Dorado Beach, A Ritz Carlton Reserve Review

I'm back and 30!! Last week Andrew and I went to Puerto Rico for my birthday trip, and we had the absolute best time. I wanted to share some bits about the hotel and answer some questions you guys had. I'll be back tomorrow with dedicated outfit links for everything I wore!

My Favorite Nantucket Hotel

A little overdue but had to share my absolute favorite place to stay while in Nantucket so you can experience it for yourself next time you're on the island! 

The Merrion Hotel - Dublin, Ireland

So excited to share our stay and hotel from Dublin! We had the best time and a lot of it was thanks to The Merrion. Get your bucket list ready because this hotel is one for the books!

48 Hours In Vegas

Remember when I went to Vegas?? Feels like forever ago! Yea well, I had a blast and I wanted to share what we did in our short 48 hours (which is like a full week in Las Vegas!)

Taconic Hotel, Manchester Vermont

Wanted to review my time and stay at Taconic Hotel in Vermont from the other weekend. You guys are going to fall in love with this place like I did so be prepared! It was one of my favorite hotels ever! See why below...

21 Broad Nantucket

Sandals Emerald Bay Great Exuma (& Video Recap)

Today I'm reviewing my stay at Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma. I had SUCH an amazing time I can't wait to show you guys this place, it's seriously magical!

Sandos Mexico Resorts (& Video Recap)

Jewel Paradise Cove Jamaica (& Video Recap)

I'm here to finally recap our stay in Jamaica! As most of you remember, Andrew and I went there over New Year's break and had a blast. We went zip lining, kayaking, snorkeling, stand-up paddle boarding, rode a sailboat, swam in a luminous lagoon and had the time of our lives! 

So today I thought I would share the amazing place that made all of this happen: our hotel! Read more below!

Zen Oasis Club Med Punta Cana (& Video Recap)

GUYS! I am SO excited to share my recent trip to Punta Cana with you! This was by far the best vacation I had ever been on and it was all thanks to this amazing all inclusive resort that I never knew about: Club Med. I jam-packed a week's worth of relaxing and fun into a few short days for you but I think you're going to love it anyway. 

Omni San Francisco Hotel

Travel Tuesday: Sonesta Resort Hilton Head South Carolina

I'm back with the final installment of Travel Tuesday from South Carolina. You can check out last week's day by day recap here!

WHERE WE STAYED: Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

The view from our room

LOCATION: One of my favorite things about Sonesta is how close it is to the beach. Just a few steps from the hotel room you find yourself met with the boardwalk to heaven (well that's what I call it at least). I mean, look at this view:

What I also love about the location of the hotel is that it's super secluded. The hotel is in the Shipyard Plantation and it's about a five minute drive from the entrance to the hotel. Driving through, you're surrounded by lots of greenery, a couple of condos, a golf course and water. It's a great little scenic drive. And outside the hotel you're right in the middle of it all. Anywhere we wanted to go was about a 10 minute drive. 

THE ROOM: The room was a regular double bed room, but with a killer balcony view! We faced inside the resort so we overlooked the pool and lounge area. The beds were comfortable and the decor was updated, which was nice. I loved the lighting and especially in the bathroom! OMG! You can't really tell from the photo below but it was legit #SoManySelfies

AMENITIES: I'm lucky to say I was able to really take full advantage of the amenities at Sonesta. We were treated to a day at the spa and it was awesome. It was very relaxing and it's always a plus when you're greeted with lavender infused champagne before your massage. I obviously didn't get any pictures during the treatment, but I can say that the massage was by far the best one I've ever had! 

One of the other amenities the hotel offered that I was able to take advantage of was the bike rental. For just a few bucks you could rent a bike. I did this last time I was at Sonesta and I made sure to not miss it again. I just love the peacefulness of riding a bike up and down the beach looking at the water. It's truly amazing and I highly suggest it no matter where you are!

FOOD: O M G the food. It was SO good. I'll admit that I ate a lot this weekend and I don't think there was one thing I didn't enjoy. The food was just amazing. Everything from breakfast to dessertwas just so good! They have three different restaurants in the hotel to choose from, each serving different items and different meals during the day.

Like the fattie I am, I had to try all three several times each. I swear we were only there for a few days and yet I found myself eating 80% of the time and visiting every restaurant twice, which is totally not a bad thing. It's always really nice when you don't have to leave the resort to find a good meal. The convenience is really clutch! My compliments to the chef!

THE RESORT: What can I say? This place is breathtaking. These photos are completely unedited. The clouds were in my favor that day! When you walk outside from the lobby you are met with the zero gravity pool, a ton of seating areas and a couple of hot tubs. Walk a little further and you are met with a small pond, some cabanas, a beautiful bridge and a ton of trees. Go any further and you're at the beach.

Can't get much better than that, right? You can tell Sonesta put a lot of time and effort into making this place truly amazing. What an excellent job they did! 

Overall my experience was outstanding. I've been here once before and I didn't think my memories would live up to all the hype in my head but boy was I mistaken. This trip only solidified the fact that I love this resort and that I want need to come back in the summertime! I can only imagine how the resort lights up in the season. If you ever find yourself in Hilton Head and needing a place to stay, be sure to check out Sonesta. I promise you'll love it!

