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Beautiful Park City hotel getaway

by Allison on March 2, 2012 in hotels, Travel · 7 comments

Have you ever been to Park City?  I’m a little spoiled because it’s in my backyard, and grew up looking at those mountains every single day of my life.  But even for me, jaded mountain beholder that I am, Park City is a mecca of beauty.  It doesn’t matter if you go in the summer or in the winter, that place is gorgeous.

Okay, it kind of matters if you go in the summer or winter, but stay with me here.

park city skiing

My love affair with Park City is long, but my love affair with Hyatt is a little more hot and heavy.  I can’t even explain to you the level of relaxation and happiness I feel just typing the words: Hyatt Hotels.  They just get it, they just do things right in the Hyatt family.  My number one favorite hotel {in the world, thus far} is their beach hotel in Huntington Beach, California.  I don’t even have the words to tell you what that place does for my blood pressure.  It’s like they put something in the water, a little blend of mellow happy special extract.

I walk in, forget my name and number, and fall into a cloud of heavenly pillowed relaxation.  Seriously.  You can ask Viktor, he feels the same way.

park city lodge

Anyway Park City is in my backyard and sometimes I forget it’s there.  And then once in a while we decide go away for a little 3-day weekend to Park City and I fall in love all over again.  Which is what happened a few weeks ago when we decided to have a little break from reality a few hours away from home.  And the Hyatt Escala Lodge in Park City where we had our little break was just as wonderful as I hoped it would be.

park city hotel getaway

We didn’t ski while we were there, Viktor just finished rehabilitating his destroyed shoulder and I wanted a weekend of hot tubs and steam rooms and naps instead of skiing.  See what I mean about spoiled?  I can decide if I want to opt out of skiing because it’s so readily available.  This is how I feel about people who live two seconds from the ocean and say, ‘Oh that old thing?  I pass it on my way to Target once a week, I really forget it’s there at all.

So now we’re even.

park city hotel getaway

We spent three nights in Park City and I:

slept, spent 2-3 hours a day in the hot tub and/or steam room, and ate food, The End.

The kids had the run of the pool since I guess everyone else was skiing, and Viktor read a book.

Maybe the best getaway yet?  I can’t wait to go back.

park city hotel

beautiful park city hotel get away

beautiful park city hotel getaway

beautiful park city hotel getaway

park city skiing

What’s the best getaway you’ve ever had?  Ever.  I don’t care if it was at your moms house for the weekend, in a tent in the back woods of Missouri, or at a spa.  Tell me, I want to feel relaxed heading into the weekend.

 

*Hyatt didn’t pay me to say how wonderful they have made my life.  They don’t need to, this comes from a deep, soft, happy part of my heart.  They did pay for one night of my hotel, which was super nice and I love them for it.

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Home » hotels Travel » huntington beach hotel

huntington beach hotel

by Allison on May 20, 2011 in hotels, Travel

– This is a re-posting of an article from last Summer’s archives.  While I’m away in Europe I thought I’d give you a tour of my blog.  I’ve got years of content to delve into and plenty of fun content to keep you entertained while I’m away. –

Viktor is in the middle of making a pro/con list as to why we should uproot the family and move to Southern California. Like, seriously. I’m not about to move. I have a circle of close friends and family I adore, my home is becoming lovely {even though I still have a concrete slab as a living room floor} and I like living here. But friends, I’m here to tell you that this week Viktors’ *pro* list is pretty long and at this point I’m helping contribute to it.

When we left California yesterday it was a balmy 75 degrees. Tonight in Utah, as I type, it’s 22 outside. *sigh*

Let me tell you, if I were to win a lottery of say 2.5 million dollars, the first thing I would do is plunk down every penny on a place near the water in Huntington Beach. Like on.the.water. There’s something so calming and healing about the ocean, it’s indescribable.


So, there’s this new hotel in Huntington called Shorebreak Hotel. People I’m telling you, go, go now. It’s one of the hotels in the Joie de Vivre family which are becoming my new favorite hotels. Ever.

