Sitters Studio

Referred to this service by our hotel’s concierge. Was quoted $ 26/​hour. Overpriced in our opinion but made the reservation anyway. Then received an email confirmation for $ 30/​hour plus $ 10 cab fare plus the sitter’s meals plus optional gratuity (!) Service waited 24 hours to respond to our requests to clarify the cost and then threatened us repeatedly to cancel our reservation unless we agreed to the higher rates. They claimed 7÷5÷15 was a «holiday» and so there was an upcharge. Beware!

My husband and I are visiting Chicago with our 2yr old daughter and wanted one night out on the town, sans kiddo. We hesitated asking our friends to watch her because we wanted her to be able to fall asleep in her pack & play and stay asleep when we got home, plus on a weeknight it would have been an imposition to ask friends to watch her until late. So we decided to find a sitter and went with Sitters Studio, which was referred to us by the concierge of the hotel we stayed at (Westin River North). We were of course a bit nervous by having a complete stranger watch our child but Jillian was awesome! She arrived about 10 minutes early to give us some time to get to know her. She did some painting with my daughter and then helped her go to bed. She kept in touch with me via text throughout the night to give me updates, which I super appreciated.
While a bit pricey ($ 25/​hr and a 4 hr minimum), the peace of mind and convenience was definitely worth it. HIGHLY recommended!

On a recent family trip to Chicago, we were impressed by all the wonderful cuisine, spectacular sightseeing activities and the ease getting around the great Midwest town. But perhaps our greatest surprise and treat was stumbling upon Sitters Studio.
We had never really considered a babysitter for our stay and were unfamiliar never having had any experience with any hotel babysitting service, but the concierge (at the Westin) highly recommended Sitters Studio and shared how common it was for families to use their services, if simply for a single night out.
Intrigued by the idea, we contacted Sitters Studio and found out quite a bit more. With locations in New York City and Chicago, Sitters Studio has an extensive network of babysitters that are prized for their child experience, use of arts and crafts for activities, and friendly demeanor.
To be honest, the arts and craft portion of the description sounded a bit gimmicky to me, but the SO thought it sounded great. I was more reassured by the CPR training of all staff, thorough background vetting, and the extremely detailed description of their background, experience, and interests when you are finally matched up with a sitter.
On the night of the arranged Sitters Studio visit, we were a bit nervous, but reassured that we would be able to meet the sitter and back out if there were any concerns. Hoping to have a nice dinner out, we even moved up the babysitting appointment and were impressed by the flexibility of Sitters Studio to accommodate us and for the sitter to arrive early.
Our sitter was Miss Evan and we honestly could not have been more impressed. She was friendly and punctual and quickly bonded by having an array of stickers ready at her disposal. As we left the hotel, we felt quite happy that we had made a good choice.
When we finally returned at the end of the night, Miss Evan had put the kids to bed and had both the crafts they had worked on (for us to keep) as well as a detailed «report card» designed by Sitters Studio that had any and all information that a worrying parent might have (time to bed, what they ate, how many bathroom breaks, difficulties or fussiness, which crafts and projects they liked). It was all quite impressive and I took back all my skepticism about their artistic-​based emphasis. (as the SO nodded knowingly)
Sitters Studio does have a 4 hour minimum sitting time and also has an hourly rate that is probably slightly higher than the neighborhood sitter you might know. But given the organization, care, punctuality, professionalism and just plain thoughtfulness of the service from start to finish, we couldn’t have been happier with choosing Sitters Studio.
We look forward to using them again and hope that Sitters Studio has plans to bring their great babysitting model to the West Coast!
Sitters Studio accepts credit cards, including American Express.

I live in Chicago and started using this service about 4 months ago. My children are ages 3 years and 7 months. I have used them about 5 times now, and they are always amazing. The kids are immediately comfortable with whoever they send and there are never any bedtime issues.

My husband and I used Sitter Studio twice while we were in Chicago recently. We were referred by the concierge at our hotel, the W. I was a little leery about leaving my 4 month old baby girl with a stranger, but I was there for work and I had to attend a few dinners. The gentleman, Robbie, who called me from the booking service was incredibly friendly and made me feel very comfortable about leaving my daughter with a «stranger» once he explained the lengthy and in depth background checks/​interviews their sitters must go through. I was able to get the same sitter both nights. Her name was Melynda and she was wonderful– punctual, friendly, and seemed very comfortable handling a newborn/​infant. It is definitely more pricey than what you would normally pay the average babysitter, but its nice that you can use a credit or debit card. I think this is probably way more fun and worth the money with kids a tad older. Sitter Studio caters towards doing fun, arts oriented activities with the kids when they are being babysat. I will definitely use them again when in Chicago and they are in New York too!

We used Sitters Studio last week to babysit our two children in our hotel room while we went out to dinner. They were recommended to me by the concierge of the hotel we stayed at, which helped alleviate some of the natural anxiety that comes with leaving your children with a stranger. Our sitter was absolutely wonderful. We were able to have the same person come both nights which really helped our kids adjust quickly. She brought all kinds of projects for my 7 and 4 year old to work on… when we left for dinner they didn’t even care, they were already having so much fun. The second night when our sitter returned they eagerly greeted her which was so reassuring to see. I was really happy with their service and glad that my husband and I could enjoy nice dinners even though we were vacationing with the kids. We will definitely use them again!