Historic hotels in the South Loop & Printer’s Row

South of the Loop’s core lies Printer’s Row, the compact district that was once the center of Chicago’s printing and publishing trade. Its robust early-twentieth-century loft buildings have been converted into homes and hotels, while grand Michigan Avenue landmarks anchor the area along Grant Park.

The South Loop puts the Museum Campus, Grant Park, and the lakefront within walking distance, just south of downtown.

Two of these are among the most storied addresses in Chicago. The Blackstone was known for decades as the Hotel of Presidents, having housed twelve of them in a row; Harry Truman played the piano for his staff there. The Hilton Chicago opened in 1927 as the largest hotel in the world, with three thousand rooms, a bowling alley, a cinema and a miniature golf course on the roof. Hotel Blake is the Printer’s Row one, in an 1896 loft building from the district’s publishing days.