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Family Resorts in Chicago, and the Six That Are Not in Chicago

Fourteen properties were tested in September 2026 against a single question asked of the operator's own website: does this place sell itself as a resort, and does it run anything for a child? Five of them are inside Chicago and not one passes. All six that pass are outside the city, in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. This page gives you both halves of that answer rather than pretending the first half does not exist.

Facts rechecked by Two things before you book, and both are cheap to check. First, confirm the address, because the brand name will not tell you: the nearest genuine resort to Chicago markets itself as being in Chicago, Illinois, and is in Gurnee. Second, ask what the mandatory nightly charge is and get a number, because two properties on this page publish a fee that is compulsory and unpriced, and one of them attaches three separate unnamed charges to every rate. Then ask for the water park hours in writing, since the two Great Wolf properties publish them only behind a date picker, and check the closure calendar if you are travelling in autumn or midweek off-season.

See resorts in ChicagoLive prices for your dates
By Emma24 min readPublished Rates checked September 2026
Table of contents
Navy Pier reaching into Lake Michigan at sunset, with tour boats on the water and the Chicago skyline behind
Photo: Moses8910 · CC BY-SA 4.0

In Brief

Are there any family resorts in Chicago?

No. Of the five properties tested inside the city limits, not one calls itself a resort on its own website, not one sells a board plan, and not one runs a kids club. The clearest single piece of evidence is a downtown hotel that answers the question "Where can I find the pool?" in its own FAQ by explaining that the pool was filled in and is now an events room, with the tiled lanes and the Shallow and Deep markers still in the floor. Every genuine resort a Chicago search will show you is in another town and, in five cases out of six, another state.

Key takeaways

  • 0 of 5 Chicago properties call themselves a resort
  • All 6 that do are outside the city, across 4 states
  • Chicago's answer is a fee of up to 31.96 dollars a night
  • Only one property in the whole set runs supervised childcare

What the rate covers, and what it does not

Read the address before you read anything else, because the brand names in this market are actively misleading about it. The nearest genuine resort markets itself as an indoor water park and resort in Chicago, Illinois, and it is at 1700 Nations Drive in Gurnee, which its own site describes as less than an hour north of the city. That is the honest version and the operator publishes it. Three others in this set publish no distance from Chicago at all, and one publishes three different figures on its own home page, so where a drive time appears below it is the operator's own wording and where it does not, no distance has been invented.

Great Wolf Lodge Illinois, Gurnee

Water park access included with every stay
  • Water park access for everyone on the reservationIncludedIncluded in the rateOpen to close, 80,000 square feet, kept at 84 degrees year round
  • Daily events and activitiesIncludedIncluded in the rateDance parties, arts and crafts and story time, free with an overnight stay
  • Life jackets and water park towelsIncludedIncluded in the rate
  • A travel cotIncludedIncluded in the ratePack n Play cribs are complimentary, though first come first served and not guaranteed at high occupancy
  • ParkingExtraCharged on top20 dollars a night plus tax, which is a real surprise at a property whose whole premise is that you drive there
  • A resort feeNot offeredNot offeredNone is published anywhere on the lodge pages or the FAQ

The Guesthouse Hotel

  • A full kitchen in every suiteIncludedIncluded in the rateAn open gourmet kitchen with a granite island and stainless appliances, plus a washer and dryer in the suite
  • Children's equipmentIncludedIncluded in the rateCribs, high chairs and Pack n Plays, which the Kids page states are offered at no extra cost
  • A private balcony with a gas grillIncludedIncluded in the rate
  • A resort or destination feeNot offeredNot offeredAsked in its own FAQ whether there are any additional fees, the operator names the tax and stops. This is the only explicit refusal of a fee in the Chicago group
  • ParkingExtraCharged on top35 dollars a night plus tax, on site, with in and out privileges, which is the cheapest parking in the city group by 22 dollars
  • A poolNot offeredNot offeredThere is none. The only mention of the word on the whole site is on the Kids page, pointing families to Chase Park, published as 0.3 miles and a six minute walk, which is a public pool

Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park Resort

59 dollar rates, taxes and park tickets included
  • Park tickets for two guestsIncludedIncluded in the rateThe published rate is 59 dollars, taxes and park tickets included, based on two guests
  • TaxIncludedIncluded in the rateThe only rate in this entire research that states tax is inside the number
  • Over 100,000 square feet of indoor water and theme parkIncludedIncluded in the rate
  • Any mealNot offeredNot offeredNo food of any kind is in the rate, which is what stops this being an all-inclusive
  • A resort feeNot offeredNot offeredNone is published on the home page, the benefits page, the offer page or the park rules
  • A travel cotNot publishedNot publishedNot published. The booking engine counts guests aged three and over, which implies under-threes are free, but the operator never states that as a policy

Great Wolf Lodge Wisconsin Dells

Water park access included with every stay
  • Water park access for everyone on the reservationIncludedIncluded in the rateKept at 84 degrees, with life jackets and towels included
  • Daily events, activities and character meet and greetsIncludedIncluded in the rateArts and crafts and family dance parties, free with an overnight stay
  • Wolf earsIncludedIncluded in the rateFor all guests aged 12 and under, which is the only explicit child age band in the inclusion list
  • A travel cotIncludedIncluded in the ratePack n Play cribs are complimentary and reservable, but first come first served and not guaranteed at high occupancy
  • ParkingExtraCharged on top20 dollars a night plus tax
  • A resort feeNot offeredNot offeredNone published on the property home page or the FAQ

Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center

  • ParkingIncludedIncluded in the rateFree, which is the sharpest single contrast with downtown Chicago on this page
  • An indoor pool complexIncludedIncluded in the rateA large heated pool, a gated children's pool, a hot tub and two saunas, capped at 117 guests
  • A travel cotExtraCharged on topPack and Play cribs at 5 dollars a night, the cheapest published cot in this research
  • A rollaway bedExtraCharged on top10 dollars a night, with the operator's own caveat that rollaway beds only fit in certain room types
  • A resort or amenity feeNot offeredNot offeredNone published on the amenities page, the home page or the FAQ
  • The pool before 8amNot offeredNot offeredAdults only can swim at 8:00am, which is an explicit adults-only window published in advance rather than discovered on arrival

Blue Harbor Resort and Conference Center

  • Breaker Bay Waterpark passesIncludedIncluded in the rateIncluded with an overnight stay, 54,000 square feet kept at 84 degrees, collected at the front desk from 1pm on arrival day
  • ParkingIncludedIncluded in the rateInside the resort fee as parking lot access, which is the only property here that folds parking into the fee
  • A resort feeExtraCharged on top24.99 dollars a night, the lowest mandatory fee in this research, buying wifi, parking, in-room coffee and the fitness centre
  • Complimentary valetIncludedIncluded in the rateBased on availability
  • A travel cot or rollawayNot publishedNot publishedNeither is published
  • Paying by card without a surchargeNot offeredNot offeredA 3.5 per cent credit card fee sits on top of everything else

Crystal Mountain

  • Nanny McSkiExtraCharged on topSupervised instruction for ages 6 to 17, daily from 9am to 4pm, the only real children's programme in this whole test set
  • The outdoor pool and Water Playground, and the indoor poolIncludedIncluded in the rateComplimentary to lodging guests booked through Crystal Mountain Reservations
  • Children staying freeIncludedIncluded in the rateTwo published bands. In winter, children 17 and under stay free, and children 6 and under stay, ski and eat breakfast free
  • A travel cotExtraCharged on topGraco commercial port-a-cribs and air mattresses are available for an additional fee, which is not published
  • A named, priced mandatory feeNot publishedNot publishedEvery rate is stated to be subject to a service fee, sales tax and an assessment, and neither the service fee nor the assessment is defined or priced anywhere on the pages read
  • Wireless internet in a Resort HomeNot offeredNot offeredResort Homes are explicitly excluded from the included wifi

