Built in 1891, the Hotel Colorado opened its doors to the public in 1893 with 191 sleeping rooms that rented for as much as $3 a night for the most luxurious accommodations. The tower topped sandstone building was modeled after the 16th century Villa de Medici in Italy, was the area’s first electrically lit hotel, and boasted a courtyard fountain spraying skyward some 180 feet, as well as a spa and swimming pool to lure the rich into partaking of the medicinal hot springs. During its early heydays, the hotel hosted such illustrious guests as Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, as well as the "unsinkable” Molly Brown. In the 1920’s, the hotel became the playground for a number of Chicago gangsters, including Diamond Jack Alterie, the Verain Brothers, and most notably, Al Capone. During World
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