Today’s Pure Barre workout incorporated something new to me!
(Photo Source – And if you think my leg is anywhere close to as straight or high as the women in the above photo, you are very, very wrong.)
This crazy band changed things up a bit and allowed us to engage our arms and core even more than usual throughout the class. Sometimes the core work we do at the end of Pure Barre can get a little redundant, so using this band was a nice change of pace. And it was tough!
Breakfast today included a bowl of my banana egg white oatmeal topped with blueberries and slivered almonds. The pictures wasn’t nearly as attractive as the ones I snapped yesterday since I stirred the blueberries in halfway through and the end result was a pasty looking bowl of blue-gray oatmeal, so I will leave you with this image instead:
It’s better this way, trust me.
Onto some travel talk (my favorite!):
Top Hotels in the World
Last night, as Ryan and I crawled into bed, he told me about an article he saw on CNN yesterday morning that listed Fodor’s top 100 hotels in the world. (You can see the full list on Fodor’s website here.)
Ryan and I talk about traveling all the time and constantly discuss dream vacation destinations and our ongoing “travel bucket list.” We both absolutely love exploring new areas and have fortunately been to some amazing destinations together that serve as some of our fondest memories. Some of my best travel memories are actually from short drivable weekend trips (our first stay at a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine, Florida ranks high on my list!) but of course Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands are hard trips to top.
Last night, when Ryan told me about a handful of the hotels on the list, we started talking about the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in and I began to realize that my criteria for a fantastic hotel is a little skewed. Of course a beautiful hotel with great customer service is important, but I absolutely love hotels that have a warm, friendly ambiance and adore the feel of a family-owned bed and breakfast.
That being said, I think the most luxurious place we’ve ever stayed (for all of one night!) is the Ritz Carlton Powerscourt in Ireland. It was on another level of fancy and the bathrooms even had heated floors. Unreal!
But my favorite place we’ve ever stayed would have to be Little Palm Island in The Keys where we spent two days of our honeymoon!
It was incredible and I loved the way the island felt like it’s own little world. Plus, the food at Little Palm was phenomenal!
And two more of my favorites would have to be The Agustin Inn in St. Augustine (an adorable bed and breakfast) and The Magnolia Inn in Jacksonville, Oregon.
I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I visited The Magnolia Inn right in the middle of autumn when it was decorated with lots of festive fall flare. Too cute!
Now I want to hear about some of your favorite hotels, bed and breakfasts or vacation rentals!! Fill me in!
Questions of the Morning
- Where is the nicest place you’ve ever stayed?
- Of all the places you’ve ever stayed, what place has been your all-time favorite?
- Is there a hotel or bed and breakfast on your “travel bucket list” that you’re dying to stay at in the future?
Ryan and I are both dying to stay at one of the One & Only Resorts some day. They are gorgeous! And after reading Fodor’s recommendations, the Belmond Khwai River Lodge in Botswana and The St. Regis in Bora Bora look unbelievable. A girl can dream!
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The hotels sound INCREDIBLE! But I also like little Bed and Breakfasts that I’ve visited throughout the south. So home-y 🙂
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Andaz in Costa Rica this summer and it was absolute heaven on earth. The only reason we were able to afford it was because they’re a newer hotel and had a 50% off promotion last January. I’m so glad we booked when we did – each room has a rainforest shower that opens to the balcony so you can stare at the ocean while you shower. Best ever!!!
sorry – rain shower head, not rain forest 🙂
That shower sounds incredible!!!! I’ve always wanted to live in a house with a (private) outdoor shower. Not sure that will happen anymore now that we live in NC!
Nicest place I have ever stayed was Canaves Oia in Santorini for our honeymoon 🙂 We stayed for 3 nights (we went island hopping) but it was our favorite. The hotel is literally built into little “caves” and the view was incredible and breathtaking. It was very expensive but totally worth the splurge 🙂
How cool!!! Glad you had such a nice honeymoon destination!
I know you’ve said in the past that you would love to visit Greece…I hope you and Ryan get the chance to someday, it was absolutely AMAZING!
During our trip to Key West we stayed at Casa Marina, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, and it was spectacular. The rooms were gorgeous and the hotel had this luxurious feeling with all of the rich wood detailing and sprawling views of the ocean.
Another one of my favorite properties was Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica. The rooms were a bit dated, but the resort as a whole was incredible. Some of the rooms were in a very jungle-ish setting and the beach was one of the best in the world. And the food was out of this world incredible!
We are dying to make it to Fiji or the Maldives and stay in one of the huts over the water. I couldn’t imagine waking up to that crystal blue water every morning and jumping in first thing!
