I stayed at a Chicago hotel that was once a Gilded Age men's club. The history drew me in, but playful details won me over.

The Chicago Athletic Association is a hotel that was once an ultra-exclusive gentlemen's club. Business Insider's reporter booked a stay. Joey Hadden/Business Insider When I checked in at the Chicago Athletic Association, I felt transported to the Gilded Age. But that was just the beginning of my stay at the 19th-century private club turned hotel. Parts of the hotel appeared frozen in time, while others breathed new life into its history. I've never been good at sports, and I've never been fond of exercise, so you might be wondering why I chose the Chicago Athletic Association when booking hotels for my first-ever trip to the city. I wanted to step back in time. The Gilded Age hotel was a private club where professional athletes and high-profile individuals trained and socialized from 1893 to 2007.