Chicago's Gold Coast landmark where the Lady in Red legend persists despite no verified historical record
140 E. Walton Pl, Chicago, IL 60611
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$$
Overnight stays priced as a luxury hotel. The Palm Court is open to non-guests for afternoon tea at a separate charge. Public areas accessible during business hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban hotel with elevator access throughout; fully accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1920 · Chicago Gold Coast landmark · Opened New Year's Eve 1920 · Connected to the Leopold and Loeb murder case (1924)
The Drake Hotel was developed by brothers John and Tracy Drake and opened on December 31, 1920, on the corner of Michigan Avenue and East Walton Place, at the northern end of what would become the Magnificent Mile. Architects Benjamin Marshall and Charles Fox, whose firm also designed the Blackstone and the Edgewater Beach Hotel, gave it a limestone Italian Renaissance facade and an interior centered on the Palm Court and the Gold Coast Room ballroom.
On its first night, the hotel hosted a sold-out New Year's gala. A $5,000 necklace was reported stolen that evening. A separate guest lost a pearl and emerald ring. No fatalities from that night were reported in Chicago newspapers then or since — a relevant detail given the Lady in Red legend, which is set at this gala.
The Drake entered its historical record most concretely in connection with the Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924. On May 21, 1924, Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb — both sons of wealthy Chicago families, both University of Chicago students — kidnapped and killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks in what they described as an attempt at the perfect crime. The Franks family lived in Kenwood at the time. In the aftermath of their son's murder, Jacob and Flora Franks sold their home and took up residence at the Drake. Jacob Franks died at the hotel in 1928; Flora Franks died there in 1937. Leopold and Loeb were interrogated at the Drake in the days before their arrest. The hotel's connection to the case is documented in trial records and newspaper coverage of the period.
The Drake has operated continuously since 1920. It became part of the Hilton Hotels portfolio and operates today as a full-service luxury hotel with 535 rooms.
Sources
The Lady in Red legend holds that a woman in a red gown — who had accepted a Christmas Eve marriage proposal days before — attended the Drake's New Year's Eve opening gala in 1920, discovered her fiancé with another woman, and jumped to her death from the 10th floor. The story appears in nearly every Chicago haunted-hotel compilation and has been retold by staff, guests, and tour operators for decades.
Chicago paranormal historian Adam Selzer has investigated the claim directly. In his own words: 'If this suicide truly happened, it doesn't seem to have made the papers — I've never seen anything to back it up.' The only confirmed 10th-floor window jump at the Drake in historical records involved a woman described in period newspapers as an older former model, in a period well after the hotel's opening. No 1920 New Year's Eve fatality was reported. The Lady in Red is, by the evidence, a legend without a source event.
The more documented connection involves the Franks family. Jacob and Flora Franks moved to the Drake after the 1924 murder of their son Bobby. Flora Franks lived at the hotel for over a decade before her death there in 1937. Some investigators and tour operators have argued that the persistent upper-floor sightings are more plausibly connected to the Franks family than to the unverified 1920 legend.
Staff reports cluster around the Palm Court and the 10th floor. Guests have reported a woman in formal dress near the Gold Coast Room, sometimes described as wearing red. Paranormal investigations have documented photographs claimed to show a silhouette in the empty ballroom.
Notable Entities
The Drake operates as a full-service Hilton luxury hotel. Guests can request rooms on the upper floors, including near the 10th floor associated with the Lady in Red legend. The hotel's 535 rooms and suites are bookable directly through Hilton.
The Palm Court, where the Lady in Red is most frequently reported by staff and guests, is open to non-hotel guests for afternoon tea service. The Gold Coast Room ballroom, associated with the New Year's 1920 legend, is used for events.
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