YESSSS. Staying in a hut over the water is a DREAM of mine. Have you seen the pictures from The One & Only resort in the Maldives? Incredible!
Yes, actually my brother-in-law, his wife and their two boys stayed in the Maldives this past May and I couldn’t have been more jealous of their trip! They even had family photos taken there because it was so breathtaking.
I don’t know if you’ve ever read Eat Pray Love but I’m dyyyyyying to stay at the hotel Liz stayed at in Bali!
We went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon, and pretty much any of those hotels there are a DREAM! Even in person, it doesn’t seem real that something could be so pretty!
What an awesome honeymoon destination!
We stayed at the Ritz in Laguna Niguel, CA (right outside of Laguna Beach). The resort is set on top of these beautiful massive cliffs overlooking the Pacific. There’s an outdoor “patio” that jets out of the hotel over the ocean. At night on the patio, there are firepits, cozy couches and an amazing solo acoustic guitarist. Their gym is complete with floor to ceiling windows that also look out to the water. Google it! It’s so worth looking at and drooling over the photos. I find myself from time to time, daydreaming of the 2 days we spent there. Incredible!
LOVE that place!! It’s amazing to go when it’s foggy out and you feel like you’re on top of the clouds. Then as the fog breaks you see you’re overlooking the Pacific!
I love that you mentioned Little Palm Island! I live about 3 hours from the keys and have been dying to make a weekend trip but wasn’t sure where to stay!
Nicest place I’ve ever stayed is probably the Grand Wailea in Maui or the St. Regis in NYC (Tyra Banks sat next to us while we ate breakfast so we felt fancy). I really prefer vacations in a little beach villa with a fun group of people though!
I think my favorite hotel I’ve stayed in was in small town Austria in the mountains. It was only 3 floors and was so cute! There was ivy growing on the outside of it. It really had a homey feel to it.
When I was in college, my mom had a business trip to Nashville and I tagged along. We stayed where her conference was, at the Gaylord Opryland resort – and I did not step foot outside the hotel for three days! It has its own little village (river, main street, and all!) INSIDE the hotel. Google photos of it, it’s kind of crazy, but was super fun!
I’m not really into traveling… I like the “idea” of it much more than the reality of it. My nerves just get the best of me and I can’t relax. BUT you and I are on the same page about Bora Bora. Oh, my. I would LOVE to go there and stay in the little huts on the water. So gorgeous.
When i was growing up my dad would receive travel coupons as bonuses for high sales. He was excellent at his job and so we got a lot of coupons! We would usually save them up (I actually remember my parents helping me to save my pennies and such when I was really little haha) and every few years we would go a big vacation somewhere and stay in a Ritz-Carleton hotel. It was AMAZING! My favorite was probably the ritz-carleton which was eventually sold to another hotel chain in Montreal bc it was just the coolest old hotel with amazing art deco architecture and really cool features and traditions. They also had a hot chocolate butler (yes a BUTLER) that would have a cart out in the lobby from 4-6 or something and was ON CALL to your hotel room at any time. SOO cool!
Another favorite was a Ritz-Carleton resort in Portugal, about an hour outside of Lisbon. I was the most gorgeous area! It was also on a big hill so we could see practically the whole (small) country. Our room overlooked a rooftop garden and we could hear all kinds of crazy birds and animals making noise each morning.
I also stayed for a weekend at a winery in southern, MD with my boyfriend last fall. It was basically a huge property with vineyards, a little creek, and some cottages. It was the best! We just relaxed, ate good food, and enjoyed the fall decor.
And I can’t forget to mention the Ritz-Carleton in Tokyo. The building was like 90 stories tall and the hotel was only on floors 30-40 or something and the elevator went so fast your ears popped! We also stayed on a floor with a special dining room. They would ask for your food preferences and each day serve you some options based on what you liked, as well as full access to a buffet at each meal. The combination of the great service and some more traditional aspects of the Japanese culture was something I will never forget. They also gave us small gifts when we left including a pink kids t-shirt for me (I was 15 looking like 12…), some fancy tea for my mom, and a popular snack food for my dad. THe day we left the staff from the floor we stayed on walked us down to the shuttle bus and continuously bowed while we drove away in the shuttle bus and said “we’ll miss you!” Such a crazy experience!
For our honeymoon, my husband and I stayed at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. There are NO words to describe our bungalow over the water or the beautiful sunsets.
