The Hilton Chicago opened as the world’s largest hotel nearly a century ago. Guests have included dozens of presidents, world leaders and celebrities. It also was the location of a pivotal scene in the Harrison Ford movie “The Fugitive.”
Now the sprawling South Michigan Avenue hotel is embarking on another pivotal moment in its 94-year history — reopening after going dark for nearly 15 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third-largest hotel in downtown Chicago will welcome back guests Thursday.
Returning employees are being retrained after so much time away, and staffers are cleaning and readying the massive hotel across from Grant Park for guests.
Glitches remain, including the Christmas music playing in the lobby on a recent warm June day.
“I thought closing a hotel of this size was difficult,” said John Wells, general manager. “This is twice as hard to reopen it.”
Within a week of the Hilton Chicago’s reopening, the five largest hotels downtown by number of rooms will be back in business. Three of them closed in March 2020, and two others have remained open in a limited capacity.
There are signs of a hotel recovery, with large McCormick Place conventions and other major events — the bread-and-butter business for massive hotels such as the Hilton Chicago — scheduled to return to the city over the next several months. It’s unclear when leisure, business and convention travel will fully return.
Here’s what the hotel looks like by the numbers.
1,000
1,000 employees to hire back: The Hilton Chicago had more than 1,000 full- and part-time workers before COVID-19. The number fell below 50 after the hotel closed March 27, 2020. There will be almost 200 workers when the hotel reopens, and hiring to get to 1,000 will ramp up as reservations increase, Wells said. Many workers have gone through retraining and orientation after being away so long. “The staff has been great, and they’re so glad to be back,” Wells said.
96,000
96,000 gallons of water to refill the pool: The swimming pool is part of a 10,000-square-foot amenities area on the eighth floor, which also includes a fitness center and sun deck. That area serves hotel guests and approximately 250 nearby residents who pay for club memberships.
5
5 floors that will open Thursday: Demand will determine how long it takes for all 21 floors to open. “We’re taking it slow,” Wells said. “It’s not possible to open 1,544 rooms all in one night.”
2.3 million
2.3 million square feet in the building: To put guests’ minds at ease, hotel chains such as Hilton are focused on safety measures such as extensive and frequent cleanings. That’s a daunting task in a building that takes up an entire city block.
3,000
3,000 rooms: When it opened as the Stevens Hotel in 1927, the hotel was the world’s largest by total guest rooms. Several name changes and renovations later, the Hilton Chicago has about half as many rooms.
13
13 years since Barack Obama’s news conferences: He held several news conferences and other events in the Hilton hotel in late 2008 before his first presidential term began in early 2009. “We’ve had every president pass through these doors, really except one, who stayed at his own hotels,” Wells said.
37,000
37,000 batteries to replace: There are 24 batteries per guest room powering smoke detectors, TV remotes and other devices. If you lined up all the batteries in the building, they would stretch almost 2 miles to the Drake Hotel, at the northern tip of Michigan Avenue, Wells said.
2,500
2,500 mattresses to flip: The process of reopening also includes laundering 65,000 linen pieces, cleaning 1,560 minifridges and restarting 72 ice machines, among other projects.
2
2 imperial suites: Conrad Hilton, who once ran his hotel empire from the building, had the suites built ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Chicago in 1959. After the queen’s brief stay, actress Elizabeth Taylor moved into one of the 2,700-square-foot suites. At the time, she was married to Conrad “Nicky” Hilton Jr., son of the hotel baron. Today, the suites rent for about $5,000 per night.
Twitter @Ryan_Ori
"hilton" - Google News
June 08, 2021 at 03:01AM
https://ift.tt/3x3ZmWi
By the numbers: How the 1544-room Hilton Chicago hotel reopens this week after 15 months - Chicago Tribune
"hilton" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2GeMJPQ
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "By the numbers: How the 1544-room Hilton Chicago hotel reopens this week after 15 months - Chicago Tribune"
Post a Comment