Babysitting service at a hotel?

[terese17]

Okay, so we live in Iowa. My husband and I have a wedding to go to in new haven at the end of April.  We also have four children, my sister has agreed to watch the older three for a week, but she does not want to take the baby.  He is 11 mths right now and still nursing, although he prefers a cup during the day and sleeps through the night.  We would like to spend some time in new York and possibly go to a few shows.  My dilemma is that if we take the baby with us, the only way we would be ale to see a show is if the hotel has some sort of sitter service.  My oldest is seven, and I have never left my kids with someone other than family.  I could possibly ask my mom to take the baby for the week, but I don't really want to separate them unless we takethebaby with us.  Have any of you ever used a sitter service from a hotel?  What was your experience like?  

[Mom2M]

I haven't used one but I used to be a babysitter for a hotel. I absolutely loved babysitting there and the other girls I knew also did. It is easier than going to someone's house I think and I had lots of fun with the kids. We could take them to play in the kid activity area and take walks and still be safely on hotel grounds.
When it was night and I had to put them to bed, it was easy and I was right there with them in the room so I think they felt fine since they weren't alone even though it was a strange place.

[chenchen]

I haven't ever used a hotel sitting service, so I can't offer any feedback on that.  I too am one that only left mine with family for a long time, and from there transitioned to a teenaged neighbor.  I would never be able to enjoy myself on an outing leaving mine with a stranger.  As an alternative, perhaps someone from the wedding could recommend a sitter.  There's a pretty good chance that someone from NYC will be coming to the wedding.  Perhaps some legwork in advance would leave you feeling more confident?