Sure, you’re heard of Al Capone. In the late 1920s and 1930s he ran organized crime rings in Chicago, moving about the city as quickly and mysteriously as a crate of bootlegged gin.
But few know Kimpton’s Hotel Burnham in downtown Chicago’s historic Reliance Building harbors its own piece of Capone history: room 809.
The 8th-floor guest room was an office when the building was first erected and touted as one of the city’s early skyscrapers. During the heyday of the gangster-ridden Prohibition era, Al Capone’s dentist, “Dr. Frank,” kept his practice there. The dentist was later discovered to be a drug dealer, and historians suspect that the room was a façade for Capone’s unsavory dealings.
Curious? We don’t blame you. In fact, we’ll send you on a journey back to the era with Hotel Burnham’s Capone 809 Package. It includes a one-night stay in fabled room 809; a $10 discount (per ticket) to Tommy Gun’s Garage, a Capone-themed theater production in Chicago; a copy of the book “Untouchable Chicago, A Ride Through Prohibition” by expert Don Fielding; and two Al Capone cocktails (Campari, orange juice, coconut, and vodka) in the hotel’s adjacent Atwood Café.
We promise no henchmen or mug shots.
The “Capone 809” package is available through Dec. 31, 2010 and must be booked five days prior to arrival by calling 877-294-9712 and giving code “CAPONE 809” or at burnhamhotel.com (enter CAPONE in the rate code box). For more information on Hotel Burnham, visit burnhamhotel.com.