Swissotel Chicago

Swissôtel Kids Suite
  • Breakfast for two adults and up to two childrenIncludedIncluded in the rateAvailable all year round. This is the only rate in the Chicago group that puts a child's meal in the price
  • A children's space inside the suiteIncludedIncluded in the rateAge-appropriate toys, books and games, robes, and a family movie night in the suite
  • The price of the packageNot publishedNot publishedThe operator publishes the inclusions and withholds the number
  • A poolNot offeredNot offeredThere is none. The Well-Being page lists spa treatments, a fitness centre, jogging tracks and a boot camp marked temporarily unavailable, and the word pool returns nothing on the property pages
  • A resort or destination feeNot offeredNot offeredNone is published anywhere on the operator's marketing site
  • ParkingNot publishedNot publishedNo price is published. Valet is known to exist only because guest-submitted text on the property page refers to it

Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel

  • The indoor poolIncludedIncluded in the rateComplimentary to registered guests, heated, on the eighth floor inside the fitness centre, with hours published twice as 5:30am to 9pm
  • A children's menu, cribs and high chairsIncludedIncluded in the rateThese four lines are the entire published family provision, and a pet policy sits in the same block
  • A resort, destination or amenity feeNot offeredNot offeredNone published anywhere on the reachable microsite, including the amenities page that itemises wifi
  • A cot priceNot publishedNot publishedCribs are listed as available and no price is given
  • A rollaway bedNot offeredNot offeredRollaways are not listed anywhere in the amenities
  • ParkingExtraCharged on top57 dollars a night at a partner garage across the street, not on site, with valet at 85

Loews Chicago Hotel

  • The indoor poolIncludedIncluded in the rate75 feet, heated to 85 degrees, and five feet deep throughout with, in the hotel's own words, no shallow or wading area
  • A destination feeExtraCharged on top30 dollars plus tax per day, mandatory, with no opt-out published
  • A 10 dollar Uber or parking creditIncludedIncluded in the rateIt is the headline item of the fee and it is per stay, while the fee itself is per day
  • A kids club or any children's amenityNot offeredNot offeredNone appears on any property page. The brand-level Loews Loves Kids URL returned a 404, while the property FAQ carries a dedicated pet section
  • ParkingExtraCharged on top63 dollars a night for self-parking at River East Center, which is not on site and requires validation, or 85 for valet, with 40 more for an EV
  • A travel cot or rollawayNot publishedNot publishedNeither is published on the property page or the FAQ

Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa

  • The indoor pool, sauna and steam roomExtraCharged on topNot free. Access is listed as a benefit of the mandatory Resort Amenity Fee. Open daily 6am to 10pm
  • A Resort Amenity FeeExtraCharged on topMandatory and automatically added, and the price is not published anywhere. The operator says it is based on unit type and can be found on your bill
  • A kids clubNot offeredNot offeredNone. No age bands, no children's hours, no supervised programme. The nearest thing is a Recreation Desk telephone number
  • A family packageNot offeredNot offeredThe published package list runs to golf, spa, seasonal, teachers and nurses, and contains no family package and no children's meal plan
  • A travel cot or rollawayNot publishedNot publishedNeither is published
  • Booking if you are under 21Not offeredNot offeredYou must be at least 21 years or older to reserve any accommodations, which is published as a hard rule

Potawatomi Inn and Cabins at Pokagon State Park

  • WifiIncludedIncluded in the rateStated as complimentary
  • A resort, amenity or destination feeNot offeredNot offeredNone appears anywhere on the property page or the statewide guest information page
  • The indoor poolIncludedIncluded in the rateHours are a statewide rule across the Indiana state park inns, 10am to 9pm
  • A kids clubNot offeredNot offeredNone. The published phrase is family-friendly activities year round, plus a game room at the inn
  • A travel cot or rollawayNot publishedNot publishedNeither is published on the pages reached, and the statewide lodging policies page returned a 404 on the day checked
  • A published drive time from ChicagoNot offeredNot offeredThe word Chicago returns nothing on the property page, so no distance is given here

