travel – Page 2

Our Stay at Four Seasons Orlando

March 14, 2023

two women with three little boys standing with Mickey mouse four seasons orlando

The kids’ first trip to Disney World was better than we could have imagined! We knew it was going to be fun, but it truly is such a magical place for all ages. We stayed at Four Seasons Orlando and it is such a special place for families!

breakfast on the balcony patio four seasons orlando

toasting with margaritea and sunset view

Rooms

We stayed in a Park View Suite which was great for our family. It has a king bedroom with bathroom and the living room couch is a pull out sofa. There is also another full bathroom adjacent to the living area which was great for the boys to share. There was so much room and the closet space was huge! I like to get everyone unpacked and organized when we get to our room and I had so much space to do that. One of the things we loved the most was the balcony overlooking the pool and out to the parks! I’m the first one up, so I would take my coffee out there and read while I was waiting for everyone else to wake up. It was so peaceful! We also loved watching the Disney World fireworks at night from our balcony, right before getting the boys in bed. Also, the boys loved taking baths and watching tv in the mirror of the bathroom 🙂

Restaurants

We ate all of our meals at the hotel. There are a lot of restaurants and variety, which was great since the kids were so tired at night and not up for leaving the hotel!

Room service: If you book a room with balcony, I highly recommend room service one morning! We did this the morning after we got there. Our flight was delayed, so we ended up making it to the hotel at 11 pm. I ordered room service when we got to the room to be delivered at 9 am. We enjoyed it on the balcony and then headed to the parks for our first day!
Ravello: The Four Seasons does a character breakfast on Thursday/Saturday mornings. We did this on our pool day, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast and the kids loved meeting Goofy, Mickey and Minnie in person. It was so cute and definitely a highlight for everyone. The breakfast books up quickly, so make your reservation as soon as you can!
Lickety Split: This is a little coffee shop in the hotel and we did a quick breakfast here two days. The coffee was great! They also have snacks, wraps, sandwiches, etc that we grabbed to take for lunch on the second day we did the parks.
PB&G: This is the pool restaurant and we ate here during our two pool days. The fish tacos were amazing and so was the margarita!
The Lobby Bar: We ate here for dinner after our first day at Disney. The kids were exhausted and so were we! We were dropped off and went right into the Lobby Bar for dinner. We sat on the patio and saw the most beautiful sunset, and food was good! It was quick and perfect for us after our first day.
Capa: We ate in the restaurant on our third night and then the Capa Bar on our fourth night. It’s located on the 17th floor of the hotel and the views are beautiful. Highly recommend getting a reservation around sunset – we had the most beautiful sunsets while we were there! It is a tapas and steakhouse, so one night we did more Spanish styled tapas and the next we did more of a steakhouse dinner. Both amazing and highly recommend! While we were there, the fireworks went off. Our waiter always told us a few minutes before so we were able to make our way to the balcony to watch!

PS: Capa is a Michelin-starred restaurant, but don’t let that deter you from taking the kids! There is a children’s menu and the staff couldn’t have been kinder or more accommodating. Ford really wanted a burger, which wasn’t on the children’s menu, so they went downstairs to the other restaurant and got one for him 🙂

What to do:

We all said that we would come back and stay at the hotel again, even without going back to Disney! There is so much to do at the resort!

Character Breakfast: It was so cute and fun and we highly recommend! There are so many great opportunities for individual pictures with the characters and they interact to sweetly with the kids.
Pool day: We had two pool days in between our park days. The resort has an adults only pool, infinity family pool, splash pad pool, water slides and lazy river. There is SO much to do and we spent two full days out by the pool.
Kids for All Seasons: The kids club is located right next to the splash pad pool and the family pool. My two oldest went one afternoon for the scavenger hunt and crafts and I had to pull them away to get changed for our flight! They loved all the fun activities.
Dive in Movie: There is a dive in movie night and Saturday during for lunch. We did the one during lunch Saturday and the kids loved it.
Golf: The guys didn’t bring their golf clubs, but next time they will!

What to know:

Book a park view room to see the Disney fireworks
Kids 5 & under eat free at the restaurants
The character breakfast books up very quickly- book as soon as possible!
FS Orlando has shuttle transportation to/from the parks
They have an adults only pool and it’s beautiful! We didn’t spend any time here, but next time would check it out while the kids are at the kids club.
The Kids for All Seasons has a parents night out.
We booked airport transportation through FS Orlando and it was seamless. We met our driver in the baggage claim and we got right to the car with car seats already installed, etc.

What to Pack

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

Couples Getaway at Rosewood Baha Mar

February 22, 2023

woman in bikini sipping a drink by the pool

Caleb and I just got back from the most wonderful stay at Rosewood Baha Mar. It was a great time of relaxing together, reading, eating good food and totally enjoying being away, just the two of us! The convenience of getting to Baha Mar makes it that much more enjoyable. From Dallas, you can fly direct into Nassau (only a 2.5 hr flight) and it’s just a 10-15 min drive from the airport to the resort. So easy!

What We Loved About the Rosewood Baha Mar:

The service was amazing. From the moment we walked into the resort, the service was impeccable! Every little detail was thought of!
We had the best meals and the restaurants are beautiful. We especially loved Café Boulud and Costa. We had lunch every day at the pool and coffee at the Library.
The interiors are stunning! The hotel is so beautifully done, from the rooms/bathrooms, to restaurants, bars, library, etc
We went with the intention of just relaxing and it was the perfect place to do that. The hotel was at high occupancy, but it didn’t feel that way. The lounges at the pool and beach are spread out, the service was top notch. The two pools wind down through the landscaping so there are lots of private areas, day beds, etc!
The spa was one of the most unique experiences I’ve had. Your treatment room is also where you change into your robe and can enjoy a private outside patio space. So tranquil!
The Rosewood has its own private pools and beach for hotel guests only to access.
If you are interested in playing golf, going to the water park, visiting the sanctuary and aquarium pool, going to the casino or doing putt-putt, it’s all available for Rosewood guests to enjoy. All the activities are so close to the Rosewood- just a quick walk from the hotel along the beach!

