Starbucks – Hilton Milwaukee City Center

509 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee

That awkward name is what they call the big, old Hilton (the first place I ever saw in Milwaukee, riding through on the train in the mid-Nineties—where I vowed to stay if I ever visited). I haven’t heard anything about this place being haunted, but it sure feels haunted—there’s plenty of room for ghosts. This is one of those Starbucks where you can’t add a tip with your credit card purchase, so bring some actual money if you want to tip (I’m sure the workers get very little). It’s an okay place to sit, with a few tables and normal chairs, even a real fireplace! (Just kidding, but it is a good-looking fake one.) The music is that horrible top 40 or whatever it is you hear forced in everywhere. What I do is take my coffee into the Hilton—there’s an interior entrance, and you can wander about like a hotel guest. There is a good lounge on the second floor, in the front, and as long as it’s not in full operation, it might be perfect for you drinking your Starbucks coffee—and usually old jazz is playing. (The last time I was there, it was Mose Allison, who you never hear anywhere!) Also, there are good bathrooms here and there, even some with stalls with full doors (though those are likely to be dominated by people working on their resumes). My favorite part of this hotel is the odd back stairways where you’d least expect them. The place is an intriguing maze. I’m certain that somewhere in that hotel there is the secret stairway that goes nowhere.

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