Chicago Athletic Association

  • A destination feeExtraCharged on top31.96 dollars a night per room excluding tax and fees, the highest in the Chicago group, with thirteen itemised inclusions and not one aimed at a child
  • A poolNot offeredNot offeredAsked where the pool is, the FAQ answers Gotcha, and explains that what was once called The Tank is now an events room whose floor still carries the tiled lanes and the Shallow and Deep markers
  • Children being welcomeIncludedIncluded in the rateYes, children are welcome throughout the hotel, subject to venue-specific policies. That single line is the FAQ's entire treatment of children, and pets get considerably more
  • Self-parkingNot offeredNot offeredNone is published at all. Valet at 84 dollars a night is the only way to park a car
  • A travel cot or rollawayNot offeredNot offeredNeither word returns a single match across the home page and the full FAQ
  • A board or breakfast planNot offeredNot offeredFood is six separately branded outlets sold a la carte
Compare family resorts in ChicagoLive rates for your dates

Which resort suits which family

Family resorts in Chicago matched to the trip they suit
If this is youBookWhy
Wanting an actual resort with the shortest driveGreat Wolf Lodge Illinois, GurneeThe operator publishes the distance itself, less than an hour north of Chicago, the water park is in the room rate, and it publishes a minimum height in inches for every slide, which almost nothing else here does.
Staying in the city with five or six peopleThe Guesthouse HotelAn 1800 square foot three-bedroom suite sleeping six, a kitchen and a laundry, on-site parking at 35 dollars, and the only explicit no-fee answer in Chicago. There is no pool, and the hotel says so.
Wanting the most inside one priceMt. Olympus Water and Theme Park ResortIt is the only rate in this research with tax and park tickets inside the number, at 59 dollars based on two guests. No food is included, and the lodging is a two to five minute drive from the park.
Needing someone to take the children for the dayCrystal MountainNanny McSki, ages 6 to 17, daily 9am to 4pm, is the only genuine supervised childcare in the entire set. Read the unpriced service fee and assessment before you commit.
Watching every dollarStarved Rock LodgeFree parking, no amenity fee, a cot at 5 dollars and a rollaway at 10, which are the cheapest published in this research by a wide margin.
Flights to ChicagoCompare airlines and dates

What the bands mean

Inside Chicago the product is a mandatory daily fee and a car park bill, and there is no middle ground: a property either publishes a nightly fee or publishes none at all. The highest is 31.96 dollars a night, the next is 30 plus tax a day, and two properties publish nothing. Parking is the larger number and it is rarely on site: 84 dollars a night for valet with no self-park option at one property, 63 and 57 dollars a night at two others in garages you walk to, against 35 dollars a night on site at the one hotel that also charges no fee at all. Outside the city the shape changes completely, with resort fees of 24.99 dollars a night at one property and none published at three, but two properties publish a mandatory fee with no number attached to it anywhere, which is worse disclosure than anything in Chicago. On tax, no government body publishes a single combined figure for Chicago, so this page carries the components rather than inventing a total: 4.5 per cent City of Chicago, a 1.5 per cent Tourism Improvement District charge that took effect on 1 May 2026 for hotels of 100 rooms or more in listed downtown ZIP codes, 1 per cent Cook County, and three state levies that sit on reduced bases of 94, 98 and 99 per cent rather than on the full rate.

€€
Waterpark lodges and state park inns, priced in US dollars
€€€
Downtown Chicago hotels and the larger sport resorts
€€€€
Landmark downtown properties

The 13 resorts, and the plan to book at each

  • Gurnee, Illinois

    Great Wolf Lodge Illinois, Gurnee

    €€
    Best all round

    The closest genuine resort to Chicago, with the water park in the room rate and a published height for every slide.