I feel like Barre and ballet classes are perfect for those “this is what I think I look like… this is what I really look like” memes. Too funny! I’m always the one with my leg like a half inch off the floor. 🙂
You and me both, friend. 🙂
Is it weird that talking about hotels gets me so excited? I love visiting new places and staying at hotels. My favorite hotel is probably The Belvedere in NYC. It’s incredibly close to Times Square, but is on such a quiet little street. I might like to pretend that I live there when I visit : )
I love it, too! I really could talk about travel all day long. 🙂
I love talking travel! My husband and I adore our favorite places (& keep returning to them), and try to road trip so we can discover small towns we’d like to return to another time. The Keys are a special place to us…..we got engaged while parasailing in the Keys. We stayed at Tranquility Bay in Marathon which was beautiful! Also unique in that large dragon lizards run free, and rescue cats populate the grounds. (animal lovers and easily entertained) We’ve also rented cabins in the Smokey Mountains and Colorado. We are mountain LOVERS! So whenever we can get away from the tourist crowds and enjoy beautiful views, we are game. We would LOVE to hit Australia and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef! That’s our ultimate dream!
I stay at the Ista in India for business. My room was posh but what made it cool was that I had my own butler.
My best “hotel” memory was actually at a hostel while I was studying abroad. One weekend a group of my classmates and I when to Sorrento, Italy for the weekend. The hostel we stayed out was super cheap {like $20 a night} but was super modern. The best part was the AMAZING rooftop terrace that overlooked the cliffs and Mediterranean ocean. It was the perfect spot to watch the sunset. The second best part was the hostel had A/C! After a summer with A/C, those two nights were glorious!
Hi Julie! First of all, I love it when a barre class includes using the resistance band, because it’s a good tool for work as well as an assistant for stretching at the end. Second of all, I go back and forth between whether I love space and luxury, or super cute and charming for hotels. One of the nicest hotels I’ve been is the Ritz in Amelia Island, as well as a Ritz in Tahoe, which also had heated floors. I just love traveling so much, any hotel is fine.
I stayed at that same hotel in Amelia Island and it’s stunning. I’d love to go back!
My favorite hotel I have stayed in with my husband was a tiny B&B in Rome called BB Colosseo. It was two blocks away from the coliseum, our room had an ensuite bathroom and a balcony that over looked the coliseum. It was unreal! Tourists would take our picture from the street, as we sat drinking wine and enjoying the view from our balcony. The best part was we randomly scored this gem on Priceline for all of 45 euros a night!
I *love* those bands in Pure Barre! We only have one teacher that uses them, so I try to take her class all the time… but she doesn’t use them all the time.. 🙁 I like switching it up!
The nicest place we ever stayed, and it is still my FAV to this day, was in New York City, we stayed at a hotel called The Bentley. It is AMAZING! But, we were a bit spoiled with the room! I booked off of Agoda… which I have never done before, so I was a little nervous. It was for a “Delux King” and the photo on the website showed a corner room (nearly floor to ceiling windows across the entire room!!). I was like, “no way are we going to get that room.” Well… upon our arrival, we start walking down the hall (on the 14 floor I think…) and we are nearing the end of the hall and I am jumping up and down! It was the corner room and it was magnificent!
We had a view of the Queenboro Bridge; the hotel was right on the East River. Perfect location too! 61st & York, so it was away from the touristy areas (it was more residential here) and right by the UN building… very quiet, but you still got the city feel. We LOVED it!!
PS – Had my first Cinnamon Dolce Cappuccino today! Heaven! 🙂
Woohooo for cinnamon dolce!! 🙂 Ha!
The Proximity Hotel in Greensboro where we stayed for our wedding is one of the best/nicest places we’ve ever stayed. I could practically swim in the bathtub!
As weird as it sounds, one of my favorites was Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. For my friends 21st birthday, her parents rented one of the massive suites and it was amazing. Pool table, killer views, stripper pole in the shower! haha It was a blast!
Side note – since you haven’t picked a gym yet and are sticking mostly to barre, what has Ryan been doing for workouts?
He joined a local gym… but I’m not sure it’s one I want to join b/c I am really big into group exercise classes and I don’t really love their options.
Santorini is by far my favorite place in the world! We stayed at Absolute Bliss in one of the smaller villages called Imerovigli and it was amazing. We had breakfast (whatever you wanted on a pretty expansive menu) delivered to our balcony each morning. Sigh, I want to go back!
The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco! Complete with blackout curtains…my dream 😀 It was THE BEST NIGHT (and into early afternoon) SLEEP I HAVE EVER HAD!!! Plus the Tonga Room has a floating dance floor. Happy Times 😀
I LOVE BLACKOUT CURTAINS. They are amazing. Dying to get some for our new house!