Do you remember the awesome hotel where we stayed in San Francisco? The Americania, the one with the totally hipster and family friendly vibe? Multiply that times 10, add some surfers, put it across the street from the beach and you have the Shorebreak Hotel.

My only sadness related to this hotel is that we stayed one night instead of say, oh I don’t know, thirty.



We ate the most delicious brunch ever at the hotel restaurant, Zimzala before we checked into our room. I highly recommend it.

The server brought Charming a plate full of the largest sausages available to a 5-year-old, berry pancakes for Precocious,


three cheese flat bread for Viktor,


and for me {licking my lips thinking about it} cinnamon brioche french toast.


Delightful all around.

I had a lot of fun poking ar
ound the hotel. The decor is really contemporary mixed with surf city style; right up my alley. It’s successfully swank and chill at the same time. There are photos of surfers all over mixed in with driftwood lamps and tables. I loved every square inch of it.

And our room was awesome. Rad. Coolio. The Bomb. Swank. Chill. Whatever word fits your happiness quotient best is what it was to me.


This little sofa folded out into a queen bed for the kiddos. And the dresser on the right? I want those leather pulls on a piece of furniture in my house now; they were gorgeous.

This was our bed. There was a wall between the front *sitting room* and the bedroom, but it still felt wide open and airy. And this bed was heaven, he-a-ven.

Another little touch I love in the Joie de Vivre hotels are the iPod docking stations on the nightstands; just a little something extra to make life better.

Right after we’d opened the balcony door to check the weather, this was delivered:


In a chilled bowl. With chilled glasses, cold Fiji water, and a lovely note.

Sometimes my life is hard. Please don’t send sympathy notes, it just makes the knife go deeper.

Can we take a moment to talk about the bathroom? Hold me.


It was chic, clean, and crisp.


Have you ever showered in a double headed shower? Put it on your bucket list if you just answered no. It’s a must before you die.

And the tub? The kids did some laps in it before they took turns trying to drown one another during bath time. Then I spent about two hours reading every magazine in my arsenal while drinking ice cold diet Dr. Peppers one after the other.

It was a rough night for me. I’ll need to spend some time talking to my therapist about it.

But when you’re traveling with kids what’s the most important part about staying in a hotel?

Its proximity to water. And sand.

So after we settled into the room and devoured the chilled fruit, we hightailed it downstairs to the beach.

These are the stairs to the street level. Light, open, airy.



There’s a surfboard check. Heaven help me, I’m ready to call a Realtor.

It’s literally less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel until your toes are in the sand.

The kids skipped/ran/jumped/hopped the whole way there.



Happy.


Happy.

Peaceful.

Thank you California. See you soon.

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Home » hotels Travel » beach hotel Huntington Beach

beach hotel Huntington Beach

by Allison on May 13, 2011 in hotels, Travel · 2 comments

arches

In the Fall we traveled to Southern California for another one of my fun rheumatologist visits.  Don’t be jealous, we can’t ALL have Lupus.  Once again we stayed at one of my favorite hotels in Southern California, the Huntington Beach Hyatt.

hotel lobby

This hotel is made of magic and fairy dust in my eyes.  Anyplace that has surfboards hanging from the walls in the lobby has my vote.

hotel balcony

We stayed for two nights and took advantage of every single second even though it was cloudy and rainy the whole time we were there.  It’s okay, we’ll take rain over snow any day of the week.

This was the view outside our room.  Not terrible is it?

pool

The front of the hotel faces the ocean.  In fact the only thing separating the hotel from the water is the Pacific Coast Highway.  No need to worry though, the Hyatt has a private walkway and elevator to take you across the highway.  When we weren’t luxuriating in every amenity the hotel has to offer {and they are many} we were oceanfront with our toes in the sand.

You don’t hear me complaining.

court yard

The hotel rooms are pretty standard fare for the Hyatt: comfortable and super clean with really soft beds.  I’m always really torn when we stay here.  I want to spend the entire time in the soft bed surrounded by down pillows with a remote in hand, all the better for watching terrible t.v. on the flat screen T.V., but I end up lured out by the jumping dolphins and ocean air.