    Room to book
    A Deluxe Family Suite, published at a base occupancy of four and a maximum of six
    Kids club
    Not banded for the free daily events · Not published as fixed times · Free with an overnight stay
    Pools and slides
    An 80,000 square foot indoor water park, plus an outdoor pool: 9 slides · minimum height 42 inches on River Canyon Run, Alberta Falls, Totem Towers and Double Whirlwind, 48 inches on Slap Tail Pond, Otter Run and Coyote Cannon, with a maximum of 48 inches on Whooping Hollow and 54 on Cub Paw Pool · Year round indoors · heated
    Right for
    A Chicago family who want an actual resort and the shortest possible drive to one.
    Wrong for
    Anyone who wanted to stay in the city and walk to a museum.
    The catch
    Parking is 20 dollars a night plus tax for any vehicle in any lot for longer than thirty minutes, at a property that only makes sense if you drive to it, and there is no valet and no free option published. The water park hours are never published as fixed times, only behind a date picker, so you cannot find out when it opens before you book.
    Check dates and rates at Great Wolf Lodge Illinois, GurneeOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Andersonville, Chicago

    The Guesthouse Hotel

    €€€

    An all-suite Andersonville property with a 1800 square foot three-bedroom unit, no resort fee at all, and a Kids page that sends you to a public pool.

    Room to book
    The Three Bedroom, Two Bathroom Suite, published at 1800 square feet and sleeping six
    Pools and slides
    None on site: The hotel directs families to a City of Chicago park pool six minutes away
    Right for
    A family of five or six who want a kitchen, a laundry and a predictable bill.
    Wrong for
    A family who need swimming and a downtown address.
    The catch
    There is no pool, no restaurant, no room service and nothing inside the building for a child except a box of board games, and the hotel's own Kids page honestly sends the family up the road to a municipal pool. It is in Andersonville rather than downtown, and quiet hours start at nine in the evening.
    Check dates and rates at The Guesthouse HotelOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

    Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park Resort

    €€

    The only property in this research that folds tax and park tickets into one published rate, with America's tallest waterslide at 145 feet.

    Room to book
    A Resort Room, though the booking widget accepts parties of up to fourteen
    Pools and slides
    Poseidon's Rage, the Lost City of Atlantis, the Great Pool of Delphi and Medusa's Slidewheel: minimum height Not published · The indoor park is year round. The outdoor water park, five roller coasters and seven go-kart tracks are published as open mid-May to mid-September only
    Right for
    A family who want the most included in one number and will drive for it.
    Wrong for
    Anyone visiting outside summer who expected the coasters and karts to be open.
    The catch
    The lodging is, in the operator's own words, two to five minutes away from the park, which with a tired four-year-old means getting back in the car. Outside mid-May to mid-September the outdoor water park, the coasters and the go-karts all shut, so a winter trip is the indoor park alone, and no distance from Chicago is published anywhere.
    Check dates and rates at Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park ResortOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

    Great Wolf Lodge Wisconsin Dells

    €€

    The biggest published family room in this research, a Loft Fireplace Suite with a base occupancy of six and a maximum of eight.

    Room to book
    The Loft Fireplace Suite, published with three queen beds, a sleeper sofa and an extra half bathroom
    Kids club
    Not banded, beyond wolf ears for 12 and under · Not published as fixed times · Free with an overnight stay
    Pools and slides
    An indoor water park plus an outdoor pool, at the first Great Wolf Lodge ever built: Year round indoors, but three attractions including the signature Howlin' Tornado and the toddler-scaled Tadpole Pond are published as closed from 9 September to 28 October · heated
    Right for
    A family of seven or eight who cannot fit anywhere else on this page.
    Wrong for
    An autumn trip, for the reason in the drawback.
    The catch
    Three attractions, including both the signature ride and the toddler pool, are published as closed from 9 September to 28 October, so an autumn visit loses the top and the bottom of the age range at once. Water park hours are never published as fixed times, parking is 20 dollars a night, and the operator publishes no distance from Chicago anywhere.
    Check dates and rates at Great Wolf Lodge Wisconsin DellsOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Oglesby, Illinois, inside Starved Rock State Park

    Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center

    €€

    The cheapest published cot and rollaway in the whole set, free parking, and an adults-only swimming hour it tells you about in advance.

