daisyblue

My husband and I are considering a long wknd trip to Boston this winter with our 8 month old baby. Any suggestions on a hotel with suites that offer cribs? Has anyone hired a babysitter through a hotel...we have only ever used family in the past and are a wee bit nervous!

Thanks a bunch!

cigalechanta

daisy this is a great location with a top restaurant. you are near two subway stops and a shortwalk to the Pru, Copley Place and Square and Newbury St.

http://www.worldexecutive.com/direct...ls/boseli.html

daisyblue

Thanks Cigalechanta...funny enough - this was the hotel we had bookmarked. Now we jjust need to address the babysitting service!

cigalechanta

You are welcome now if the baby was older, I'd volunteer to walk it or carriage push it with my dog.
Have a wonderful time.

OldSouthernBelle

We used a hotel sitter with our 7 & 10 yr. old sons years ago. It was in Vegas and the spent most of the time in the kid's game room of the hotel and eating pizza.it was OK for that age, but she did NOT overly impress me. It was a 55-60ish woman with very little personality.

We also used the Mickey Mouse Club at the Polynesian at DisneyWorld when the kids were 3 & 6. They LOVED it!

However, with an infant, I can understand your reservations and I would make sure I had ALOT of info on this person and meet them prior to the arranged evening.

I recall a scandal at the Wyndham Sugar Bay on STT a few years ago that got hushed up pretty quickly. involving childcare (abuse).

I've seen a few friends of ours actually take a family member along just for that purpose....not a bad idea if you can swing it!

Belle

LoveItaly

Hello daisyblue, I personally would not leave a baby with an unknown baby sitter. I would be nervous too. If there is someone that you know that is reliable etc. I would bring them with you for this trip although I know this means you would have to pay for an extra hotel room or at least a suite.

daisyblue

Thanks all.

I think we'll go with The Eliot and will plan to have three quiet nights in Boston. Maybe we'll splurge for a great suite, put Baby in the other room and catch up on some movies that we have yet to see...no Baby Einstein!

Wish we could bring a family member but we're low on funds at the moment...and they would have to come from a different country as we are temporarily living abroad!

escargot

oh, daisyblue, if you want to post your email, I remember when my kids were little, if I couldn't bring someone with me, it was so hard to trust a stranger. I live in Boston area/ have 3 babysitters who I have known since they were in high school in my town and babysat my kids, they now babysit my nieces baby (2 now, but they have since he was 4mths) when she needs someone more mature for late night or overnight - it is a group of girls who live in Brighton, ages 25-27, 5 minutes from where you will be, two who are nurses and still babysit on occasion for extra money to pay off those student loans and one who is in nutrition and health counselor, one in marketing. Also have relatives who babysit and live 10 minutes from downtown (and have cars) and are seniors in high school. Maybe, depending on the weekend, if one of them is around, you could at least grab yourself a dinner or a lunch with out baby? Personally- I would be nervous leaving an 8mth old w/ a hotel babysitter, I would rather use a professional service - and the hotel could probably recommend or you could google, or ifyou post your email I can give you the contact info for these gals. Either way, enjoy Boston and even though baby is little, take a photo with the Make Way for Ducklings statue in the Boston public garden!

gail

My advice is to use the same care in hiring a sitter on a trip that you feel comfortable doing at home - and for you that seems to be family, close friends, etc. So there is no way you will feel other than nervous (and I am of the same mind - I would not have felt comfortable leaving my infant with a stranger). Others have greater trust levels than I and undoubtedly had a great deal more fun when their kids were little than I did.

Depending on baby's schedule, bundle him/her up in stroller, do some great Boston walking, and when s/he falls asleep, head to a restaurant for at least part of a relaxing meal. If it is really cold, Prudential Center and Copley Place are downtown indoor malls with restaurants.

I know I will get slammed for this - but we have stayed at hotels with really big bathrooms and put the porta-crib in there to ease problem of lights and noise after baby's bedtime. Also, many chain hotels have little luggage alcove in entryway that will fit a crib.

islandmom

Ack- it makes me faint to think of leaving babies with strangers. I guess many people do and many are good sitters...it's just that one in a thousand.

daisyblue

Thanks for the additional comments! The Eliot emailed me to say that they hire out to http://www.parentsinapinch.com The website lloks very credible and I could always hire the sitter for an extra couple hours if we wanted.

However, as much as we would like a couple dinners out, I'm not sure I would be relaxed enough to enjoy it! And if anything ever happened I would never forgive myself!

Escargot - thanks so much for offering your sitters. Bostonians are so friendly (we've been a few times)! I think we will go with our gut and stick around the hotel and watch the movies...or even sleep (some catch up on that would be great).

Gail - I have travelled solo with my son a couple times and had to stay in a hotel for a stopover. I had to place him in his stroller to sleep (crib rental got botched and it looked a heck of a lot cleaner than the bed) and did put him in the bathroom for a few hours. You are not alone. I thought it was rather resourceful!