Schrager, who has owned and operated multiple hotels, comprising thousands of rooms, in gateway cities such as New York, London, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, has always wanted to own a hotel in Chicago.
The 285-room and 189,000-square-foot hotel, built in 1926 and located at 1301 Northstate Parkway at Goethe Street, includes the acclaimed restaurant, The Pump Room, and will undergo a renovation in the following months. "It will still be the Ambassador East...but better," says Schrager.
In its hay-day, the hotel served as the wedding location of Humphrey Bogart to Lauren Bacall and played host to world renowned celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, John F. Kennedy, Natalie Wood and Robert Redford, to name a few. Frank Sinatra was known to have booked an entire floor of rooms when in town as well as clear out the Pump Room for private entertaining with his famed Rat Pack buddies. The Pump Room is also famous for introducing the Bloody Mary with the celery stalk to the world.
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