    Room to book
    A lodge room or a cabin, with the caveat that rollaway beds only fit certain room types
    Kids club
    No club, but the events system publishes a dedicated children's category · Pool hours are 9:00am to 10:00pm Sunday to Thursday and 9:00am to 11:00pm Friday and Saturday · runs through lunch · Not published
    Pools and slides
    The Indoor Pool Complex, with a gated children's pool: Year round indoors · heated
    Right for
    A family who want a state park, free parking and a bill they can predict to the dollar.
    Wrong for
    A rainy weekend with children who need entertaining indoors.
    The catch
    There is nothing here for a child on a wet afternoon except a pool that shuts at ten and a gift shop. The pool complex caps at 117 guests, the Pioneer Cabins have no televisions, and the operator publishes three different distances from Chicago on its own home page, so even the drive is not a settled figure.
    Check dates and rates at Starved Rock Lodge and Conference CenterOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Sheboygan, Wisconsin

    Blue Harbor Resort and Conference Center

    €€

    The lowest mandatory fee in the set at 24.99 dollars a night, and it includes the parking.

    Room to book
    A two-bedroom or four-bedroom villa with a kitchen
    Pools and slides
    Breaker Bay Waterpark, with a surf simulator, a lazy river, dueling tube slides and Toddler Tides: 2 slides · minimum height Not published · Closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from September to May · heated
    Right for
    A family who want Lake Michigan and a waterpark for the lowest mandatory fee here.
    Wrong for
    A midweek off-season break, which is exactly when it shuts.
    The catch
    From September to May the waterpark is closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so a family driving three hours for a midweek autumn break arrives to find it shut. There is a 3.5 per cent credit card fee on top of the resort fee, and no child under sixteen may be in the waterpark without an adult of 21 or over.
    Check dates and rates at Blue Harbor Resort and Conference CenterOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Thompsonville, Michigan

    Crystal Mountain

    €€€

    The only property in this research that runs genuine supervised childcare, and the only one that will not tell you what its mandatory charges cost.

    Room to book
    An accommodation with a full or efficiency kitchen, rather than a Resort Home
    Kids club
    6 to 17 · Daily 9am to 4pm · Charged separately, priced on the operator's own programme page
    Pools and slides
    An indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a Water Playground at the Park at Water's Edge: Not published
    Right for
    A family who want an instructor to take the children for the day.
    Wrong for
    Anyone who needs to know the total before they book.
    The catch
    Every rate is subject to a service fee and an assessment, and neither is named or priced anywhere on the site, so the bill is genuinely unknowable in advance. Check-in is at five in the afternoon, the latest here, and the free-stay age collapses from 17 to 6 outside winter.
    Check dates and rates at Crystal MountainOpens the live rate for your dates

  • East Wacker Drive, Chicago

    Swissotel Chicago

    €€€

    The one downtown property selling a family a rate with meals for the children in it, at a hotel with no pool.

    Room to book
    The Kids Suite, described as a two-room suite with a dedicated children's space
    Pools and slides
    None published:
    Right for
    A downtown family of four who want breakfast included and no fee.
    Wrong for
    A wet Chicago afternoon, which is the drawback.
    The catch
    The hotel with the best family package downtown has no pool at all, and everything the Kids Suite gives a child happens inside the suite. On a wet Chicago afternoon that is a room with toys in it. The package price is never published, so you cannot compare it with anything.
    Check dates and rates at Swissotel ChicagoOpens the live rate for your dates

  • The Loop, Chicago

    Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel

    €€€€

    A free heated indoor pool with published hours, and a family provision that is a list of equipment rather than a programme.