I really haven’t traveled anywhere near as much as I’d like to! We’re going on our honeymoon over Thanksgiving this year to Puerto Vallarta – so I”m pretty excited about that 🙂 We’ll be staying at an all-inclusive on the beach
Oh man I want to travel EVERYWHERE! I’ve been lucky to go to some great places but have totally been bitten by the travel bug and want to go everywhere!
Oops I cant type: I’ve been lucky to go to some great places but have totally been bitten by the travel bug and am always thinking about the next place I want to go.** I really want to go to Puerto Rico and Ireland!
I always notice little details too – like the heated floors that you had in Ireland!
Fun question! I think for me it is the two hotels I stayed at when I went to London and Paris with my mom. The Hyatt Regency Churchill in London and the Intercontinental Paris. Beautiful!
My boyfriend and I live in Boston. We had just taken a bus back from NYC and were walking home.
Needing a bathroom (hello, travel hydration!), we popped into the Ritz Carlton, luggage in tow. For those few minutes, we were treated like royalty! The clerk watched our bags, and the valet offered us “transportation” as we rolled out. We’re walkers through and through, but it was definitely fun to live in that world for a few moments. 🙂
I hardly ever travel so I don’t know what a good hotel is like because I’ve only been to chesp inns! Wow could i ever live the life of luxury at a five star hotel…
Those bands look like a lot of fun!!! I was pumping air into soccer/basketball/rubber balls last night at my job, and it reminded me so much of resistance training. Now I really want to get a resistance band because I’m super sore this morning haha although I did do that for 4 hours last night.
The nicest place I’ve ever stayed was at the Ritz in San Juan, Puerto Rico (I could never afford it myself, my fiance won the trip with his company). But my favorite places to stay while traveling is always airbnb. I love being able to buy groceries and cook for myself, and all the space of someone’s home compared to a hotel room, and the total privacy. Plus it’s almost always cheaper. My fiance proposed while we were away in the poconos, and the place we stayed at was an adorable log cabin with all these old school country touches. The owners left us wine and chocolates and dropped off freshly chopped wood in a wheelbarrow on the porch, and their place backed up to a river with mountain views and we just sat outside drinking wine on the back deck all night. Bliss!
The St. Regis in Bora Bora looks amazing! I have always wanted to stay in a private villa on the water! I love the big all inclusive resorts in tropical locations, but my favorite hotel stay is a tiny hotel in Playa del Carmen. The resort is called Sunset Fisherman and is definitely not fancy. It is just really small and you get to know most of the other guests….plus it is walking distance to town. Great for a really fun and relaxing vacation.
Oh man, I can talk about travel all day. Nicest place I’ve ever stayed is the Ritz Carleton Grand Cayman. Another favorite is the Playacar Palace resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where I got married. So pretty!
We stayed at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria, BC and it was really beautiful. The views were the best part!
Ever since I watched the movie Serendipity, I’ve wanted to stay at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. That’ll probably stay on the “dare to dream” list for awhile!
We stayed at the most amazing hotel in Antigua for our honeymoon this spring. It’s called Cocos Hotel and the “hotel” is really 29 private cottages situated on a hillside bluff right next to a beautiful beach. We splurged and went for the nicest room which had panoramic ocean views and an outdoor shower which was awesome! The staff at Cocos was also incredible, the food was amazing and, of course, the beach was great too. It was the perfect place for a romantic getaway and we both loved everything about it!
My husband and I alllllways have the “if you had all the money in the world, where would you travel” talk haha! It’s so much fun, and I love looking up new hotels and adventures!
Having said that, we LOVE visiting Las Vegas. Neither of us are big drinkers or gamblers, but something about the atmosphere there is so much fun. We’ve been going for years, and actually, there is a great loyalty reward program called “M Life”. It’s free to sign up when you’re there at any of the M Life hotels (Bellagio, Aria, MGM, Mirage, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, among others). We signed up during our first trip at Aria, and after that, we literally have stayed at Aria’s sky suites for free with food and beverage credits every time since! The suites are honestly amazing, and it has a great fitness center, to boot! Clearly, I’m a fan haha… we’re actually going there next Friday, and I can’t wait! I’ll be sure to blog about the trip, the rewards program, and the hotel!
The Maldives is on my list of fantasy vacations. I want to stay in one of those bungalows above the water one day… I can’t even imagine how beautiful it is there!
Haha, that is why barre scares me!! I would be the inflexible one! Three nicest places I’ve stated: Boca Raton Resort and Club (Boca Raton, FL); La Punta Islita (Costa Rica); and The Four Seasons Manele Bay (Lana’i, Hawaii). All three have amazing beaches, phenomenal customer service, and insane accommodations! Next place on the list: Paris.
