American Girl Place Chicago

[Juliee8]

I am thinking about taking DD here for her birthday in May. Does anyone know of a good budget friendly hotel that is fairly close to the AG store?

 

[sabrecmc]

The one that comes to mind is the Hampton Inn on Illinois...its a bit of a walk to the American Girl Place, which is down by the Watertower, but its not bad and Chicago is a great place to walk around in May (as compared to now, for example!). There is also a trolley service that will take you around, as well as the usual public transportation.

 

[skip323]

My dd's and I went this past summer and stayed at the Inn of Chicago on Ohio and St. Clair. Not a bad walk at all....and, if you walk around the back street there is a really nice little park back there. I wasn't certain about staying there...some bad reviews but mostly about the size of the bathroom...small but very, very doable, however, we LOVED it! We had one of the largest rooms ever and they have a fun roof top terrace that we really enjoyed.

I also went about a year ago and found a great deal on the Marriot magnificent mile which is just across Michigan Ave from the Inn of Chicago. That hotel is on Michigan Ave and Rush street...again, not a bad walk at all...a couple of blocks. In both cases I found great deals on either Travelzoo (the Marriott) or by going directly to the Inn of Chicago website. The Inn of Chicago also has a sister hotel that is a bit closer to Water Tower Place. I cannot recall the name but I believe it is on the Inn's website.

Have fun!

 

[vsimeone]

I have reservations for next month at the Crowne Plaza on Huron. It, too, is a few blocks from The American Girl Store but I got it on their website for $116 per night. It's probably because no one would be stupid enough to go to Chicago in February.... Oh, wait.... I might be....

Hey - $25 flights and $116 hotel room - I can wear coat, hat, boots, gloves, scarf....

 

[defendthehill]

Don't know about a hotel but I will be there in a little over a week with my three daughters, Julie, Kirsten, and a bitty baby! We have friends in the northern subs.....we stay there and take the train into town!

 

[smiller]

I'm sorry I can't help with the hotel - I live here so I don't usually stay overnight downtown.

But, I can tell you that Chicago is a VERY walkable city. While May can be hot or even snowy, it is most often cool, comfortable Spring weather.

Chicago streets go on a easy-to-follow grid pattern so even if you're a few blocks away from AG, you shouldn't have any problems walking around. It's the best way to see Chicago!

 

[WickedElphaba]

Stepmom and I do Chicago every summer to see a show. While we dont overnight i can say we use the trolley and its always been wonderful


o that and get garretts popcorn....mmm

 

[dclfun]

Several hotels in the area have an AG package. It comes with a free doll bed ( a foldable type that has a pillow and sheet/blanket, and cookies and milk. Some also offer a GC or coupon. Just do a google search for the package and take a look at pricing. Most people said their girls really liked the doll bed and of course it's yours to keep. You just have to weigh out costs and whether it's worth it to you to book a pkg vs. just a hotel. I did find some special online offers for the packages too when we were considering one in October. If you have more than one daughter they will sell you an extra bed for each girl- some people have been lucky to have the additional beds comped at check in.---Kathy

 

[A.Mickey]

I went through Hotels.com for my mom in December and booked her a room at the Allerton Hotel. You can get a room that overlooks the water tower place for a little over 100, well at least in December you could. Good luck!

 

[icalum]

We are going to Chicago and AG Place this Sat. with DD7 and DD9. We live in IL and have made probably a dozen trips like this. Our first choice for a hotel near the new AG Place would be the Hilton Suites on Delaware. Nice, two room suites, close to the AG Place, and a great indoor pool on the top floor with views of the city/Lake Michigan. We have also stayed at the Homewood Suites on Grand, a further walk, but again, nice sized rooms and free hot breakfast. I don't know how you are getting to Chicago, but the one thing we have noticed recently is that parking is really expensive, so remember to check parking rates when you are looking at hotels.

 

[LUV DA MOUSE]

I just recommend this for someone else too. You can google map the hotel and then the AG store and they will both show up on the map so you can see the distance. I would recommend staying in a hotel that is North of Wacker dr/the river.....there is more to do in that area. South of Wacker drive is where the office building and financial dist are so its a bit of a ghost town after 5pm. Message me if you have questions ...have fun!

Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago Downtown
600 North State Street, Chicago, IL 60610
(800) 796-8082‎ – (312) 943-7629‎ (Fax)

 

[kaseyC]

We are going to Chicago and AG Place this Sat. with DD7 and DD9. We live in IL and have made probably a dozen trips like this. Our first choice for a hotel near the new AG Place would be the Hilton Suites on Delaware. Nice, two room suites, close to the AG Place, and a great indoor pool on the top floor with views of the city/Lake Michigan. We have also stayed at the Homewood Suites on Grand, a further walk, but again, nice sized rooms and free hot breakfast. I don't know how you are getting to Chicago, but the one thing we have noticed recently is that parking is really expensive, so remember to check parking rates when you are looking at hotels.

I have to agree about the Hilton Suites. We stayed there one weekend last spring when we took the girls down for AG Place and to see Mary Poppins. Very close to the back entrance of AG place which works out great at opening. We were one of the first to the salon, where we dropped the dolls off for styling and ear piercing before heading to our brunch reservation.

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hot...es-Chicago-Magnificent-Mile-Illinois/index.do

 

[tinkercat]

So fun! We took DD to AG Place Chicago last May for her 6th birthday. When I was searching last year, hotel prices in May were not so budget friendly. We ended up staying at the Best Western River North because they offer FREE parking which is a big perk in the city (and most of the other hotels charge for parking). We ended up taking a quick cab ride over to AG Place, but it would have been totally walkable. The room was HUGE and there was a nice indoor pool.

DD says it was the best birthday ever and can't wait to go back to AG Place. I hope you have a GREAT time!

 

[masonjar]

We stayed at the Seneca hotel. It is VERY close to the store. Map quest says 35 seconds but that would be by car so walking would be just a few minutes. The hotel is beside The John Hancock Tower. It is an older/renovated hotel. I'm sure some others would be more modern. It had a VERY small kitchen so we walked to Walgreens and picked up milk, poptarts, other drinks and snacks for out stay. I get grossed out pretty easily by hotel rooms but I thought ours was very nice and clean. Check out their website.