    Room to book
    Not published per unit, though the hotel's own booking widget accepts one to six adults and up to four children per room
    Pools and slides
    A recreational swimming pool on the eighth floor: Year round indoors · heated
    Right for
    A family who want a landmark address, a free pool and no fee.
    Wrong for
    Anyone expecting anything supervised.
    The catch
    The family provision is a list of equipment, not a programme: a children's menu, cribs and high chairs, published alongside the pet policy. The pool is real and free, but it sits inside a three-level gym that also sells memberships to the public, and hilton.com returned 403 all day so the fee position could only be read from the microsite.
    Check dates and rates at Palmer House, a Hilton HotelOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Streeterville, Chicago

    Loews Chicago Hotel

    €€€

    A 75 foot heated indoor pool that is five feet deep from end to end, and the hotel says so itself.

    Room to book
    Any room, with the booking engine capping a party at six before it demands a second room
    Pools and slides
    A 75 foot indoor pool: Year round indoors · heated
    Right for
    A family of six who want one room and a big pool for confident swimmers.
    Wrong for
    Anyone with a child who cannot yet stand up in five feet of water.
    The catch
    The pool the hotel markets to families is five feet deep end to end with no shallow or wading area, which the operator states plainly. Add a mandatory 30 dollar daily destination fee whose headline benefit is a single 10 dollar credit for the whole stay, and self-parking at 63 dollars a night in a garage you walk to.
    Check dates and rates at Loews Chicago HotelOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Galena, Illinois

    Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa

    €€€

    A golf resort that takes families, with nine pages for golf, none for children, and a mandatory fee it will not price.

    Room to book
    One of the villas or homes rather than a Main Lodge room, given the 6,800 acre estate
    Pools and slides
    An indoor pool, open daily 6am to 10pm: Year round indoors · heated
    Right for
    A family where at least one adult is there for the golf.
    Wrong for
    A family who want to know the price before they arrive.
    The catch
    It is a golf resort. The site gives golf nine separate pages and children none, the only page on the whole site with family in its name is Family Golf, and the mandatory amenity fee that pays for the pool has no published price at all, so you cannot work out what a night costs before you book.
    Check dates and rates at Eagle Ridge Resort and SpaOpens the live rate for your dates

  • Angola, Indiana, in Pokagon State Park

    Potawatomi Inn and Cabins at Pokagon State Park

    €€

    A state-run inn with no fee of any kind, free wifi and a pool that shuts at nine.

    Room to book
    One of the twelve cabins rather than the 126 guest rooms, if you are more than four
    Pools and slides
    An indoor pool: Year round indoors. The statewide rule closes outdoor pools from Labor Day to Memorial Day weekend
    Right for
    A family who want a state park and a bill with nothing hidden in it.
    Wrong for
    Anyone who needs the room details before booking.
    The catch
    The pool shuts at nine, quiet time starts at ten, and the inn's only priced food and drink package is a bottle of wine and a box of truffles. Two of the pages a family most needs, the inn's own lodging and amenities page and the statewide lodging policies page, both returned 404 on the day this was checked.
    Check dates and rates at Potawatomi Inn and Cabins at Pokagon State ParkOpens the live rate for your dates

  • The Loop, Chicago, facing Millennium Park

    Chicago Athletic Association

    €€€€

    The hotel that filled in its swimming pool and rents the room out for parties, at the highest fee in the city group.

    Room to book
    Not published. No occupancy numbers appear on any room page
    Pools and slides
    None. The historic pool is now an events room:
    Right for
    Older children who want Millennium Park across the road and a games room in the building.
    Wrong for
    Any family who assumed a grand old athletic club would have a pool.
    The catch
    The pool is a party room, valet at 84 dollars a night is the only way to park, the mandatory destination fee is the highest in the set at 31.96 dollars and contains nothing for a child, and there is no published crib or rollaway policy at all. The FAQ devotes more words to dogs than to children.
    Check dates and rates at Chicago Athletic AssociationOpens the live rate for your dates

