The grand Versailles palace and former royal housing complex lies just outside of Paris, France, when its original structure was built in 1624 by King Louis XIII to use as a hunting chateau throughout the once uncultivated landscape. His successor, Louis XIV, known as the “Sun King,” transformed and renovated Versailles to make it a royal residence and the center for French government. Versailles was built to impress, and its lavish artwork and stunning neoclassical architecture was constructed to flaunt France’s wealth, and more importantly Louis XIV’s power. Versailles displays beautiful gardens, towering fountains and bronze statues, a mile long grand canal, luxurious gold ornamentation and architecture throughout the structure, splendid artwork, thousands of rooms, hundreds of residences, luxurious walkways, meeting rooms, ballrooms, and overall housed a magnificent and awe-inspiring government and residence complex that attracts over 5 million visitors annually. 

The Hilton Hotel Chicago was originally designed with Versailles in mind, as the grandest residence and government structure of its time led to the Hilton’s architects, Holabird and Roche, to create the largest hotel in the world of its time through the Hilton (previously named Stevens) Hotel. Versailles had many neoclassical and Greco-Roman architectural and artistic elements that tie into a classical past.

The ceilings are adorned with Louis XIV illustrated as Roman gods, namely depicted as Apollo, the Sun God, whom Louis XIV regarded himself as. The renowned Hall of Mirrors has 30 tableau that portray an epic story of Louis XIV's military achievements and government and cultural aspirations. The artistic narratives represent victory in battle, one example showing Louis XIV in 1672 with his army crossing the Rhine River. Louis XIV is adorned in Roman clothing with a thunderbolt in hand, sitting in godly fashion in a chariot that is being pushed by Hercules. Versailles is a neoclassical symbol of splendour through its courtyards, arch designs, pilasters, fountains, balconies, bronze statues, artwork and frescoes, and bedrooms/meeting rooms/salons that were named after the gods and goddesses (including the salons of Hercules, Venus, Mars, Apollo, Mercury, and Diana). Versailles served as a key influence for the Conrad Hilton Hotel Chicago. The 3,000 residences in Versailles inspired 3,000 residences in the original Hilton Hotel design, also including all the neoclassical architectural elements listed before that led the Hilton Hotel to become a world class luxurious stay, defining the hotel as its symbol of splendour, similar to Paris’ Versailles.

The Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles. 17 mirror clad arches open up to the gardens ("Versailles 68"Links to an external site. by shogunangelLinks to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Links to an external site.)

External view of the Palace of Versailles ("Versailles 60"Links to an external site. by shogunangelLinks to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Links to an external site.)