| *Our family was hosted by Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago, but all opinions shared in this editorial are my own |
This year I was caught by surprise by the fact that we have now entered a new frontier in birthday celebrations. The tween birthday. Long gone were the simple parties at the park, playground, or beach. Our oldest was turning 11, firm friendships were in place and our kid wanted the one type of party we have never had before.
A sleepover.
My first thought was, "Oh, this will be great! A few friends, a few sleeping bags, and cupcakes and we are GOOD to go!"
Then I really let the idea settle in and I started having other thoughts. I looked around our apartment, which is a great size for our family, but can it really hold half a dozen extra people? Would our downstairs neighbors despise us after having to listen to the noise from a group of boys until late at night? Would any of us get any sleep? What would the kids do to entertain themselves once the food was inhaled and cupcakes devoured? What if it rained?
Then one day while downtown the kids and I were playing minigolf at Maggie Daley park and I was taking in the surrounding skyline when the idea popped into my head. What about a sleepover, but at a hotel instead of our house? Preferably a hotel with a park and low-cost entertainment steps away to not only entertain the birthday boy and his friends, but also his parents and sibling? With a few quick searches on the internet and some conversations with friends, one property became the front-runner to host a birthday party that is sure to be one for the memory books: Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel.
Radisson Blu Aqua is one of the most distinct buildings in Chicago, situated between the Chicago River and the Lakeshore East neighborhood, it has a sculptural quality with varying curved balconies which are reminiscent of moving water. This building is mixed-use, with 18 floors being dedicated to the hotel and amenities while private residences fill the remaining 63 floors. Amenities include a pool/game room, indoor basketball, gym, and several areas to relax, including two hot tubs and two pools (indoor/outdoor). An added bonus is that the "backyard" for this hotel is a sprawling green space within the Lakeshore East community, which hosts a playground, dog park and several options for food - including a full grocery store for essentials - a direct path to Lake Michigan, the Riverwalk and the entire city is mere steps away. All of this is available to guests of Radisson Blue Aqua Hotel and it all happens to be the makings of a dream celebration staycation for our son.
After a few email exchanges with a contact at Radisson to explain what we wanted and to go through the options, we settled on a Saturday night stay in two standard Queen bedrooms. One room was for the parents and little sis while the second room was dedicated to the birthday guests. Initially, I was worried about not having connected rooms, but the way the rooms are situated into little alcoves on each floor it worked perfectly. The birthday room had a LARGE bathroom, two queen beds, and adequate floor space to add a couple of air mattresses which worked perfectly for 6 boys to crash after an afternoon and evening of activity.
First, we hit the outdoor pool, basketball court, and game room (they were all terrible pool players but that didn't dissuade them from trying!) before heading to the park for dinner and throwing the football around. We had the final two guests join us after dinner and it was back to the hotel for more basketball and billiards. At this point, the kids were starting to want to do different things, and having two chaperones was key because there was one group who was dying to get back to swimming and the others who were happy to be in dry clothes (and some were already in pajamas!) We allowed them to have as much fun as they could until about 10:30 PM which is when we got everyone back for snacks, a movie, and (hopefully) some sleep.
The next morning, which was our son's actual birthday we started the day with a light breakfast from room service and had everyone gather up their belongings and get into their swimsuits for a morning trip to the pool where we sang "Happy Birthday" and indulged in some cupcakes. The kids headed right to the hot tub and then the pool for a final swim while my husband and I congratulated ourselves on executing a great celebration staycation. A couple of parents showed up early to pick up their kids and we got to enjoy some conversation ourselves!
Good to Know Before You Go
If you are considering planning your own staycation celebration, here are a few things we learned from this experience:
- Customer service from Radisson Blu Aqua was fantastic, so if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask! I would have ended up booking rooms that would have not worked as well as the ones they suggested after talking through my concerns and plans.
- Parking is about $50 for a 24-hour period, but you are in an attached garage and have in and out privileges. I took advantage of this when it was time to head home that Saturday night to check on our geriatric dog and pick up the cupcakes and balloons for the morning
- Have at least two chaperones if you have more than two guests. We had six boys spend the night and a seventh who just came and celebrated for part of Friday night. It was inevitable that at some point they would want to do different activities, but also it was great to have one person always able to stay with the kids while another ran to pick up dinner, set up the room, etc. Plus, if you have younger siblings along for the night, they may crash earlier than the big kids and then you need to have someone stay in the room with them. An alternate plan would have been to have a stroller (if the kids are young enough) or to leave the younger sibs out of the celebration - which didn't seem right to us at all. You could also tell the kids that they HAVE to stay as one group, but even then, something could happen that requires a kid or two need to go a different direction (getting picked up early, not feeling well, etc)
- Get AT LEAST three keys per room and make sure the kids in their own room have a key to the chaperone room AND know how to dial room to room just in case. Bring a sharpie to label the keys so you can keep them all straight.
- If the kids have smart watches or cell, be sure to get their phone numbers because this is the easiest way to keep in contact when one group becomes two.
- Before you get down to the fun and celebrating, gather the group and lay out some rules and expectations. A few things we specified were for the kids to not go anywhere alone - not the bathroom, vending machines, hotel room, not anywhere - without checking in with an adult and taking a buddy with them, preferably one who had a cell or watch for us to maintain contact. We also said that there was absolutely no swimming without an adult present, no playing hide and seek in the hotel, using the property as a playground outside of the included amenities, no crashing the wedding party in the lobby, and absolutely no leaving the hotel without an adult. It was all very common sense rules and luckily with the great group of kids we had along with us we weren't terribly worried, but it always makes me feel better to say it.
- Check to see what is happening in the area before you plan your stay, not only to help you plan your own fun and adventure but so you can anticipate how busy the hotel and area will be and if any traffic restrictions would be in place. We stayed the same weekend as the triathlon and if I hadn't known about that in advance it could have made coming to pick up the kids the next morning frustrating for some parents.
- Have fun - this property was designed to make the most of city life in Chicago and that is something everyone can appreciate from locals to tourists!
*Our family was hosted by Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago, but all opinions shared in this editorial are my own