Don’t cry for me Argentina, I know what kind of life I live.

hotel bed

This time around the hotel sent up a cheese tray along with some sparkling cider.  The PR rep for the hotel found out we were Mormons who don’t drink so she didn’t send up Champagne.  Thoughtful.

The hotel also has a bunch of fire pits dotted around the property, so we were given two s’mores kits for roasting marshmallows after our days at the beach.  The kids were pretty thrilled about that one.

gratuity

The second day there, even though the waves were crazy and it was pouring rain, I crossed #5 off my Life List.  Jesse, the adorable girl who arranged our visit had seen my Life List and arranged for the entire family to have surfing lessons.  It has literally been on my Life List in the back of my head to learn how to surf in Huntington Beach since I was about 9; having a lifelong dream come to fruition with my husband and kids was magical.

surfing lessons

Naturally I had a really hard time getting up, and hopefully someday I’ll tell you all about my adventure of learning how to surf while my children laughed at me.  Both of them got up and surfed like pros.  Natch.

bike

Lest you think there’s nothing else to do at the hotel {oh the humanity!} we were given beach cruiser bicycles for the afternoon after we finished surfing lessons.  We rode up and down the length of Huntington Beach all afternoon on the bike path next to the ocean, all the time plotting ways to sell the house and move to California.

No, really.

And then we check out and drive home in a smelly car for 12 hours with whining children and wonder where all the magic has gone.  We leave it at the beach every time.

The Hyatt Huntington Beach covered the cost of one night hotel + the amenities we enjoyed while on the property.  My love for the Hyatt Huntington Beach isn’t bought or sold, it comes from deep within my beach loving soul.

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Disneyland Anaheim hotel

by Allison April 22, 2011hotels
hotel pool

In October we spent the night at the Hyatt hotel in Orange County, just a hop skip and a jump from Disneyland. Sadly we weren’t spending any time at Disneyland, we were headed to see my Rheumatologist!  Fun for everyone. I’ll tell you what, I’m totally sold on Hyatt hotels.  They’re just the right blend [...]

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park city, utah.

by Allison August 27, 2010hotels
park city view

I got lost on the way to EVO this year.  This, despite the fact that I live only an hour and a half away from Park City {that’s Utah in case you’re wondering}.  It’s because I haven’t been to The Canyons since my teen years, for a Sting concert if you can believe it. Sting [...]

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luxury hotel in west hollywood.

by Allison July 9, 2010hotels
hotel california

When we were in L.A. last month, we spent our last night at a gorgeous hotel in West Hollywood called Andaz.  It’s a Hyatt {I have yet to stay in a Hyatt hotel I haven’t loved}, but it’s more boutique hotel than your run of the mill Hyatt.  In fact, Andaz has a hotel in [...]

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unique luxury hotel in los angeles, california.

by Allison June 18, 2010hotels
beds in a luxury hotel

After we finished splashing bathing beauties to within an inch of their lives at our hotel in Long Beach, California, we headed inland a little to end up in Brentwood, on the border of West Hollywood in Los Angeles.  You know who lives in Brentwood?  Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck live in Brentwood.  Do I [...]

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family friendly hotel in long beach, california

by Allison June 11, 2010hotels
beautiful-pool-at-night

Last week we took a family vacation to southern California.  The kids had just gotten out of school for the Summer, Viktor had 6 days off work, and I needed to see my awesome rheumatologist who practices in Orange County.  It was the perfect lead in to a short and sweet family trip to the [...]

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hotel salt lake city

by Allison December 13, 2009hotels

Last week I was invited to spend the night at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City with a few blogging girlfriends. The itinerary included dinner at The Melting Pot restaurant {across the street from the hotel}, massages and facials in the {renowned} hotel spa, and dinner in the hotel restaurant. Ummmm. Don’t hate [...]

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