Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Family-Friendly
Accommodations
Downtown Chicago is packed with
hotels, and the good ne ws for families is
that although most of the hotels ar e ori-
ented to the city's convention trade, plenty
cater to families. I n fact, you won't have a
problem finding midrange, family-friendly
hotels in the most conv enient neighbor-
hoods, such as Riv er North and ev en the
Magnificent Mile, with the R ed Roof Inn
and Cour tyard b y M arriott M agnificent
Mile taking their places near the luxur y
hotels. I n the high-end mar ket, a r ecent
building boom has br ought international
players such as the Peninsula and Sofitel to
the Midwest (and most recently, Mr. Don-
ald Trump and his Trump I nternational
Hotel and Tower), but these wonder ful
hotels are not the kind that most families
can afford. And though Chicago is not a
city wher e luxur y hotels hav e dibs on all
the prime r eal estate, budget lodgings ar e
becoming har der to find anywher e near
downtown.
Because Chicago 's hospitality industr y
caters first and for emost to the business
traveler, hotels tend to empty out b y Fri-
day. Thus, hotels are sometimes willing to
reduce prices on the w eekends to push up
their occupancy rate. (K eep in mind,
though, that r ooms ar e sometimes av ail-
able at r ock-bottom rates during conv en-
tions if a hotel is unable to book to
capacity.) And many hotels kno wn as
“business hotels” have made efforts to add
family-friendly amenities to entice families
to stay the weekend. Still, the hotel indus-
try has been so strong in Chicago in recent
years that y ou won 't find r eservations
agents as willing or able to wheel and deal
as they once were.
Warning:
You never know when a huge
convention will gobble up all the desirable
rooms in the city , ev en on a w eekend.
Check the conv ention schedule on p . 19,
and make sur e to book a r oom w ell in
advance whenever you plan to visit.
If the city has a slo w season, it 's the
depth of winter , when outsiders tend to
shy away fr om the cold and the thr eat of
being sno wed in at O'H are. S erious bar-
gain hunters might choose to visit then.
The
Chicago Conv ention & Tourism
Bureau
usually offers a special promotion,
“Winter D elights,” fr om J anuary to
March. Call
&
877/244-2246
for a br o-
chure, or check out www .choosechicago.
com. The pr omotion includes discounts
on many of Chicago 's leading hotels and
restaurants.
Tip:
If you'd like to watch your pennies
but the idea of trav eling in the dead of
winter—and bundling the kids up 20
times a day as y ou pop in and out of
attractions, restaurants, and y our hotel—
doesn't appeal to you, another option is to
stay in a less expensiv e hotel during the
week and mo ve into sw ell digs for the
weekend finale.
ACCESSIBILITY
Most hotels ar e pr e-
pared to accommodate not only trav elers
with physical disabilities but also families
traveling with childr en and the accompa-
nying strollers and other equipment. You
should, however, always inquire when you
make r eservations to make sur e that the
hotel can meet your particular needs.
RESERVE IN AD VANCE
Whatev er
hotel or hotels y ou choose, r egardless of
season, making reservations well in advance
