Insane new mom dream?

April 26, 2019 10:25 AM

I’m going on a work trip to Chicago and bringing my 14 month old and partner. My child goes to sleep at 7pm. So I can’t go out and do fancy drinks or dinners or comedy shows as I normally would. How to recreate this in a hotel room?

I guess, any recommendations for fancy take out foods I could eat in the hotel room or other suggestions? I really wanted to go to Alinea or The Aviary, sigh. My partner will go see friends for some nights, so it’ll just be me in the hotel room with a sleeping toddler.

posted by inevitability to Food & Drink (20 answers total)

You know, you can get babysitters for this kind of thing... try care.com, that's what most Chicago moms use.

That being said, UberEats and Postmates deliver restaurant foods to local hotels all the time.
posted by juniperesque at 10:30 AM on April 26, 2019 [22 favorites]

Best answer: I had amazing delivery from Topolobampo (Rick Bayless' more casual, yet still "fancy-ish" restaurant near the Aloft hotel in Chicago) via ... something on my phone (I'm bad with apps). So I'd say great food + delivery is something that could be possible for you! Call around to the restaurants you are interested in. Probably not Alinea or Aviary, as they're more experience restaurants, but good ones? Sure.
posted by xingcat at 10:38 AM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Wait, your partner gets to go see friends *multiple* nights? Can't they take a turn hanging in the hotel room with a sleeping toddler so that YOU can go out and have a night out like you usually would?
posted by stellaluna at 10:38 AM on April 26, 2019 [90 favorites]

If you want premium delivery Caviar will deliver from a lot of higher-end places that aren’t offered otherwise. Eg Monofuku, Blue Ribbon, etc.

But yeah, just get a sitter. My parents recount doing that sometimes when I was young and it was fine.
posted by artificialard at 10:38 AM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Also, the hotel is likely to have a list of babysitters. You can probably get it in advance and make arrangements.
posted by ubiquity at 10:39 AM on April 26, 2019 [7 favorites]

Bring the kiddo to high-end happy hours?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:40 AM on April 26, 2019 [4 favorites]

Seconding that we've always used babysitters for this, booked through the hotel.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:45 AM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

"Wait, your partner gets to go see friends *multiple* nights? Can't they take a turn hanging in the hotel room with a sleeping toddler so that YOU can go out and have a night out like you usually would?"

Mark as best answer. Let me guess the genders involved...

The obvious answer is that you and your partner alternate days of caring for the baby, but beyond that:

-Delivery options are light years ahead of what they used to be. You should be able to get some pretty damn good food delivered through Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc.

-If the comedy thing is a big deal, you can stream some stuff on Netflix.

-As depressing as drinking alone is, you could either raid the minibar or bring your own minibar and mix some cocktails for yourself.

-Do you have any friends in town you could have visit you at the hotel?
posted by kevinbelt at 11:30 AM on April 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

Seconding chesty_a_arthur, if you can get the timing to work: I got into Girl and the Goat without a reservation by showing up at 4:45 pm when they opened at 5. No idea what your work schedule commitment looks like, though.

For the cost per ounce of hotel minibar liquor, though, you could pay for your drinks out somewhere AND the babysitter for the kid.

Consider stellaluna nthed by me to the power of infinity.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 11:34 AM on April 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I keep thinking about this question and I'm assuming your partner is coming so that they can watch the baby while you are doing work stuff during the day--so maybe they feel like they deserve some free time in the evenings. And sure, they do! But you know...you do too! It's a work trip and those are exhausting. I really don't see why you can't trade off evenings and everyone gets what they want.
posted by stellaluna at 11:37 AM on April 26, 2019 [16 favorites]

Well, maybe it's not helpful to jump to conclusions about the OP's relationship. Is it that the partner is with the 14 month old all day while the OP is not? In that case, I could very well see that the partner would need a break from a child (this is exhausting work) especially if they're in an unfamiliar place and have spent a lot of time in the hotel room. But yeah, otherwise, I could see alternating being helpful. Otherwise, Netflix and excellent take out sounds excellent to me.
posted by caoimhe at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2019

I truly hate staying in hotels with my 14 month old (and always have, her entire life) for precisely this reason. I implore you to get as big a suite as you can so at least you won’t be unable to move without waking the baby. And yeah, people do get babysitters for this kind of thing but I personally would feel uncomfortable picking a rando off care.com in a new city to watch my baby alone in a hotel room, so I understand the dilemma here.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 11:56 AM on April 26, 2019 [9 favorites]

I can 100% understand not wanting to pick a rando babysitter off Care.com but you could bring a nanny cam. Otherwise I would suggest:

1. Dress up and have dinner together in your room, get the hotel to deliver cocktails and Caviar to deliver dinner.

2. If you want to enjoy a fantastic Chicago dinner, take yourself out for dinner. Your partner can stay in with your child. If you're not used to eating dinner on your own, this is a great opportunity to challenge yourself to do something outside your comfort zone that you'll really enjoy. And even if you don't, I promise that what you'll remember in a year is the dinner, not the newness of being alone!
posted by DarlingBri at 12:33 PM on April 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

I find Caviar (trycaviar.com) has nicer restaurants than other apps. I also like the app design better than most other apps. I haven't used it in Chicago specifically but I'm sure it's got good options.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:19 PM on April 26, 2019

If it’s a professional conference you might be able (through a listserv, app, etc) to ask for babysitter suggestions from locals. I’d feel a lot less worried if someone I “knew” could vouch for the person.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 2:36 PM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Would these friends of you partner be able to recommend a sitter or a baby friendly place? You guys could go out altogether and then you could retire early with some kind of tasty dessert and put the baby down. Then enjoy some indulgent TV.
posted by amanda at 3:58 PM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

In this situation our typical solution is to get a suite, put the baby down in the bedroom, and order room service. This is not the cheapest solution, but it means we get dinner together and don't have to trust a stranger to babysit. In a nice hotel, room service is often not bad at all (and sometimes really excellent).

Has the added bonus that you don't have to dress up. Not a plus for everyone but definitely is for me :)
posted by potrzebie at 4:25 PM on April 26, 2019

Chicago mefites may have babysitter suggestions for you!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:31 PM on April 26, 2019 [4 favorites]

Re the pile on about alternating nights: my read on the question is that the OP is on a work trip and the partner will have the kid all day. Just guessing.
posted by kestrel251 at 5:18 AM on April 27, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks all! I really appreciate the advice. Yeah since my partner will be watching the toddler all day while I’m at meetings/conference, I thought I should give him the evenings off. But good points raised (especially thanks @stellaluna) and we’ll try and figure out at least a night or two where I can go out.

Thanks for the specific restaurant recs, please send more if you have them. I’m weary about babysitters in hotel rooms but if anyone has recommendations there too, happy to hear them.
posted by inevitability at 4:00 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]