What guests are saying
What guests love
- A genuine 1920s building with handsome bones and a central LaSalle-corridor location.
- Walkable to the river, the theatre district, Willis Tower, and the Loop’s transit.
- A revitalized lobby and the Midland Social Club restaurant and bar.
What to keep in mind
- A converted historic building — rooms vary
- A business-district block, quieter at night
Best for History-minded travelers who want a characterful 1920s base in the heart of the Loop.
Summary of guest reviews. Sources: Height, basements, foundations and architect from Frank A. Randall, History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago (University of Illinois Press, 1949), p. 296. The Midland Hotel, Commission on Chicago Landmarks, Preservation Chicago. Photography courtesy of The Midland Hotel, Chicago, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, used with permission. Details may change over time.
Why this building matters
Completed in 1927 to the designs of Karl M. Vitzthum, the Midland Building housed the private Midland Club on its lower floors with offices above; it was converted into the Midland Hotel in 1938. A contributing building in the West Loop–LaSalle Street Historic District, it carries a quiet civic-rights footnote, too: in 1965 it hosted the first public meeting of Mattachine Midwest, an early LGBTQ rights organization. After years as the W Chicago–City Center, it returned to its historic name in 2025.
Randall gives the fabric precisely: the “MIDLAND HOTEL, at 176 W. Adams street, formerly known as the Midland Club building, built in 1927, is 22 stories high, with two basements, on caissons. Karl M. Vitzhum was the architect.”
Two basements and caissons rather than wood piles is the signature of a building meant to carry real height on Chicago’s soft ground, and twenty-two stories in 1927 was real height. Randall also notes where to look at it as it was: a photograph of the lobby in the Illinois Society of Architects yearbook for 1929, and illustrations in the Official Building Directory for the same year.
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