Congress Plaza Hotel

The Congress Plaza Hotel began as an annex. Opened in 1893 for visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition, the Auditorium Annex extended the nearby Auditorium Hotel’s capacity across Michigan Avenue. Its first section, the North Tower, was designed by Clinton Warren. A second tower followed in 1907, giving the hotel the scale and formal Beaux-Arts façade that still define its long frontage on the boulevard.

The connection between the two hotels was more than architectural. Peacock Alley, an underground passage, linked the annex to the Auditorium. The route let guests move between buildings without crossing the busy street. Inside, the hotel’s ballrooms and dining spaces made it a center for Chicago’s public life. The Gold Room was among the earliest hotel ballrooms in the country to use air conditioning, a novelty that made the room a technological as well as social attraction.