Where not to book in Chicago

Four things. The first is the word resort in a Chicago search result, because inside the city it is never the operator's own word: all five city properties tested describe themselves as hotels, and one brand's own filter files this property under City while reserving Resorts for its Universal Orlando properties. The second is the unpriced mandatory fee, which is worse than an expensive one, and two properties here publish exactly that, one of them stacking three separate unnamed charges onto every rate. The third is the closure calendar, because two of the best properties on this page shut things a family came for: one closes its waterpark on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from September to May, and the other closes its signature ride and its toddler pool from 9 September to 28 October. The fourth is a name that no longer exists. KeyLime Cove is still returned by searches for waterpark resorts near Chicago, and the building at Gurnee that traded under that name now trades as Great Wolf Lodge Illinois, so any page still recommending it is recommending a resort you cannot book.

When to book

Decide first whether you actually want Chicago or you want a resort, because the honest answer is that you cannot have both. If the trip is about the city, stay in it and stop looking for a resort: the fee-free properties are the ones to compare, and the cheapest total is a suite with a kitchen and on-site parking in Andersonville rather than anything downtown with a destination fee. If the trip is about the water, you are driving, and the only property that publishes its distance from Chicago is under an hour away in Gurnee. If you are going in autumn or midweek in the off season, check the closure calendar before the rate, because two of the strongest properties here withdraw the thing you came for on exactly those dates.

Family resorts in Chicago: FAQ

The questions parents ask most before paying for a package here.

No. Fourteen properties were tested against the operators' own websites and of the five inside the city limits, not one calls itself a resort, not one sells a board plan and not one runs a kids club. The clearest evidence is the Chicago Athletic Association's own FAQ, which answers the question about its pool by explaining that the pool was converted into an events room whose floor still carries the tiled lanes and the Shallow and Deep markers. All six properties in this research that genuinely sell themselves as resorts are outside Chicago, in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

Great Wolf Lodge Illinois at Gurnee, on published figures. It is the only genuine resort in this research that publishes its own distance from the city, which it gives as less than an hour north of Chicago. The water park is included in the room rate rather than sold on top, every published suite type starts at a base occupancy of four with five of them reaching six, cribs are complimentary, and there is no resort fee. It also publishes a minimum height in inches for every single slide, which very little else in this market does. The honest costs are parking at 20 dollars a night plus tax, and water park hours that are never published as fixed times.

No, and this is the fifth American market on this site to answer the same way. Not one of the fourteen properties sells a family a plan with accommodation and meals in a single bookable price. The closest anything comes is a 59 dollar rate in Wisconsin Dells that folds tax and theme park tickets into the number but contains no food at all. Across Greater Phoenix, San Diego, Sedona, Tampa Bay and now Chicago, around seventy properties have been tested on their own websites and none sells a family-bookable all-inclusive. What this market sells instead is a mandatory fee.

Some do and some publish none at all, and there is no middle ground. The Chicago Athletic Association charges 31.96 dollars a night per room with thirteen itemised inclusions, not one of which is aimed at a child. Loews charges 30 dollars plus tax a day, and its headline benefit is a 10 dollar credit that is per stay while the fee is per day. Three other city properties publish no fee whatsoever, and one of them answers the question directly in its own FAQ by naming the tax and stopping. Parking is usually the bigger number: 84 dollars a night for valet where no self-parking exists at all, against 35 dollars a night on site at the property with no fee.

Two city properties publish an indoor pool and each has a catch worth knowing first. The Palmer House pool is free to guests, heated and open 5:30am to 9pm, but it sits on the eighth floor inside a three-level gym that also sells memberships to the public. The Loews pool is 75 feet long and heated to 85 degrees, and the hotel states plainly that it is five feet deep throughout with no shallow or wading area, which rules it out for a child who cannot stand up in it. Of the others, one has no pool at all, one converted its historic pool into an events room, and the all-suite property in Andersonville sends families to a public park pool six minutes' walk away.

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