James hotel soho is nestled in the cutest part of soho. Even though there is many to do around the hotel I didn’t feel like I even needed to leave. They have an upstairs bar called Jimmy at the James. In the winter the bar opens at 5 pm. During the summer they have pool parties Saturday and Sunday’s which I’ve been to before and are super fun on the perfect summer day.
The rooms have huge windows which give you perfect views of NYC and you can watch those stunning sunrises and sunsets.
I was able to see the penthouse offered in the James Soho and it is nothing short of amazing. If you could book this room I highly recommend !
Can’t wait to return this summer as they are renovating the rooftop!
Sometimes I just need to skip the plane ride and just do a staycation. My fiancé is home from Med school for a few weeks and I wanted us to get away for Memorial Day weekend. I booked a room at The William Vale In Williamsburg Brooklyn and it exceeded my expectations. I booked on Cheaptickets which gave a better rate then directly through William vale. If you do live in New York they do have staycation rates on their website which is helpful to know!
Terrace VibesStunning Bath in the hotel room
I wanted a chic hotel with a pool and nice views which is definitely what I got. We upgraded to a Gotham corner suite with a wrap around Terrace that was to die for.We ate dinner at west light which is their rooftop restaurant/bar. The food was really good and the views were 😍😍.
If you live in New York or visiting I would highly recommend the William Vale. They have an nice gym, huge pool for Manhattan, two restaurants and a rooftop lounge.
Tips/ Recommendations:
1. UPGRADE– the views are worth it
2. Make reservations ahead of time at Westlight
3. Go to the pool early since its first come first serve.
4. The pool is open to the public certain days of the week.
5. You cannot use the pool after you check out ( ask for a late checkout)
And I’m back! I decided to stay at Eden Roc Miami Beach again and it definitely did not disappoint! On arrival my friend Sara and I asked if there were any upgrades and they were amazing enough to give us a two floor loft overlooking the pool/beach! I never wanted to leave the room!
Sunset Vibes at Eden Roc
We decided this time to venture out to different hotels for breakfast and lunch. We went to breakfast at Plnthouse at the One Hotel for some delicious Acai bowls. The one hotel south beach is probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever seen. I will definitely be looking into staying there next time!
One Hotel South Beach
Overall, I highly recommend Eden Roc. They are always accommodating, always give upgrades and it really is a gorgeous classy hotel. They just opened Malibu Farm in the hotel which is a bonus. Read below for my other trips to Miami at Eden Roc, Loews, and Fontainebleau.
I had a blast at Eden Roc. Basically the entire hotel thought it was my birthday all weekend and let’s just say I’ve never held so many sparklers in my life! We got a free upgrade to Ocean view room, $150 credit, and the waiter on the beach gave us the hook up! The hotel is really nice but there is no sun past 11 am at the pool so make sure you are aware before booking!!
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FONTAINEBLEAU:
I more recently stayed at Fontainebleau which was a much younger cooler vibe than Loewes and Eden Roc. The hotel is stunning and had a bunch of pools. If you’re looking for a younger crowd (20-30s) this is the place for you. The service at the beach isn’t the greatest but I think its because its a huge and popular hotel. It does have advantages because if you like to have a good time during the day there is an adult only pool that basically is a giant pool party over the weekend. It also doesn’t hurt that LIV nightclub is at this hotel which saves you a cab ride if you’re into nightlife!
Here are some places I recommend in Miami and the list will soon be growing so stay tuned 😉
1. Baoli Miami- we had a blast, waiters were friendly, gave us a ton of free shots and after 11 the restaurant basically turns into a club where the waiters are dancing on the bar filled with fire and the rest of us dancing on the couches
2.Sea Spice- Food at the restaurant was really good and then when you’re finished you can go party with the DJ for some fun vibes
3. Kiki on the river
4. Prime One Twelve
5. Jaya at the Setai
6. Zuma Miami
7. Nobu Miami
8. Miami Juice
9. Hakkasan
10. Matador Room at Miami Beach Edition
11. Malibu Farm Miami Beach
12. Stubborn Seed
Tips for Miami:
1. Take Ubers/lyft around
2. Find a promotor to get you into the clubs
3. Make reservations to restaurants before hand!
I decided this year it was finally time to see what the hype of Coachella was all about. The hype was real but I definitely learned through experience some tricks and tips for the future!
My friend Stephanie and I patiently waited for tickets to go on sale via the Coachella website. It made it easier to pre register separately and both of us to be on different computers and attempt to get tickets. Since I was away in Grenada weekend 1 we decided to go weekend 2 which does have its differences. The only tickets left were the 3 day pass (which you must get) with a shuttle pass included which was about $504. In the end it was extremely helpful to have a shuttle pass that picks you up from a list of hotels and takes you to and from Coachella each day. If you want to buy it later/day of like my other friend did it’s $75 for all 3 days.
