The Chicago Beach Hotel, Chicago, Illinois.

The Chicago Beach Hotel was a luxury resort hotel located at 53rd Boulevard on the lakeshore in the "Indian Village" neighborhood of the Kenwood community, Chicago, Illinois.

The hotel was built in 1892 by Warren Leland and was one of many speculative hotels built to accommodate the hordes of tourists drawn by the upcoming World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. It contained 450 rooms, with 175 bathrooms. The property included private access to Lake Michigan's beach front.

The building resembled the Hyde Park Hotel and probably shared architects. Many Chicagoans of high social standing became residents and members. The building had private access to the beach until 1915 when the city created an adjacent bathhouse. It lost its beach frontage entirely in 1920 when the shoreline was moved more than a block eastward with a landfill project that created South Lake Shore Drive.

In 1921 a huge 12 story, 545-room addition was constructed on the eastern portion of the property. The original structure, by now outdated, was then demolished in 1927. 

During World War II, the hotel served as a hospital for the army. After the war, the former hotel was used as apartment space before the entire structure was razed and the space became the location of the upscale Regents Park Apartments. The Algonquin Apartments, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, were built on the site of the original wing in 1950.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.