family getaway at the four seasons chicago

Years ago BK (before kids) I was fortunate to travel the world working for clients with sizable budgets. The Four Seasons was the preferred hotel allowing me to experience many of their luxury properties in Hong Kong, Portugal, Maui, Toronto, Fort Lauderdale, Boston, San Diego, Scottsdale, New York, Punta Mita, Dallas and others that I can’t recall.  Clients with champagne taste and I was front and center.

My co- workers and I would always marvel at the families we saw lounging poolside while we sat at a registration desk in the hotel lobby. Why would anyone would bring kids to such a luxury hotel?? Shouldn’t this be adult time? Keep the kids home!

Now I wonder how can you NOT bring your kids to the Four Seasons? I finally get it.

It’s no secret that Four Seasons has perfected the art of customer service, but did you know they score even bigger points with their youngest guests?

At 3:00 pm we met up with Chef Matt at Allium for pizza making. In true Four Seasons style an area was beautiful set offering a variety of gourmet toppings like black olives, pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, pineapples, onions – the options seemed endless. The girls had a blast. After a tour of the kitchen it was time for more fun.

Next up – swimming. Returning back to the room to change clothes the girls could barely contain themselves. A “room service” ferry had delivered two beds for their American Girl dolls, a cushioned tent, mini robes, hats, t-shirts and cookies and milk, complete with a side of decadent chocolate syrup.

No surprise the pool was bustling with families – kids swimming while parents lounged nearby. We took full advantage of the down time while the girls swam. I liked that the area wasn’t too big and allowed us to easily manage without being in the pool. After an hour of playing and making new friends we headed back up to get ready for dinner at Allium.

We were extremely nervous about dinner. At this point we had pushed the activity limit to the max and one, possibly two meltdowns were looming. The hostess instinctively asked if we preferred to sit near the window or near the fireplace where the server was energetic and enthusiastic – aka kid friendly. Of course we accepted the latter.

Allium’s service is top notch, the atmosphere is elegant and the farm-to-table menu is exquisite without being pretentious. All while being surprisingly kid-friendly. The girls were provided coloring books and crayons, the kitchen fired up the “pre-made’ pizzas and we quickly ordered from the menu. The troops were getting restless but the pizza appeared just in time.

We started with the Kitchen Sink” Vegetable Salad, a mixture of raw seasonal vegetables (ours included fiddlehead fern) garnished with creamy parmesan. For entrees I had the Duck Confit Pappardelle – Swiss Chard, Pecorino (YUM) which our server graciously offered to make a smaller portion and hubs had the Crispy “Brick” Chicken served with Polenta and Chicken Jus. Both excellent. 

By now you’d think the day was over. Not so fast. The ice cream cart appeared just before bedtime (this can be arranged from 3-6 pm). The night was complete with the girls tucked into the pull-out sofa watching Frozen (for the 6th time). It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

The following morning before checking out we stopped by the Kid’s Clubroom and played foosball, turbo hockey and read books. If we had more time we would have video and board games but it was time to get back to reality and head home.

13 Reasons Why Kids LOVE Four Seasons Chicago:

Sassy Moms in the City was provided a complimentary night’s stay and dinner at the Four Seasons Chicago for the purpose of this review. All our sassy opinions are 100% honest.