What I Packed for the Bahamas:

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

Jackson Hole

December 6, 2022

two women with three little boys standing in the snow under the antler arch jackson WY

Every year after Thanksgiving, we go on a family ski trip. It’s been the best tradition and the boys love getting a taste of the mountains and snow! This year we decided to head to Jackson Hole, Wyoming – a place none of us have been before. We loved our time in Jackson Hole. Such a charming place and all the snow we got made it even more magical!

family ski fitting at ski concierge FS jackson hole

How to get there:

We flew American Airlines direct from Dallas. They have one flight a day into Jackson. The flight was a quick 2.5 hour flight. It’s a small airport, which is nice. The kids loved getting on/off the plane outside. Plus, the view of the mountains is incredible!

Where to Stay

Since this was a ski trip, we decided to stay in Teton Village (this is where the ski resort is). There are a few hotels and also houses to rent. We opted to stay at Four Seasons Jackson Hole and we’re so happy we did. It’s in the heart of the ski resort and we had the best views of the ski slopes from our room and the restaurants.
Type of room: The five of us had a mountain side one bedroom suite, which was perfect for the size of our family. We had plenty of space, two bathrooms, a table that sat us and my parents for breakfast in the morning and the largest closet (so many of you couldn’t get over it!). My parents stayed in the mountain side room and it was great for them! The rooms were renovated over the summer and beautiful! We had cosy fireplaces and patios with beautiful views to watch the snow come down.
Convenience: I can’t explain how convenient staying here was! We did ski rentals on site at the hotel, ski school was right next door and ski-in and ski-out made it so much easier (and fun) with kids.
Spa: After our second day of skiing, we opted for the spa and it was much needed! The treatments were so relaxing and we enjoyed the steam room and hot and cold plunge pools before our treatments. The spa has such a cozy relaxation room with large fireplace. We decided to do the spa in the evening on the day we had pizza in the room. It was very relaxing!
Pool: The outdoor pool/hot tubs are right off the ski slopes, so we relaxed in the heated hot tubs and got to watch the last skiers finish. The boys loved moving from the heated pool to the heated hot tubs. I wasn’t brave enough to go back and forth in the cold!
Champagne igloo: The Moet & Chandon champagne bar “Fahrenheit Forty-Seven” opened while we were there. It’s an “igloo” outside the hotel and it’s the perfect sport for aprés-ski! The whole backside of the igloo is opened to the ski slopes, so you feel like you are right there. We loved it!
Special touches: There were so many thoughtful, special touches during our stay. A toy for the kids at check-in, hot chocolate anytime they wanted, s’more kits and in-room amenities each evening: charcuterie boards and wine, popcorn and huckleberry soda, chocolate chip cookies and milk, etc.

Where to Eat

Ascent Bar: This was the lobby bar at the hotel and we got a snack in here for lunch the day we got in. It has great views of the ski slopes and we had so many good things to eat here.
The Handle Bar: The best place to stop for lunch. Located in the Four Seasons, we would ski right up to it and have lunch. This spot get very busy at lunch and they only take reservations for hotel guests. Otherwise, it’s a wait list. We also went for après ski a few times to get pretzels and hot chocolate for the boys and a margarita for us.
Calico: This is on the road from Teton Village to Jackson. We had a great first dinner here. It was so cozy, the italian food hit the spot and we all loved it.
Westbank Grill: This is onsite at the Four Seasons and it is a delicious steakhouse. We were pretty tired after a day of skiing, and it was warm, inviting and with so many delicious options. The twice baked potato hit the spot after skiing all day and so did the steaks.
Il Villagio Osteria: We ordered pizza and salad from here one night and we highly recommend! Within walking distance and everything was delicious.
Persephone: We loved getting coffee and pastries here! So cute and good.

A lot of the restaurants we were wanting to try had not opened yet for ski season. In hind sight, it worked out well for us because the kids (and we) were beat from skiing!

Skiing

Pre-reserve your lift tickets/ski school prior to your trip!
The boys had the best time at ski school. We did two days for each of them and the older boys skied a third day. They learned so much and were able to ski with us on the mountain! My favorite part of the trip.
We rented all of our skis and helmets from the Four Seasons ski concierge. It’s so convenient to get to the lifts and ski school is a two minute walk from the ski concierge at the Four Seasons.
It’s such a great mountain for beginners (and more established skiiers). The boys were skiing down the mountain with the first ski school day. I loved getting to see them on the mountain while we were skiing too!
I got a lot of questions about what to wear since it is so cold there. We did this for all of us and we all stayed warm! Hot chillys shirt and pants for a base layer, smartwool socks, fleece sweatshirt, ski jacket, ski pants, gloves and a turtle– and hand warmers inside all of our gloves.

What to Know

Rental cars- We decided to rent a car because there were seven of us and we wanted the option to explore the area. Just FYI – Hertz is off site from the airport. You hop on a bus at the airport and drive into Jackson to pick up your car. We used the car to get to/from the resort to the airport, and also to go into the town of Jackson to explore and have dinner.
Although the skiing was open, a lot of the restaurants have not actually opened back up for winter yet. It wasn’t really that big of a problem for us because the boys were so tired after skiing, they just wanted to stay at the hotel and be cozy! We ate out twice, ordered pizza in the room and did room service one night.
It’s COLD! I have never been in weather so cold before. Hand warmers were necessary for everyone and they made a huge difference in staying warm.
You need to pre-reserve your ski days/ski school in advance.