We are taking my 5 year old daughter to American Girl Place for her birthday on Jan 19th and need a nice hotel with indoor pool. She loves to swim.
I found the Wyndham for 86.00 a night, the Embassy Suites on State for 119.00 a night which includes breakfast, or the Omni for 129.00 a night. Other places seem to high, but I willing to hear any suggestions.
It has to be clean, indoor pool, and close enough to walk to American Girl Place, and maybe ESPN zone, Rainforest cafe and other places of interest. I do not want to get my car out after it is parked as parking in Chicago is terrible.
Please any suggestions asap would be great.
Lo

The Wyndham is certainly walkable to both locations, unless its 5 degrees.

Is the wyndham as nice as the embassy suites?

Did you also check the new Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago, Downtown/Lakefront at 511 North Columbus Drive? It is walkable to American Girl Place and Navy Pier and is a notch above your typical Embassy Suites.

We stayed there this fall and it was such a treat. Gorgeous rooms. We had a lakeview. Indoor pool, sauna, etc. Full free breakfast. Nice free cocktail hour with pitchers of Shirley Temples for the kiddos.

And you have never seen so many red American Girl Place shopping bags in your life! Your daughter would have a blast playing with the other visiting girls all carrying around their American Girl dolls.

Another suggestion - Walkable may not be as important as other things. To get from the Loop area to Northern Michigan Ave. is quite easy by El, and perfectly safe. If you're uncomfortable doing it at night, cabs are cheap as well. But for a 5-year-old, the el could be quite exciting! Heck, it was exciting for my 50-something mother when we went this fall!

Not to go off on a tangent but I think the EL still does a LOOP tourist circle tour on Saturdays-the Chicago cultural center used to run it. If interested, you might want to check the city or cta (Chicago Transit Authority) website.

We've stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Mart, and on Thanksgiving weekend we got a rate of $125/night. If you want to splurge, take a look at the wonderful Hotel Inter-Continental on Michigan Ave. That's our all time favorite! Johnny Weissmuller (the Tarzan of long ago) used to swim in the Inter-Continental's pool. It is a fabulous hotel. We did a lot of hunting on the internet, and we finally found a rate of $150, which is excellent. Of course, Chicago's hotel tax is a killer, no matter where you stay, sorry to say!

I now have it down to the Wyndham or the Embassy on State because of price. Which is nicer? Is the free breakfast worth the extra money for 86.00 to 119.00? What about the pool areas?

Do you plan to enjoy the complimentary full hot breakfast for the two of you, plus afternoon cocktails and soft drinks? If so, the $33 premium for Embassy Suites could pay for itself. Otherwise, take the cheaper rate and treat yourself to something nice that you would rather enjoy.

I would choose the Wyndham because it's a classier hotel on a quieter street, but it is farther from the Ontario tourist strip (RainForest, Ed Debevic's, Hard Rock, etc.) Both are about 4 blocks to American Girl Place. The El is not a factor in the places you mention - it does stop by American Girl Place, but only goes south or north from there.

Do check out hotel parking prices, because these can make a difference. You should plan on taking cabs if the weather is really bad.

Have you considered the Homewood Suites( for $109/night) on East Grand? They have the same sort of breakfast and evening reception. I think it's a small step above the Embassy, very close to Michigan Ave and the EL on State St. We walked to American Girl Place but if the weather is uncooperative, you could take the EL or the bus (number escapes me, can anyone help?) that runs up and down Michigan

Thanks for the advice

I can heartily recommend the Omni. It has a beautiful smallish pool area. There was hardly anyone in there. It's a great hotel and well located to walk to American Girl and any other shops you might want to visit.

Go with the Homewood Suites at $109. This is a much more kid friendly Hotel. For an extra $25 you get a two-room suite, breakfest, and drinks/ food in the evening. This is also slightly newer and nicer than the Embassy.