Portal:Chicago/Selected landmark/13

The Blackstone Hotel is located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Street in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. This 290 feet (88 m) 21-story hotel was built from 1908 to 1910 and designed by Marshall and Fox. On May 29, 1998, the Blackstone Hotel was designated as a Chicago Landmark. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 8, 1986. It is also a historic district contributing property for the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. The hotel was named for Timothy Blackstone, a notable Chicago business executive and politician, who served as the founding president of the Union Stock Yards, president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad and mayor of La Salle, Illinois. The hotel is famous for celebrity guests including numerous U.S. Presidents, for which it was known as the "Hotel of Presidents" for much of the 20th century. The hotel known for contributing the term "smoke-filled room" to political parlance. The hotel fell disrepair that necessitated closure and renovation. It reopened on March 6, 2008 after a $128 million renovation under the Marriott International Renaissance Hotels brand still using the Blackstone name.