We flew from JFK to LAX and rented a car and robe to Palm Desert. I highly recommended renting a car but the Coachella website does have an LAX pickup pass if you did not want to rent anything. The drive without traffic is about 2 hours aka it took us about 3 hours. I refuse to go to the west coast and not stop at In N out so that was exactly the first thing we did.
We stayed at Marriot Shadow Ridge Villas which highly exceeded my expectations. The resort was beautiful but ginormous. There were shuttles that constantly run and bring you to your rooms but if you had a car like we did you can just drive yourself. The views at this hotel were surreal; all you saw was mountains and palm trees which is absolutely not the type of views New York has.
During the day we hung out at the hotel pool since it was about 100 degrees each day and made our way to Coachella in the late afternoon. I highly recommend leaving your hotel/air bnb early so you can enjoy the festival and walk around to check out the cool things they have to offer.
I thought the lineup this year was pretty sick and I hands down day 3 was amazing. Cardi B, French Montana and Eminem killed it. I’ve always been obsessed with Eminem so it was nice to see he’s still got it. He brought out 50 cent and Dr. Dre which was a nice surprise he performed for almost 2 hours and I could have listened to him all night.
Weekend 1 vs weekend 2
While I’ve never been to weekend 1 I did some research on some differences and I’ll give you some insight Incase it’s on your mind also. Weekend 1 is definitely the more popular weekend when all the celebs go. While I did spot some people in the crowd and or saw on social media that some celebs were there weekend 2, majority go weekend 1. Sets can be slightly different— they may not bring out the same special guests. Overall you’ll have a fun time regardless of the weekend but if I were to go back I would try to go weekend 1 next time for a new experience.
Tips/Recommendations:
1. Get tickets when they go on sale or you will over pay on websites like stub hub
2. Book flights ASAP to either LAX or Palm Springs
3. If you’re a big group you may want to look into air bnb because hotels are not the cheapest in Palm Springs/ palm desert
4. Choose a hotel that’s on the shuttle list (or one that’s walking distance to a hotel on the list)— I think it made life easier
5. I would book a place with a pool because if you don’t want to go to the festival ALL day you can at least relax while it’s 100 degrees out
6. You are allowed to bring empty plastic water bottles to the festival to fill up
7. Download the app and favorite the performers you wanna see
8. Bring a Bandana to wear around your face because you will get sand in your face
9. Be mindful the weather during the day was about 100 degrees and then goes down to 60 at night
10. If you don’t mind carrying a bag I would bring a blanket or towel to sit on in between performances
11. All the vendors are credit card friendly
12. Wear comfortable shoes because you will do ALOT of walking from the shuttle drop off and at the festival itself from stage to stage
13. Mentally prepare yourself for long lines to food vendors and beer gardens for alcohol
14. Go early if you want to be close to the stage, but I will say towards the back the vibes are so fun— you won’t be squished and you can jam out with your friends
15. Have fun 😛
Grenada is basically my home away from home for the next two years . My fiancé goes to medical school here so I’ve been visiting every month. Most people haven’t heard of Grenada— it’s very south in the Caribbean near Trinidad and Tobago and on top of Venezuela.
St George’s University
Jet blue is the the only airline that flies there straight 3x a week from JFK so flights are pretty limited. The key with Grenada is too book way ahead of time. Flights on average are $350 round trip. But if you book it last minute it will end up being 800+.
I’ve never stayed at a hotel in Grenada since my fiancé has an apartment here. But I’ve used the facilities in the Radison hotel located on grand anse beach and it’s beautiful— I would highly recommend staying here.
My life on this island really consists of using the university gym and going to the beach. I most recently got PADI certified so I’ve added scuba diving to all my future trips down here.
If you’re interested in scuba diving I highly recommend Dive Grenada. I did my e-learning online at home since I only go there for long weekends. And I was certified in 2.5 days. My certification consisted of two pool dives and 4 open water dives. They are extremely nice, professional, and really welcoming as you essentially join their scuba family.
Grand Anse Beach
April Trip to Grenada
As per usual my trip consisted of the beach , the beach and the beach. I went with my friend who is scuba certified as well so of course we got some dives in with Dive Grenada. They are always welcoming, safe and make sure you have a ton of fun. Dive rates are pretty cheap and they have good deals on dive packages that can be found all on their website. Also when you scuba dive you’re allowed to use Mount Cinnamon’s hotel facility next door which is a cute hotel. They have a great lunch menu at SAAVY which is their restaurant right on Grand Anse Beach.
