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Hotel Baker is a historic landmark in St. Charles, IL. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been in and out of the hotel business since 1928.

The structure of Hotel Baker is made up of brick, concrete, and steel-encased utilities-elements, effectively making the building “fireproof”. The exterior of the building showcases aspects of Spanish Romantic Revival architecture. At the top of the five story building sits a square tower, while the front entrance has a peacock stained glass window centerpiece. Outside are gardens, terraces, and once a putting green and fishing pond.

History

Hotel Baker was the vision of longtime St. Charles, IL resident, Colonel Edward J. Baker. In 1918, at the age of 50, Baker inherited 20 million dollars from his sister Dellora Baker Gates, heiress to the Texaco Oil Company . In 1926, using the interest off the money, Baker started construction on Hotel Baker on the banks of the Fox River in downtown St. Charles on the site of the old Haines Mill. He commissioned Wolf, Sexton, Harper, and Trueax of St. Charles to design the hotel. The 55 room hotel blended the latest technology with Spanish Romantic Revival architecture. It was completed in 1928 and cost around 1 million dollars to build.

The grand opening of the Baker Hotel commenced on June 2nd, 1928 with a dinner for 301 guests. The price for spending a night at Hotel Baker in those early years was $2.50.

After living on the 5th floor for 31 years, Baker died in 1959. He left Hotel Baker to his niece, Dellora Norris. Norris attempted to sell the hotel, but after failing to find a buyer she donated it to the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois in 1968. It closed for remodeling and reopened in 1971 as a nondenominational residence for the elderly . During that time it was put on the National Record of Historic Places. In 1996, St. Charles businessmen Craig Frank and Neil Johnson bought the hotel and following a $9 million renovation, cleaning, and upgrading of utilities, the hotel once again welcomed guests. In 2003 after a temporary shutdown due to a lack of owner, Hotel Baker was bought in auction by Joe Salas.

Amenities

The Hotel Baker opened with the most luxurious amenities of the late 1920s. There were several shops within the hotel including a women's clothing store, a newspaper shop, a barber, and a beauty shop. The main attractions inside the hotel were the Trophy Room and the Rainbow Room. The Trophy Room imitated a Spanish courtyard, complete with balconies, awnings, a fountain, and a simulated sky. The Rainbow Room featured an oval glass dancing floor and a pipe organ connected through the Trophy Room. Until 1955, red, green, blue, and amber lights beneath the floor could create spectacular patterns, and images such as an American flag. Unfortunately, following a flood, the lights were re-wired manually and since, the lights 'Amber, Red, Green, and Blue' can only be turned on or off. Though permanently damaged, the Rainbow Room is still a major attraction for guests and the public.

The Hotel Baker was also unique in that the hotel was designed with every guest room being different. Not only were the furnishings unique to each room, the floorplans did also differ. This distinction no longer stands, however.

Awards

The Hotel Baker is listed on the National Record of Historic Places. It also helped earn St. Charles the title of "150 Great Places in Illinois" and the Great American Main Street Award in 2000.

Famous Guests

The Hotel Baker has been the hotel choice of many notable people for their stay in the western suburbs of Chicago. Famous guests include:

* John F. Kennedy

* Gerald Ford

* Chicago Mayor Richard J Daley

* Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson

* Illinois Governor Jim Thompson

* Senator Charles Percy

* Senator Everett Dirksen

* Senator Edmund Muskie

* Tommy Dorsey

* Guy Lombardo

* Louis Armstrong

* Lawrence Welk

* Evangelist Billy Graham

* Jerry Lewis

Hauntings

As a trend among old antique hotels, there are rumors formulated of ghosts within its walls. A popular story is said to be that a chambermaid was engaged to another employee, but he up and left her. Distraught, she cried inconsolably for days. A few weeks later, she disappeared, presumably after drowning in the river outside. This story was actually made up for publicity after the hotel's re-opening in the 1990's.

There have been no valid, confirming reports of any ghosts in the Hotel Baker. There have been a number of deaths on the ground though The first owner and the builder of the Baker Hotel, Colonel Edward J. Baker died in 1959 of old age in Room 505. The site of the hotel was originally a mill that burned to the ground years before, at least two mill workers were claimed to have died in the fire.

It is rumored that since Al Capone visited the hotel in its earlier years, his croni

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