Why this building matters
Designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager and completed in 1929 for the Shriners as the Medinah Athletic Club, the building is a riot of Jazz-Age fantasy — a 40-plus-story tower wrapped in Mesopotamian and Egyptian-revival ornament. Its crown jewel is the junior-Olympic swimming pool on the building’s upper floors, a celebrated feat of engineering and one of the oldest indoor hotel pools in the city. Its fantastical gold onion dome was conceived as an airship mooring mast in the zeppelin-crazed 1920s — a romantic flourish, though no dirigible ever actually docked there. After the club failed in the Depression, the building lived several lives before a major restoration brought it back as the InterContinental.
Read InterContinental's history on Historic Hotels of America → (booking directly with the hotel doesn't generate a referral fee that supports our preservation work — the button at right does)
What guests are saying
What guests love
- One of the most extraordinary historic interiors in Chicago, including a jaw-dropping vintage indoor pool.
- A prime Magnificent Mile address by the river, steps from the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower.
- Grand public rooms and a genuine sense of Jazz-Age spectacle; Michael Jordan’s Steak House in the original lobby.
What to keep in mind
- A vast historic hotel — rooms vary between the tower and addition
- Among the higher-priced stays on the Mag Mile
Best for Travelers who want grandeur and architectural spectacle on the Magnificent Mile, and a chance to swim in one of the city’s most storied pools.
Summary of guest reviews. Sources: InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Commission on Chicago Landmarks, Preservation Chicago. Photography courtesy of InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile by IHG, used with permission. Details may change over time.