Couple gets $1,600 hotel stay for $10

CHICAGO — It was 1947 when newlyweds Larry and Mariam Orenstein honeymooned in Chicago, paying just under $10 a night for a room at The Palmer House.

Six decades later, the couple stayed in the hotel's penthouse suite for the same price — part of an offer for long-ago patrons.

The Palmer House allows one-time guests who visited more than 50 years ago to stay at the historic hotel for the price of their original stay — provided guests can submit an original receipt. The Orenstein's room goes for $1,600 today.

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The Milwaukee-area residents, both 81, saved their hotel bill, along with other items from their wedding.

"I feel wonderful," Larry Orenstein told the Chicago Sun-Times at the ornate, downtown hotel. "I feel 2 years old."

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Grandson foots the bill
The long-running deal at the 136-year-old hotel has been offered to guests since 1925. But customers have taken advantage of the offer fewer than 10 times over the last 25 years, said hotel spokesman Ken Price.

In the end, the Orensteins did not even have to pay the $10-a-night bill. As a gift, their 12-year-old grandson, Ze Orenstein, footed the bill.