Travel Tuesday: Washington DC

Before we start, a little side note about my travel schedule. As you know, I was in Hilton Head for the weekend with some friends. I was originally flying out of Savannah last night BUT the blizzard in New York has me stranded until Wednesday. So instead of being alone for a few days in SC, I changed my flight to fly out of Charlotte and drove back with Caitlin. Ugh, right? Thanks for all the check up tweets/emails! All is well. Just avoiding the weather by not going home haha.

I'm (obviously) a weekend behind with my Travel Tuesday posts. I will recap my trip to Hilton Head next week so be sure to check back! 

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FRIDAY

Today we're recapping my trip (from two weekends ago) to DC. I had been there once before last year with Andrew (you can recap day 1 and day 2 here) and we loved it. We were able to fit so much into two days there and going back this time we were ready for a more relaxing visit.

We left early from work and hopped on a train down to DC. What's great about living on the East Coast and especially in New York is that there are so many accessible cities a train ride away. We take the Amtrak down and it's really easy. They have comfortable seats, on board restrooms and Wifi! Next thing we knew we were there. 

Sweater / Watch / Bracelet / Wallet

This time we stayed at the Donovan House Hotel and loved it. The hotel itself was very cool, modern and was the perfect little boutique hotel for our trip. I love hotels like this because they really take time to style and manage their hotel to keep up with the uber cool feel. 

We were welcomed with a bottle of wine, a plate of cheese and a killer view. The staff were also very welcoming, helpful and were always on top of their game. I would recommend checking out the hotel if you're visiting the area. It ended up being the perfect location too. Just a simple walk in any direction brought you to all the places you needed to be in DC. 

Andrew had to pull me away from these hanging chairs... Like a rocking chair by 10x better!

Shoes (on sale!) / Leggings / Jacket / Sweater

Did I mention the view?!

Shoes / Jeans / Poncho / Sweater

After we dropped our bags, we were off the the Warner Theatre to see John Mulaney! The theatre was beautiful inside and we had a great time at the show. It was my first time seeing a stand up show and they are so much better in real life. I couldn't stop smiling. We also managed to snag some killer seats (like front front row) and that was an equally cool experience. 

SATURDAY

On Saturday we were welcomed with some beautiful weather. Our last trip to DC was met with lots of clouds and snow so seeing the sun this time around really made a difference.

One of the things I wanted to do last trip but didn't get to was to go to the top of the Washington Monument. I wanted to climb to the top (I have this bucket list need to climb to the top of famous monuments) but there was only an option to take the elevator. And that's what we did. 

Scarf / Jacket

We didn't have tickets ahead of time, so we woke up early, met our friends Dan and Kaylee and went right when it opened to avoid a crazy long line. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes and then walked right up. It was really exciting to see from the top. You could see just about all the surrounding states. That's how high up we were. There was also a lot of really cool information about the building of the monument. Did you know that it's two different colors because there was a pause in construction due to lack of money caused by funding the Civil War? They picked back up the building process 25 years after they first started!

The views were breathtaking (just don't look down) and would be even more amazing in the spring when everything is bright and beautiful! I would definitely check it out next time you're in town.

After the monument we walked over to the Archives and then we were off to brunch. DC does this bottomless all-you-can-eat AND drink brunch thing and of course we had to take advantage. We ended up finding a table at Masa 14 and had ourselves a four hour brunch. I'm pretty sure we ordered one of everything from the menu and about six pitchers of mimosas. #yolo kids.

Sunglasses / Poncho / Sweater 

After that whirlwind of a brunch, we watched the UK game and took a nice long nap to rest up before dinner. 

Last year we found this amazing place called Firefly. It's a little farm to table restaurant near Dupont Circle. To this day we still talk about how amazing our dinner was -- it was that memorable -- so of course we had to find our way back this trip. And alas, the meal was just as good as I remembered!

SUNDAY

On Sunday we were met with rain (boooo) and made our way to Busboys and Poets for brunch. Brunch. was. ahh-mazing. The place was such a cool spot. Like a library/restaurant/coffee shop that I obviously can't explain, but I hope you just get it haha. 

After brunch we had time to kill and went to the international spy museum. My phone was pretty much dying so I wasn't able to take a lot of photos but it was a good time. Only regret was not taking the option of the "operation spy" tour. It's like a interactive tour where you actually pretend your a spy and have an adventure. I personally am convinced that it's a secret recruiting agency for spies but that's just me... 

After that we had a few more hours before our train ride home and we went to dinner at Bluejacket Brewery near the water. The food was 10x better than anything you'd ever expect and it was like a new age brewery (aka cool ambiance). If you're there get the sweet potato gnocchi! Heaven in my mouth. All and all it was a great ending to the weekend.

 

 Then it was back to NYC and that was my weekend! Hope you enjoyed. I'll be back next week with my trip to Hilton Head.

Luggage / Leggings / Sneakers / Sweater / Shirt / Watch / Bracelet / DY Bracelet