City Staycation - December 2023

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a stay at Crown Towers at Barangaroo.

It was great to have a night away and explore a different area of the city as we haven't been over the Barangaroo/Darling Harbour way for a few years. I love all the changes. It's a real vibe.

We loved Crown and were so impressed with the interiors and service.

We had an amazing dinner at Epicurean and the buffet was one of the best I've seen.

A novelty to try all the various bits n pieces. The chocolate fountain was a hit. The boys are dying to go!

We'll definitely be back x

Staycation - February 2021

Simon and I had a lovely night in the city on the weekend. We took advantage of a free Saturday and booked a room at the Four Seasons Hotel.

We had a gorgeous room overlooking the harbour. It never gets old!  It's so beautiful!

The weather was a little grey but the rain held off. We had a great time wandering around The Rocks, checking out the markets and having lunch at The Squire's Landing. Great beers and food looking out onto the Opera House. 

We then went back to the hotel for a swim and later a cocktail and dinner.

It was a quick break but so relaxing and a nice little time out.

A few photos from our stay below...

How was your weekend?

20 years - a city break to celebrate.

A few weeks ago Simon and I booked a couple of nights at a hotel in the city to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. It's the city where we met when we were working together at The Renaissance Hotel (now the Sydney Marriott) We chose a staycation close to home to enjoy Sydney and all those things you never take advantage of in your home town in your busy day to day life. 

I never get over how beautiful the harbour is and how lucky we are to live surrounded by so many amazing spots!

We stayed at The Langham as we had never stayed there before and we loved that there was the Day Spa attached and it was in walking distance to The Rocks and several restaurants/bars.

It's a gorgeous boutique hotel with a lovely vibe. They also have a great new restaurant that recently opened " Kitchen on Kent" and the buffet there was amazing!

During our stay we booked in for a couple's massage and took full advantage of the pool and spa.

It was lovely to pop in here in the afternoon to relax and refresh before going out for dinner.

On one of the days we drove over to Bondi for a walk then headed to Watson's Bay for a seafood lunch. The blue skies and crowd made us feel like we were on holidays and miles away from home.

Also a Frose at lunchtime on a Wednesday definitely had us in vacation mode.

One afternoon we wandered down to The Rocks for a drink at The Lord Nelson. It's such a beautiful area with the old sandstone buildings and trees everywhere. 

We couldn't resist a stroll past Pottinger St in The Rocks, the site of our first kiss! Simon walked me to my car after work 23 years ago and the rest is history ;)

We chose our favourite Mr Wong's for dinner one night. The food never disappoints!

The cocktails were pretty good too.

Later on we walked off dinner by the harbour and enjoyed the pretty lights and buskers.

It was so lovely to take a couple of days off from normal routine and celebrate our anniversary.

I can't believe it's been 20 years! I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 20 hold x

A rainy city weekend

For Christmas each year Simon's and my gift to each other is usually a weekend in the city. 

A chance to recharge, relax and catch up... just the two of us. We realised the other day that it's March already and we still hadn't booked a stay. So after some co-ordinating with the grandparents we arranged a weekend in at the Sofitel at Darling Harbour.

We picked up the boys from school on Friday afternoon, dropped them home and headed into the city. We checked in and were thrilled to receive an upgrade to a stunning room with an amazing view over Darling Harbour, into the city and beyond! We had such amazing service during our entire stay.

Nothing better than champagne and chocolate coated strawberries on arrival!

As the Sofitel is in such a great central location the options for dinner were endless. We walked along the waterfront and had dinner and drinks at one of the restaurants there.

Saturday was looking a little grey and as we didn't really feel like getting amongst the hustle and bustle of the Saturday shopping crowd, we had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet restaurant downstairs and had a wander around the hotel. The infinity edge pool looked gorgeous but the weather was a bit too cool for me to take a dip. 

Instead we decided to try and beat the rain and fit in a walk to The Rocks via Barangaroo.

Once we got back to the hotel it was time for a drink. 

We headed down to the gorgeous Champagne Bar for a cocktail or two before dinner.

I think I discovered a new favourite drink with the Saint-Germain concoction.

Darling Harbour does a fantastic firework display every Saturday night at 9pm.

We had the perfect view from our room. The boys would have loved it!

On Sunday we woke up to a pretty gloomy day but it was the perfect weather for a sleep in, a soak in the amazing bath and breakfast at the buffet. 

We checked out knowing that we would definitely be back, as the Sofitel is the perfect spot for a city stay. We're thinking we'll bring the boys next time and get out and about and do a bit more.

But for Simon and I having this relaxing weekend was just what we needed before we head into a busy few months. 

How was your weekend? 

STAYCATION - our city break - January 2017

We are in full on holiday mode here! 

The days are running into each other, the weather has been amazing and we are feeling very very relaxed. I don't know how we will go back to our usual routine at the end of the month!

Simon and I didn't give each other Christmas gifts as we knew that we wanted to do a hotel stay in January and that would be our gift to each other. We booked 2 nights at the Primus Hotel Sydney and decided to have a staycation and enjoy our own city. We decided to take the boys with us for one night as they love a hotel stay and then drop them at the grandparents for the 2nd night while we relaxed a little more on our own.

On Friday we headed over to EQ Moore Park where they had set up a temporary water park for the school holidays. The boys had a great time going down the slides and splashing around for a few hours. We grabbed some lunch and headed to the hotel to check in.

The Primus Hotel is located in Pitt St in Sydney and is so central to everything.

It was lovely and quiet when we stayed as the Christmas + New Year holidayers had left and the corporate guests hadn't started up yet. The hotel is a beautiful art deco style and the attention to detail around the place is amazing! As you walk into the lobby it is quite stunning.

There was a bottle of champagne and a cheese plate to welcome us which was lovely. 

I just love a hotel stay with their crisp linen, fluffy white towels and delish bath + shower products. 

We headed up to the roof top to check out the pool and the younger boys went for a dip.

Finn and I left them to it while we walked a couple of blocks to Pitt St Mall and Westfields to have a browse through the shops.

After a huge day the boys were tired so we decided to have room service for dinner and an early night. I think I might have had the best club sandwich ever! Simon had a delicious spanner crab risotto and the boys had pasta. The food everywhere in the hotel was amazing!

The next morning after a yummy buffet breakfast we headed to Balmoral Beach for a swim before dropping the boys at the grandparents for a sleepover. The boys loved jumping off into the water and we grabbed a coffee and an iceblock from The Boathouse before leaving.

After dropping the boys off we headed back into the city and drove through The Rocks stopping for some lunch and admiring that harbour view!

Back at the hotel we decided to take advantage of the fact that we had nowhere else to be and headed back up to the roof top bar to while away a few hours. It was bliss to just sit, just the two of us and chat and enjoy some snacks + cocktails. 

On Sunday we were booked in for lunch at Fort Denison. Simon had received a voucher for his 40th birthday and we had to use it before the end of January. I'm so glad we waited to use it as it was the perfect end to the weekend and you couldn't of asked for better weather.

We caught the "hop on, hop off" ferry at Circular Quay and sat down to lunch with a stunning view!

The ferry comes past every hour but as we weren't in any rush we stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed a leisurely meal and then had a little browse around the rest of the island. (it's only tiny)

It really was a wonderful weekend and we are so lucky to have so many beautiful places to visit so close to home.

How are your holidays going? Are you going away?

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