This just made me feel like I’ve been bit by the travel bug!
I love really cool historic hotels, they’re so interesting to me!
My absolute favorite hotel was the Hay-Adams in Washington D.C. We went there for our honeymoon, and it was so wonderful! However, there’s a wonderful little cabin for rent in Pagosa Springs, CO (just Google Incredible Pagosa) that has my heart. It’s perfect for a couple, and so homey. Plus, the owners were wonderful to work with and even chat with during our vacation. I want to live there 🙂
I need to get out more. The nicest place I’d LIKE to stay is in a cute cottage somewhere rural where I can cook and do trail runs.
You’ve inspired me to try my first Barre class! Next Tuesday…yikes.
Good luck!! Hope you love it!
I got to spend one night at the Montage Laguna Beach for work and I seriously never wanted to leave my room. I needed a running start to jump into the bed, the whole hotel was painted the most amazing color of yellow and of course, the waves were crashing right outside my balcony. I was so, so sad that it was only for one night.
I bet the Magnolia Inn in Oregon was just gorgeous! My in-laws live in Oregon so I’m adding it to my list of places to see when we visit 🙂 Thank you! And being there in autulm would be iciing on the cake – fall in the Pacific NorthWest is hard to beat! 🙂
You will love it! It’s adorable and the owners are so, so friendly and welcoming.
I love the Augustin Inn! It’s so cute and one of my all-time fav B&Bs. Also… um The Plaza in NYC was pretty unreal! I dream of getting to stay there again in the future. The coolest place I’ve ever stayed in The Hidden Canopy Treehouse Hotel in Monteverde, Costa Rica. We literally stayed in fancy tree houses in the cloud forest with views of wildlife through a glass ceiling! It was too cool! http://www.hiddencanopy.com/p/user/home.php <3
I ran my very first half marathon with one of my best friends from college, and her parents booked a room at The Palmer House in downtown Chicago for the occasion. Staying at the Palmer House alone would’ve been amazing, but they got a room on the Diamond Level, which made it out-of-this-world awesome. Too bad I was too nervous to really appreciate things! Haha.
I haven’t stayed at a lot of places since I’ve “grown up” (still too young [read: too poor] to travel haha), so my favorite places are from when I was younger. My family took a three week road trip out west when I was 12, and we stayed at this motel outside Glacier National Park that gave us the COOLEST room of my LIFE. There was a teepee INSIDE THE ROOM. I kid you not. It was a two-story room so it was tall enough to fit the teepee, and my parents let my sister and I have the bed inside the teepee while they slept in another part of the room. I have no clue what the place what it was called, but man oh man was it awesome. Also, they had a real live parrot in their dining room that would talk to you, soo…yeah. Pretty much the coolest thing ever.
Our favorite hotel is the Anse Chastanet in St. Lucia. It was open aired with just 3 walls and overlooked the beautiful Piton Mountains. The resort-within-the-resort is Jade Mountain, and it looks even more amazing than where we stayed, with private plunge pools in each room and also open aired with just 3 walls. The views are phenomenal. That’s on my bucket list to go back. We had our own private butler, amazing food, and it was by far the nicest and most romantic place we’ve ever been to. Super expensive but worth it!
And lately I have loved booking VRBOs, rather than hotels, now that we have kids and dogs. It’s so much easier to stay in a cute little home with a kitchen and extra bedrooms, and I feel like you can fully immerse yourself in the culture.
That was where we were going to stay on our honeymoon!!!!!!!!! Our trip ended up canceled at the last minute due to a hurricane (Oct. 2010) but it looked like the most amazing place!
That’s how you spell it!!!! I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about honeymoons & she just recommended going there. I wanted to google it & I had NO clue how to spell it! I must check it out now 🙂
I’ve gone to a few places where we stayed with locals which is always fun! I liked our resort on our honeymoon-it was all inclusive which was perfect for us then!
When I was working in Xiamen, China we stayed at Le Meredian. It was amazing and so beautiful. The only problem was the taxi drivers don’t speak any English and have no idea what Le Mereidan is when you say it to them. Getting back to the hotel was always an adventure.
I live in Ashland, OR–right by Jacksonville! I love that whole town. Love love love it. The Britt trails are a favorite place for my roommate and I to run, and now I want to stay at The Magnolia just for fun 🙂 I love ‘vacations’ from out of town, even if it is just a town so many miles away!
We stayed at Secrets Silversands in Cancun, which is GORGEOUS. I stayed at the Doubletree in Key West, which was really nice as well.