Horace

Sharon,

The Drake Oak Brook (early 1960s) was originally a hotel located more-or-less in the middle of nowhere, when Paul Butler's development of Oak Brook was just getting off the ground.

An actual resort in the Oak Brook area is the former Marriott Oak Brook Hills Resort (mid-1980s, although not originally a Marriott), which is now the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center. We discussed it here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=30747427

At the end of the thread above, in a post in 2014, I brought up The Drake Oak Brook. I wrote, "I'll be interested to see what branding The Drake Oak Brook Hotel gets when it finally reopens this year after being closed for five years. (It was the Wyndham Drake Hotel when it closed). It's being refurbished, apparently back to its 1961 glory. If they do a good job, it would make a perfect addition to The Autograph Collection by Marriott."

In another post in 2014, I wrote, "If there's no affiliation when the hotel reopens this Fall, I predict that will change within 12 months. Of course, I could be wrong. I hope it will join The Autograph Collection by Marriott."

The Drake Oak Brook finally reopened in mid-2015, without a brand affiliation. I was only wrong about the timing. It will now be 5 years, not 12 months.

The Polo Lounge at the hotel appears to be a reference to the nearby Oak Brook Polo Club, while evoking the name of the legendary Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Sinatra Lounge and Frank Sinatra Room seem to celebrate 1961-1962, when The Drake Oak Brook originally opened.