Our family of 2 adults and 2 children are going to Chicago the end of March on Amtrak. Looking for a suite close to the Amtrak station and the Field Museum. Need a good pool, as that's what the kids like to do in their "off" time.

There really aren't any hotels "near" the Field Museum, but it is easily reached from most downton Hotels for the cost of a $5-7 Taxi ride. Five of us were in Chicago (three adults/2 kids) a few weeks ago and found it as cheap to take taxis as it was to buy a daily metro (or whatever it is called) pass.

If you are going to several sites be sure to check out the "CityPass" which will give you a huge discount over the cost of individual admissions.

JPM

I believe the closest quality hotel to the Field Museum is the Hilton Chicago. It's an excellent faciity. And, it has a pool!

The Inter-Continental Hotel on Michigan Ave has a GREAT pool. it's olympic size (or close to it) and beautiful- it looks like a movie set from the 30s or 40s. Try quikbook.com for good rates. Restaurant was good but very pricey but theres lots of places nearby and location is very accessible to everything.

I would second the Hotel Intercontinental. The kids will love the pool.

Also check out the Marriott. It was really nice, pool was good, but the best part of being there with kids was the cheap kid room-service menu. I think we ate every breakfast in our room. It was cheaper, and more convenient to order room-service than go out.

chicago is a great city for kids. The Embassey Suites is centrally located on Ohio and also has a pool plus the free breakfast buffet. Good places to take kids to eat are Ed Debevics on Ontario, The cheesecake Factory which is in the lower level of the Hancock building, or Portillo's on Ontario for good and cheap eats. The Field Museum also has a Corner Bakery and a McDonald's right in the building. Have fun.

You've gotten some great hotel advise, but watch your check in time as my comment is about Amtrak. We took the train into Chicago back in October.

We only live about a 3 hr drive from Chicago, and we were going for a long weekend. My 2 boys (ages 4 & 7) and I rode the train and my husband drove with plans of picking us up at Union Station. What Amtrak showed as a 3 1/2 hour trip actually took right at 6 hours! Needless to say, I was glad we had packed some entertainment (besides watching the view) and the cell phone so I could give my husband progress reports.

We stayed at a Best Western. It was nice, but no pool.

Tina, what was their reason for a 3 1/2 hour trip taking that long? Ours is scheduled to take about 4 1/2 hours. Suppossed to arrive in Chicago at 3:55 p.m.