It is a four-story brick building, and during its heyday it featured over 100 guest rooms, a restaurant, a full bar, a lounge, a ballroom, and many local businesses in its storefronts on the ground floor.

During this time, the hotel hosted a full-scale restaurant, bar, and lounge that were open to the public.

Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-IL); Governor Richard Buell Ogilvie (D-IL); Maureen Reagan, daughter of President Ronald Reagan; Margaret Whiting, pop singer; Bob Crosby, bandleader and brother of actor Bing Crosby; Suzy Bogguss, country music singer; U.S.

Senator John Tower (R-TX); and Marjabelle Young Stewart, author and etiquette expert.

WKEI, a Kewanee-based radio station, had its studios on the fourth floor of The Hotel Kewanee from 1961 to 1981.