Extreme Wow Suite at the W Hotel Buckhead Atlanta, GA

Wondering what the Extreme Wow Suite looks like at the W Hotel Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia?

I’ve just checked in and yes, it an extreme WOW!

Here are the pics:

Extreme Wow Suite Living Areas:

 

 

 

Extreme Wow Suite Bedroom:

 

Extreme Wow Suite Bathroom

Check out all the nozzles on this shower… and there are two sets of these in there!

Toiletries from BLISS:

More toiletries, including a loofah mitt from BLISS in the shower:

And yes, the toilet seat is heated.

 

 

Extreme Wow Suite View

This is one of the views from the living room:

Not pictured is an additional bathroom, two closets, bar area and the electric blackout shades.

It’s pretty luxurious and no, not all that family-friendly. But I could get used to this for a getaway if I had to….

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Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa Hotel Room

Interested in what the hotel rooms at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas looks like?

I was just there with my family this weekend and stayed in a ADA-compliant Double room with a walk in shower. Here’s what it looked like:

You can see my husband walking out onto the balcony, where the kids were already checking out the surroundings and making bird calls (or something like that).

I ushered them all back into the room so I could take this picture:

The balcony looks smaller in this photo than it actually feels.

Here’s a view from the other side of the room:

This time my husband was lounging a bit.

You can see on the right side that this room has a bit of an entryway before you reach the room from the hotel hallway. That area features a closet and countertop vanity. The bathroom entrance is over there on the left side of the photo:

While we are at the hotel I was told that the property will be undergoing a major renovation this fall (2012) to update the rooms. They do have a bit of an older feel in terms of decoration, but nothing uncomfortable or obviously in need of change. I’m excited to see what they will do with the facelift, as I can only imagine it will be gorgeous!

The rooms already are quite spacious, which is perfect when you are lugging baby gear or even just kid gear!

Planning a trip to San Antonio? Check out Destination Snapshot: San Antonio for some insider tips.

Have you stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country? What did you think of the hotel rooms there?

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One Ocean: Our experience at this luxury beach hotel in Jacksonville, FL for families

I’ve just finished up a 10 day trip with our three kids (and without my husband) to visit family and relax in Florida.

To break up time with my parents in Orlando and time with my brother and his family in Jacksonville, I took the kids to a luxury beach hotel near Jacksonville. It was the perfect dose of luxury, beach and ‘us time’ between our two family visits.

We stayed at One Ocean, an uber-cool-feeling hotel.

I was looking for a comfortable hotel right on the beach with a pool, where we would get a little pampering without feeling like we were in the way with kids.
Ocean One delivered.

Check out the gorgeous lobby:

There is even a mini-art gallery off to one side with photographs appreciated by all four of us.:

Although the hotel was so beautiful, it still had a very welcoming and friendly feel and not once did I second guess my hotel choice.

When we went to our room, though, I was surprised by the lack of a view of the beach. I was under the impression that I had booked an ocean view room, but we had to lean back and stand on one side of the window to see it. The very polite bellman explained that they do have ocean front rooms, but there would be an up-charge for switching.

I contacted the front desk and decided to go ahead and spring for a balcony ocean front room and I am so glad I did. It cost us an extra $30 a night, and we really did enjoy the view.

While we were waiting for confirmation on our move, Curt, our personal docent, came by to show us the snacks and drinks which had already been placed in the room for us. He suggested we relax while the details of our move were sorted, so the kids celebrated our arrival with the Snickers bar, Sprite and waters left for us.

Once we moved down the hall, Curt explained that he was there to help in any way. He was happy to steam or iron clothes, shine shoes, bring coffee or tea or help with anything else. (The hotel doesn’t place irons or coffee makers in the room, as they want the guests to be pampered while visiting.)

Curt also came back with a extra snacks and drinks to be sure we had all we would want. He even asked what types of juices the kids might like.

It wasn’t long before we were in our bathing suits and out the door, exploring the ocean.
After digging in the sand and jumping over waves for awhile we made our way to the pool and splashed around there for a bit.

At dinnertime, we took Curt’s advice and hit a local restaurant nearby.

Overall it was a great stay.

Here are my lowlights and highlights of Ocean One:

Ocean One Lowlights:
Tiny bathroom.The bathroom didn’t have space to hang our bathing suits. Most beach hotels offer extra hooks or a string drying line but this one did not. (I did like the shower and its ledge, however. It made it easy to shave my legs. There was only a shower, though, no bathtub, which was fine with us, but might have been inconvenient with a baby.

Not enough towels. Although there were four of us, there were only three bath towels in our bathroom. On our second day we were only given two. I was surprised this detail was overlooked and we weren’t stocked with 4 clean bath towels each day.
Not enough toiletries. Again housekeeping didn’t take into account that there were four of us in the room and did not leave enough toiletries. They were quick to bring more when I requested them, though.

