @fragwagon 2 месяца назад

    When were you working at The Drake? I was a bellman there from '93 to '07. So many memories and stories!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  2 месяца назад

      More recently. (2021-2022). Was Hank the director of engineering when you left? A great hotel!

    • @fragwagon
      @fragwagon 2 месяца назад +1

      @magicalfam engineering was super Irish during my time there, I remember a Pat Murphy but that memory fails. It was an Indian gentleman in charge when I left. That boiler room was legendary on St. Paddy's Day, or so I heard!!

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  2 месяца назад +2

      @@fragwagon This is great! If walls could talk in there

  • @gavincashman
    @gavincashman 4 месяца назад

    I'd like to stay here for week in July 2025 for holiday go sightseeing see Major league baseball ⚾️

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  4 месяца назад

      It’s a beautiful city and Chicago shines best in the summer! If you need any recommendations let us know.

  • @kmotch
    @kmotch 2 месяца назад

    Went to the drake in December for afternoon tea and it wasn’t good at all and the service was terrible.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  2 месяца назад

      It’s definitely BUSY during that time. Extra tables are brought out

    • @kmotch
      @kmotch 2 месяца назад

      @@magicalfam perhaps they also put us next to the radiators by the window and it was sweltering hot, asked numerous times for the heating to be turned down but they didn’t do anything.

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  2 месяца назад

      @@kmotch that’s a complain I remember. Old building still uses radiators to heat the place.

  • @michaelhurley3171
    @michaelhurley3171 5 месяцев назад

    Why does Drake have a hotel in Chicago when he's from Toronto? 😅😅😅

    • @magicalfam
      @magicalfam  5 месяцев назад

      😂😂😂 too funny