Hailey and I recently enjoyed a night away in the city, a staycation, if you will, courtesy of the Talbott Hotel in downtown Chicago.
Talbott Hotel (located at 20 E. Delaware Place on Chicago’s Gold Coast) was built in 1927 and is nestled in one of Chicago’s upscale neighborhoods. The hotel has 149 guest rooms and was recently renovated. The atmosphere was friendly and the staff at the hotel was very attentive. We enjoyed every minute of our stay.
The reason we were invited to stay at the Talbott, was so that Hailey and I could enjoy one of their special American Girl Place packages. We were invited to experience the Imagine package. (Retailed at $224). This particular package includes:
- Personalized welcome letter
- Milk and two Sprinkles cupcakes at turndown
- Keepsake American Girl® doll-sized travel bed
- Access to the “girl blog @ the talbott”
- Complimentary continental breakfast for two
- Horse-drawn carriage ride from The Talbott Hotel to American Girl Place (one way)
- Personalized Talbott Hotel stationery
- Personalized guest room keycard
- Six personalized photo postcards by the fireplace and carriage
- Personalized room service menu
- One entry into the quarterly drawing for a one night American Girl Place Spirit Package
When we arrived, we were greeted by the friendly staff and met with Tim, the Chef Concierge. He handed Hailey a personalized welcome letter, addressed to her and Felicity, her American Girl doll. You should have seen her eyes light up and the huge smile on her face.
Tim handed me our room key and a personalized, keepsake American Girl keycard to Hailey. We settled in to our room and then went down to the lobby. I had scheduled our horse-drawn carriage ride with Tim prior to arriving to the hotel and I kept it a secret from Hailey. I knew it would blow her mind and could not wait to see the look on her face when our “ride” pulled up in front of the Talbott.
(Hailey pointing at the horse-drawn carriage outside of the Talbott)
She was ecstatic when I told her that we were going for a ride. Tim snapped some photos of Hailey with the horse and then of the both of us on the carriage. This is part of the package. The prints would be placed in our room at some point before we checked out the following day.
I love this picture. It looks like the horse is giggling with Hailey. (We think her name was Callie.)
We enjoyed a lovely, half-hour ride around the immediate area. It was a gorgeous day, lots of people were out and about and we were having a blast. The carriage dropped us off at American Girl Place where we spent some time doing fun mother + daughter + doll things.
After our girly excursion, we walked back to the hotel and in our room, (which is around the corner from the store) and found some fun surprises.
In our room were the pictures from the carriage ride, personalized stationery for Hailey and her doll and a travel bed for her American Girl doll. (Click the picture to view larger size.)
To a little 6 year old girl, this was all pretty magical. I had already heard her say several times how much she really loved this day.
We had the rest of the day to ourselves. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed over to Navy Pier. It was the last day of the Air and Water Show, so we got to see some pretty cool airplane stunts. I also held my breath and took Hailey for a ride on the ferris wheel. It was amazing and she was in awe. There were moments where I just sat quietly and smiled as she squeezed Felicity and had this look of wonderment on her face. She was definitely having the time of her life.
After some fun at Navy Pier, we met up with some friends for dinner back at American Girl Place and then once back in our room for the evening, our cupcakes and milk were delivered at turndown!
When we woke up the next morning, we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast at BiCE Ristorante, which is right next door to the Talbott. Hailey preferred that we dine outdoors, so we did and it was awesome.
You can view the pictures that we took during our stay right HERE.
Of course, I recommend spending time with your kids anyway you can. Your staycation could be a blanket picnic in your own backyard with a pretend carriage ride or cupcakes before bed in your own room. But, if you are looking for something special to do away from home, I recommend considering a night away with your little one, with some surprises thrown in along the way. Definitely check out the packages offered at The Talbott Hotel in Chicago. We ware very fortunate that we could take this night away with each other. We needed some mommy + daughter time before the big kid started school. This was the perfect end to a summer full of fun.
The Talbott Hotel treated us to a night at the hotel and the American Girl Imagine Package, which included everything on the bullet-pointed list above. Anything else we did on our staycation, we paid for (including our travel and anything we purchased at American Girl Place and Navy Pier). All opinions about the Talbott Hotel and the American Girl Package are my own.
