Two confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease have been linked to the Hilton Garden Inn North Shore/Evanston, and laboratory testing has now confirmed Legionella bacteria in the water system tied to the hotel's hot tub. Both patients reported using the hotel's pool and hot tub areas in August 2026, and the pool, hot tub and spa have been closed since Sept. 2 while investigators work to pin down and eliminate the source.
The hotel sits at 1818 Maple Ave., less than a mile from Northwestern University's campus, according to CBS Chicago. City officials say they became aware of the two cases on Sept. 2 and began working with the Illinois Department of Health and the hotel to collect water samples, according to the Evanston RoundTable. The state health department followed up with a full environmental investigation and additional water sampling at the hotel on Sept. 8.
Lab Results Point to the Hot Tub
That testing confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria specifically in the water system associated with the hot tub, according to the City of Evanston. Samples taken from other areas of the hotel did not detect the bacteria, the city's notice states. The pool and hot tub areas have remained closed since Sept. 2, and the city says the spa will stay shut until the full remediation process is completed.
An earlier notice from the city had said whether the two cases actually originated at the hotel remained under investigation, per the Roundtable's initial report. The confirmed lab results tying Legionella to the hot tub water system represent a more direct link between the illnesses and the property, though officials have not detailed the concentration of bacteria found or the sampling methods used.
What Symptoms to Watch For
Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia that people can develop within two weeks of inhaling small droplets of water containing Legionella bacteria, the city says. It is not spread from person to person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath among the illness's symptoms.
Evanston's Health and Human Services department is advising anyone who visited the Hilton Garden Inn within the last two weeks and is now experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms to consult a medical provider. Roughly one in 10 people who contract Legionnaires' disease die from complications linked to the illness, according to research summarized by CIDRAP, the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
A Familiar Risk in Hotel Hot Tubs
Hot tubs and other small heated pools are especially vulnerable to Legionella because they hold warm water that moves slowly or sits stagnant, conditions that let the bacteria multiply, per the same CIDRAP report. Nationally, nearly one in seven Legionnaires' disease patients report staying overnight at a hotel, private home or vacation rental, and about half of people with travel-associated cases say they soaked in a hot tub before falling ill, the outlet reports.
A comparable outbreak in western New York in 2024 involved two guests who used a hot tub at a private short-term rental; whole-genome sequencing later found bacteria from that hot tub closely related to bacteria recovered from one patient's mucus and phlegm, pointing to the hot tub as the likely exposure source, CIDRAP reported. In that earlier case, the implicated hot tub water measured 100 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a range the outlet describes as favorable both for Legionella growth and for faster breakdown of disinfectant.
Evanston officials have not said when remediation at the Hilton Garden Inn will be finished or when the pool, hot tub and spa will reopen to guests. The total number of hotel visitors who may have been exposed also has not been made public.
