The Spirits of the Congress Plaza Hotel
Posted: 03.10.2025 | Updated: 03.11.2025
A visit anywhere is only as good as the hotel you’re staying in. That’s why so many of Chicago’s visitors flock to The Congress Plaza Hotel on 520 S. Michigan Ave. It’s been providing guests with the best hospitality Chicago has to offer for over 100 years. Some have gotten the fright of their life staying at what is also known as Chicago’s most haunted location.
There’s a darker side to the Windy City filled with the restless spirits of the dead. Get ready for an up-close personal experience with them on a ghost tour with Windy City Ghosts! Visit our website today while spots are still open. Be sure to also read our blog for more spooky stories from its most haunted locations.
Is the Congress Plaza Hotel Haunted?
Congress Plaza Hotel is ghost central in the city of Chicago. Around every corner of this luxurious hotel, a spirit lurks with its own tragic story. Many of these factors pepper the deep-rooted history of this luxurious hotel.
History of the Congress Plaza Hotel
The Congress Plaza Hotel opened just in time for business in 1893. Visitors flocked to the hotel en masse in anticipation of Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition — a world’s fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in America. Over 600 acres were dedicated to various exhibits displaying Western advancements.
The Congress Plaza Hotel, known as the Auditorium Annex at the time, provided a spectacular starting point for guests, as they were welcomed with open arms into an ornate splendor complete with top-notch service.
A string of advancements were already underway as the hotel eloquently walked through the door of the 20th century. A south tower featuring a grand banquet hall was added, which soon became the first ballroom in America to use air conditioning. The hotel’s capacity also expanded to over 1,000 rooms, giving it a new image that didn’t match the name.
The Auditorium Annex was renamed The Congress Hotel in 1911. This made perfect sense given its commanding presence on Congress St., adjacent to the Congress Plaza section of Grant Park. The hotel’s new image attracted a wide array of new guests as it continued to keep up with the influx of modern innovations in the coming years.
The U.S. government purchased the hotel at the onset of World War II to house Army officers. It wasn’t returned to its original purpose until the early 1950s, when the Pick Hotel Corporation initiated a grand remodeling and renovation program of the entire hotel. Another renovation was undergone in the 60s.
The Congress Plaza Hotel still operates today. Guests can choose from an endless itinerary, and it’s just a scenic walk from the Museum Campus, Grant Park, and Millennium Park, not to mention its numerous ghost sightings.
Hauntings Overview
The Congress Plaza Hotel is filled with plenty of haunts. One such case is Spanish-American War veteran Capt. Louis Ostheim of the First United States Artillery. He was staying at the hotel by himself on the eve of his wedding on April 8, 1900.
However, for some reason, Ostheim decided to take a gun to his head and pull the trigger. No reason could be found why he did it. Ostheim’s phantom shadow has since been seen skulking around the building, inclining staff to dub him the “Shadow Man of the Congress.”
A number of other ghosts with tragic backstories haunt the hotel:
- The Hand of Mystery – Seen sticking out of the wall by guests. It supposedly belonged to a worker who mistakenly got caught behind drywall during the hotel’s construction.
- Peg Leg Johnny- A one-legged vagrant who was murdered on the hotel grounds. Guests have occasionally seen him wandering the halls.
- Prankster Judge – A former permanent resident of the hotel, he went up and down hallways, with TV remotes, standing by people’s doors and flipping their channels. Rumor has it that even death won’t keep him from having fun.
- The Gold Room – Haunted by the ghost of a woman in old Victorian clothing.
Room 441, on the fourth floor of the South Tower, is considered the most haunted room in the hotel. A woman has been seen standing or hovering over the bed. She is also known to push or tug on the bed or the covers. At other times, she’s been seen coming in and out of the bathroom.
The Boy on the 12th Floor
Nothing seems right on the 12th floor. The still air remains trapped in a moment in time, while everything else decays around it. It’s almost as if the hotel itself is trying to forget what happened to little Karel Langer.
Karel was six years old when he immigrated to the United States with his mother, Adele, and younger brother, Jan Misha. They were fleeing Czechoslovakia from the Nazi regime. His mother, Adele, suffered from immense depression and homesickness.
One beautiful, sunny August afternoon, they returned to the hotel from the Lincoln Park Zoo. All seemed fine until she threw her children out of the window to land on Michigan Avenue. Adele threw herself out last.
Since then, Karel’s spirit has been said to haunt the 12th floor. A 30-plus-year security guard at the hotel was skeptical until he saw him with his own eyes.
He received a complaint about a little boy running around and making a lot of noise on the 12th floor. The boy, wearing vintage, torn clothes, reciprocated his chastisement with a stare and a grin before slowly disappearing.
The guard ran into Karel a few more times, on one occasion in his home. With a book in his hand, he sat back in his easy chair, soft music playing in the background.
He looked up from the pages for a split second and saw the boy standing right in front of him. In a blink, the boy was gone.
Haunted Chicago
Chicago is the birthplace of modernity, where the first skyscraper touched the sky. Such a place of modernity hardly seems the location for tales of haunts and restless spirits, but alas, underneath its urban landscape is a necropolis of spirits.
At the heart of it is the Congress Plaza Hotel, where tortured spirits roam, hands reach out from the walls and things go bump in the night. This historical hotel carries a standard of only the finest when it comes to both service and a good fright.
There’s a ghostly chill in the air of America’s Windy City. It tiptoes up your spine and whispers in your ear that you’re not alone. Curious what’s watching?
Book a ghost tour on our website today! Join Windy City Ghosts for a rare experience to explore Chicago and experience some of its spookiest locations. Don’t forget to read our blog for more chilling stories surrounding this historic town, and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Sources:
- https://windycityghosts.com/
- https://www.congressplazahotel.com/
- https://www.congressplazahotel.com/history/
- https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-hauntings-the-congress-hotel/
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/illinois/chicago/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/congress-plaza-hotel
Book A Windy City Ghosts Tour And See For Yourself
For over 200 years, Chicago has endured the Great Fire, Al Capone, Prohibition, Violent Riots, and Shipwrecks. These events led to Chicago’s mysterious hauntings, often experienced by locals – and even our guests. The third most populous city in the nation has become a hotbed for ghostly encounters.
Join us for a ghost tour with stories and visits to sites of old asylums, cults, and haunted bars next to dark alleys that harbor the spirits of gangsters and bootleggers. Whatever the weather, join Windy City Ghosts to walk in the footsteps of Chi Town’s Ghosts. We’ll give you a chill that cuts to the bone.
