Hotel Baker at 98: the story behind St. Charles' riverfront landmark

Walk across the Main Street bridge in downtown St. Charles and the tan tower on the west bank is hard to miss. Hotel Baker has stood at 100 W. Main St. since 1928, and nearly a century later it is still a working hotel, a wedding venue and a place locals bring visiting family for a holiday meal.

A hotel built on an inheritance

The story starts with Edward J. Baker, who was born in St. Charles in 1868. According to the Kane County Chronicle, his family inherited a fortune in 1918 from his older sister and her husband, John Warne Gates, a founder of the company that became Texaco. The St. Charles History Museum notes that Baker picked up the honorary title of "Colonel" from a Kentucky governor because of his love of racehorses.

Baker bought the riverfront site in 1926 and built the hotel for about $600,000, a huge sum for the time, per the museum. The hotel's own history page says it went up on the former Haines Mill site, with Spanish-Moroccan styling designed by local architects. It opened on June 2, 1928, with a ballroom banquet for more than 300 people. Baker lived in the penthouse until his death in 1959.

The Rainbow Room

The hotel's best-known feature is the Rainbow Room, a two-story oval ballroom with a balcony. Its dance floor had 2,620 colored lights set under glass blocks, and the lights could pulse with the music or form shapes like a heart or a Christmas tree. The museum says it was one of only three lighted glass dance floors in the world at the time. Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk all played there.

Baker also ran a radio station from the hotel tower, now the Penthouse Suite. Music from the Rainbow Room was carried by wire across the river to the Municipal Building, another Baker gift, and played over the valley.

The "honeymoon hotel"

In the 1920s and 1930s the Baker was a favorite getaway for city couples. It was advertised at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair as one of the best places to stay in the area, and the fair's board later gave Baker three Venetian gondolas that guests could rent on the river. Guests over the years included John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford and Adlai Stevenson, according to the museum. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What is new in 2026

Baker's name is going back on the map in a new way. In March, the city of St. Charles approved "Col. Edward J. Baker Way" as an honorary street name on Fourth Avenue between East Main Street and Cedar Avenue, between Baker Memorial Park and Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, the Kane County Chronicle reported. It was the city's first honorary street sign designation of the year.

The hotel itself describes its 53 rooms and suites as recently restored, and its restaurant and bar operate as ROX at Hotel Baker. Its next big public event is a Thanksgiving Day buffet on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, with seatings from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Reservations are by phone at 630-584-2100.

And if you like a ghost story, Tri-Cities Central recently noted that guests and staff have long reported footsteps, flickering lights and cold drafts at the hotel. Take that one as local lore.

If you go

Hotel Baker is at 100 W. Main St., St. Charles, on the Fox River. For the full history, the St. Charles History Museum at 215 E. Main St. has more on Baker and the buildings he funded.