Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Family-Friendly
Accommodations
D
owntown Chicago is packed with
hotels, and the good news for families
is that although most of the hotels are
oriented to the city's convention trade,
plenty cater to families. In the last few
years, a building boom in the high-
end market has brought international
players such as the Peninsula and Sof-
itel into the Midwestern market—
wonderful hotels, but not the kind
that most families can afford. But even
though budget lodgings are becoming
harder to find anywhere near down-
town, you won't have a problem find-
ing midrange, family-friendly hotels
in the most convenient neighbor-
hoods, such as River North. Chicago
is not a city where luxury hotels have
dibs on all the prime real estate.
Because Chicago's hospitality indus-
try caters first and foremost to the busi-
ness traveler, the hotels tend to empty
out by Friday. (Keep in mind, though,
that rooms are sometimes available at
rock-bottom rates during conventions
if a hotel is unable to book to capacity.)
Hotels are sometimes willing to reduce
prices on the weekends to push up their
occupancy rates. And many hotels
known as “business hotels” have made
efforts to add family-friendly amenities
to entice families to stay the weekend.
Still, the hotel industry has been so
strong in Chicago in recent years that
you won't find reservation 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, even on a
weekend. You'd be wise to book a
room well in advance whenever you
plan to visit. To find out if an upcom-
ing convention coincides with the
dates you plan to visit Chicago, con-
tact the
Chicago Convention & Vis-
itors Bureau
(
&
312/567-8500;
www.choosechicago.com—click on
“Meeting Professionals,” then “Con-
vention Calendar”).
If the city has a slow season, it's the
depth of winter, when outsiders tend to
shy away from the cold and the threat
of being snowed in at O'Hare. Serious
bargain hunters might choose to visit
then. The Convention & Visitors
Bureau usually offers a special promo-
tion, “Winter Delights,” from January
to March. Call
&
877/244-2246
for a
brochure, or check out www.877
chicago.com. The brochure includes
discounts on many of Chicago's leading
hotels and restaurants.
Tip:
If you'd like to watch your
pennies but the idea of traveling in the
dead of winter—and bundling the
kids up 20 times a day as you pop in
and out of attractions, restaurants, and
your hotel—doesn't appeal to you,
another option is to stay in a less
expensive hotel during the week and
move into swell digs for the weekend
finale.
ACCESSIBILITY
Most hotels are
prepared to accommodate travelers
with physical disabilities (and for fam-
ilies traveling with children and the
accompanying strollers and other
equipment), but you should always
