[3] The hotel was built in a construction boom that also saw the erection of the nearby Mainstreet Theater, Midland Theatre, and Kansas City Power and Light Building.

In 1928, it was the headquarters for the 1928 Republican National Convention, which nominated Herbert Hoover for President.

The hotel's Drum Room lounge attracted entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman and Marilyn Maye.

At the beginning of 1935, a man using an assumed name at the time but later identified as Artemus Ogletree, was found severely assaulted in room 1046 after a two-day stay marked by odd behavior and interactions with a mysterious "Don"; he later died in the hospital.

It later underwent a $45.5 million restoration by developer Ron Jury and reopened in 2005 as the Hilton President Kansas City.