Ocean One Highlights:
Gorgeous and interesting decor. The kids even commented on the artwork and architecture.
Location. The hotel is right on the beach and within easy walking distance to restaurants and shops.
Pool. The pool isn’t huge, but it serves it purpose well and the lounge chairs around it are very comfortable. Plus, the pool is shaded the second half of the day which keeps the deck area from getting too hot in the summer.
Kid-friendly food. They offer all the typical kid-friendly food. Unfortunately you have to ask for it, but I’ll take that over not having the option any day! Plus, the prices for the food were quite reasonable for a hotel.
Azurea resturant. Azurea is a fine dining restaurant, so we opted to give it a try during lunch when it would be more casual. The food was fantastic and I was VERY pleasantly surprised by the prices. Plus it just feels cool in there.

Complimentary DVD players and a use of DVDs. Need I say more? And we ordered warm chocolate chip cookies and milk from room service while we watched the movies. Aaaaah.
Snacks and drinks. The resort fee covers more than enough snacks and drinks in the room which we took to the beach and enjoyed in our room. Perfect!

Staff. Every employee I came into contact with was friendly and accommodating. Even with three young children, I never felt like we were in anyone’s way or were a nuisance. Instead I felt welcomed.
Great overall feel without any stuffiness.

All in all our stay at Ocean One exceeded my expectations. This kids had a blast and I felt relaxed the whole time. The staff was nice, the hotel was beautiful and we enjoyed it all. I would definitely stay there again.

I am glad I decided to splurge on a luxury hotel, and I was pleasantly surprised as to how much ‘extra’ I got from the hotel in terms of service and extras. The hotel definitely had a more expensive feel to it than what I was paying.

Have you ever stayed at Ocean One or another luxury beach resort near Jacksonville? What do you look for in a beach resort stay?

 

 

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Massaging soap bar by Peter Thomas Roth at Hilton Hotels

About  a week before my last stay at a Hilton, I received an email announcing that Peter Thomas Roth toiletries would be featured in Hiltons worldwide. Being one who really isn’t all that picky about toiletries, provided I have enough in the hotel room, I didn’t think much of it, but I did wonder what was in store on my next trip.

Low and behold, at the Hilton Boston Financial District the next week we were treated to these toiletries. I prepared myself for something amazing and, well, they did have a lovely, refreshing citrusy scent and they did the job of getting me and my kids clean.

What made me laugh, though, was the shape of the massaging bar soap.

My seven year old really laughed when I made him wait to shower until I could snap a shot of the massaging soap bar. It’s pretty clever, isn’t it?

Happy showering!

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London, England luxury hotel: 51 Buckingham Gate

Our family of 5 stayed at 51 Buckingham Gate in August 2009 and we were extremely pleased with everything about the hotel.

When we first pulled up, we were taken by the hotel’s beauty, but a bit nervous as to what type of reception we might get in the lobby… we were traveling with 3 children and lots of luggage and had arrived much too early for check-in.

The hotel staff could not have been more pleasant and helpful. They greeted all of us cheerfully into the cozy lobby, stowed our bags and proceeded to tell my husband about an error that had been made on our reservation.

I ushered the kids outside to explore the fountain and courtyard.

When I returned, I learned that the error lead to a very, very pleasant surprise. Due to mistake on the hotel’s part, we had been booked in a junior suite. Upon arrival, they moved us to a 2 bedroom apartment to better accommodate the number in our family, yet still charged us the junior suite rate we had been quoted.

This was almost as good as winning the lottery!

Here’s a quick tour of our apartment in London:

View from the inside of our entryway (and a bit of our mess.)

Kids’ bedroom (We put all 3 in there and they were quite pleased.)

Grown-ups’ bedroom:

Living room:

Dining area off living room:

Eat in kitchen with washer/dryer:

Part of the bathroom

We were overjoyed by all the space and comfort! Plus we were met with a bowl of fresh fruit and flowers. Aaaah!

We weren’t able to check in to the room right away, though, so we took some advice on what to explore and began our London adventure.

When we returned, we were shown to our apartment and all of its amenities. Every tiny detail was met and exceeded by this hotel. Lots of space, wonderful toiletries, helpful staff… they set us up with a picnic blanket on our first evening at a moment’s notice and even had a tiny bathrobe for our three-year old!

One evening we cooked dinner using the kitchen (and it was stocked with all the pots, pans and tools we needed), adding a few extra details from room-service. This was the best of both worlds! (And someone else did the dishes in the morning!!)

Its location was excellent… just a few steps from Buckingham Palace and a short walk to many other top sight-seeing spots. Plus, it was tucked away and very discrete, so we felt a little more like locals than tourists.

The staff was extremely accommodating in helping us plan family outings, a date night with my husband (complete with fantastic dinner reservations and show tickets), acquiring a highly sought-after ticket for a football match, and just answering my (many) questions. The hotel maintains a borrowing library of DVDs, and has a spa and workout facility that looked quite tempting, but I was unable to fit a visit into our short stay.

This hotel was amazing. And what an amazing gift to enjoy it at a much-reduced rate! I hope to get to return sometime… My husband checked into the rates for a smaller room for a potential grown-up getaway.

One last peek at the hotel’s lobby as we walked out:

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