This time my friend, fiancé and I decided to get a day pass at a hotel called La Luna. A lot of hotels offer day passes for people who aren’t staying at the hotel but would like to use their amenities. I highly recommend La Luna to either stay there or just to get a day pass. It was a romantic and peaceful boutique hotel. The day pass which can be purchased in advance or day of is $120 USD that consists of a yoga class, 30 minute massage, paddle boarding, 2 drinks, a two course lunch and using their facility at your leisure all day.
LaLuna Resort
There are other hotels such as sandals that offer day passes. That’s next on my list 🙃..
As I continue to go down I will venture out and update any recommendations I have 🙂
Tips/Recommendations: 1. Stay at the Radison hotel
2. Go to Grand Anse beach
3. It’s not necessary to exchange to their currency if you’re from America — they will take USD.
4. Go scuba diving at dive Grenada
5. IGA is their popular supermarket which is where all the students do their food shopping
Food/ bar Recommendations: 1. Umbrellas — great beach bar/restaurant highly recommend during the day!
2. Bananas – this is where all the students go
3. Brewery – this is where all the students go
4. La Luna Hotel- Day pass
5. Esther’s Bar
They say it’s more fun in the philipinnes and it definitely exceeded its expectations. My mom sister and I booked a $350 flight to Cebu City, philipinnes; yes 350 dollars…. we flew China eastern which was a GREAT airline. The plane was brand new had plenty of movies and food was pretty decent. It was 15.5 hours to Shanghai and then 4.5 more hours to Cebu.
There are about 7,000 islands in the philipinnes and we were only there for about 9 days so we only stayed in Cebu and El Nido— I highly highly recommend both.
We stayed in Cebu White Sands Resort and Spa as well as Crimson Resort and Spa. Both hotels are nice— white sands is more simple, cheaper decent food and quiet. Crimson is a much larger hotel and way more crowded. There are a bunch of food options, music playing all day and has multiple lounges/bars to hang out in.
CRIMSON RESORT & SPA – CEBU
There are a bunch of things to do in Cebu, some of the must sees would be kawasan falls. You can either do a short 15 min walk to the gorgeous waterfalls where you can have a delicious lunch and go swimming of course. (I booked my tour through Viator). If you’re more adventurous I suggest doing canyoneering to the waterfalls which basically entails hiking, cliff jumping etc to get to the falls.
Another must do is to go swimming with whale sharks. Our tour was a 13 hour tour that included whale sharks and the falls. It is about a 3.5 hour drive to Cebu so be prepared to be picked up at about 4am. If you get there anywhere past 8 am it will be packed since this is the number one thing to do in Cebu. It was very cool to swim with them they literally are gentle giants they just want to get fed and don’t even care that you’re there 😂
We did an island hopping tour booked through our hotel that is a popular thing to do there. It took us to two locations one was snorkeling and one was to just hang on the island.
Our next was stop was El Nido in Palawan which was easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. If you want to fly straight to El Nido the only airline that takes you to that airport is Air Swift which can only be booked on their website. I questioned if it was legitimate or not and crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. It was a great airline very organized and probably one of the smoothest flights I’ve ever had even though it was a propeller plane. Another option that’s more tedious would be to fly to puerto Princessa and drive 5 hours to El Nido. If you want to stay in that area for a few days then it’s worth it the drive other wise I suggest air swift.
We stayed at Cauayan Island Resort and it was the most stunning hotel I’ve ever been to. I would highly suggest it for a honey moon even. When we booked our hotel on Cheaptickets.com it included airport and boat transfer. The hotel is on a private island so a boat needs to bring you there. We were greeted by like half the staff and treated like royalty from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. The island consists of about 20 villas. It’s so beautiful I cannot recommend it more. Our villa was so beautifully designed and right on the beach.
The hotel offers some excursions that were great. There is a short guided sunset hike you can take and witness some gorgeous views.
The hotel also offers island hopping tours that includes beaches lagoons and caves. We decided to book an 8 hour private speedboat combo tour and we chose the lagoons and beaches. This tour included small lagoon, big lagoon, hidden beach, secret beach and a couple of others. Because it was private you were able to stay as long as you wanted at any given place. Small lagoon is a must and so beautiful. We rented a kayak and went around this stunning lagoon it was extremely surreal.
This hotel was amazing and the service was impeccable. There is an abundance of staff waiting to cater to you at any given moment. I highly highly suggest getting a massage here. It was amazing and views were unreal. When you lay your head in the don’t hole the floor is glass and you are able to see the ocean. I saw a bunch of baby sharks as I was getting a massage. It was about $45 for an hour and half which was the best money I’ve ever spent.
Recommendations:
1. If you have a lot of time I suggest going to Cebu, El Nido, Coron, Boracay
2. Exchange to their currency for tips etc but the hotels also take credit card.
3. Just like most places be cautious in Cebu especially if you are just women traveling like we we’re.
4. Ignore the lengthy flight and just go 🙂
The Tan Traveler 