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Home suite home

As a new mother, I always held this romantic thought of how sweet it would be to have my child sleep next to me, nestled in bed. In the very beginning, after Jolie was first born, we did this: I couldn't imagine her not right next to me, after 9+ months of togetherness in utero. Those first months were rough- she was a difficult sleeper. Pretty soon, we had her transitioned to a co-sleeper in the same room, and slowly moved this further and further away, until finally, she was in her own room down the hall.

She slept remarkably better. I wasn't sure whether this was just brain maturation, or did we actually prevent her from sleeping well (since someone *cough* snores).

During our first family vacation after she was already sleeping in her own room, when she was a little over 1, we attempted to all share an inn room. My romantic thoughts of our perfect family togetherness kicked in and I never anticipated what followed. NIGHTMARE. Being with us in the same room, Jolie would not settle down and she bounced up and down in a manic state of insanity practically the whole night.

We realized that we could NOT share a room with her and survive. It was a deadly combination.

Our family trip to Chicago for my brother's wedding was an experiment in lodging. We knew we needed to have separate rooms and considered getting 2 hotel rooms that adjoined (but seriously adding to the expense), or maybe a suite.

I had heard about Embassy Suites being kid-friendly. Every room was a suite, but for the price of a regular hotel room. Plus, a full breakfast was included (not just bread and muffins!).

We booked a room online and got a terrific internet-only rate. When we arrived at the hotel at around 11:00 am, we realized that check-in was not until 4 pm and Jolie needed her nap in a bad way today.  Amazingly, we were able to check-in early right away and within minutes, they had delivered a pack-and-play. Huge points.

She, of course, got the bedroom with the king-sized bed that was unused the whole trip while we slept on the fold-out sofa bed (is this a predictor of things to come?). The bathroom was accessible to us in the outer room without having to disturb her. Other nice touches were the microwave and mini-fridge (empty, not full of $7 bottles of water).

Suite.

And the breakfast was probably Jolie's favorite part of the hotel. A full spread including cooked-to-order eggs or omelets, pancakes, the whole deal.

There were a couple of negatives: the land-line internet connection in the room didn't work (thankfully wireless internet could be purchased - internet access is a blogger's water supply), neither did one of our television sets, and the service wasn't five-star hotel or anything (they forgot to refill our toilet paper roll and we had to abscond one from a passing service cart).

In the end, it was a good option for us and our family requirements. Plus that breakfast was so worth it. 

 

_{Disney Family does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Call your doctor regarding any medical condition. Never disregard your doctor's advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Disney Family site.}