huntington beach hotel

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.