Austin staycations

Big fan of staycations over here. When you become parents, spontaneity gets tossed out the window — especially when it comes to overnight travel. Luckily, staycations provide a scenery change without the usual exhaustive coordination, packing, and planning of a regular vacation. We’ve stayed in various hotels throughout Austin, both with and without our toddler daughter. I also prefer them for a weekend girls’ getaway…close enough, yet miles away mentally!

Here are my favorite spots for each type of scenario for Austin staycations:

With Your Partner and Without Kids:  Stay Downtown! On various special occasions, we’ve enjoyed overnight stays downtown as a welcomed retreat: Hotel Ella (7th anniversary), the W (for the holidays), the Westin (my birthday last year), etc. Really, anytime we’ve got tickets to an evening event downtown, we take a moment to consider if it could be a staycation opportunity.

If it’s been awhile since your last date-night, consider super-sizing the next one by following dinner downtown with a walk back to your hotel. On my personal blog, I’ve touched on why this is so important for your relationship, as well as some tips on how to make this work seamlessly …especially when the Grandparents are in town!

With Your Kids:  Try out The Domain. Um, have you guys been to The Domain lately?! With the addition of Rock Rose and Northside, it’s exploding with all-new restaurants and shops. Plenty of open areas for the littles to run around too.

We’ve personally tested out Domain-area lodging staples Westin and Aloft…both are great. But, there are a couple new extended-stay type places opening up around there, too — perfect for families struck with cabin fever when the dogs days of summer roll around.

Staycations with the kids are an easy way to infuse some fun into the ordinary…especially when you’re so close to family-friendly go-tos Whole Foods and Hat Creek Burger, both with new locations in The Domain. In fact, my little tribe is checking into the shiny new Residence Inn one weekend soon. –It’s all just an elaborate ruse to eat more Velvet Taco, really. 😉 

With Your Gal Pals: Head for the Hill Country! Gather a few girlfriends and book a room nestled in the gorgeous Texas Hill Country, just minutes from downtown. Really, just a few miles to the Northwest and our fair city takes on a whole new level of beauty.

A couple of my sorority sisters from Houston came in town recently and chose Hotel Granduca as their home-away-from home for the weekend. Lush architecture and decor, luxe bath products in the rooms, and Italian cypress around the pool area created a feeling like we were transported right into the Tuscan countryside! Other notable retreats are the award-winning Lake Austin Spa Resort and Travaasa. I don’t know about your crew, but mine is SO over our days partying down 6th St. Girls-only escapes to the Hill Country offer the peace we need to recharge our batteries, indulge in some spa treatments, and catch-up with each other on a real level.

So, where are YOU planning to go on your next Staycation?

1 COMMENT

  1. So many people can’t get away for vacations so knowing there is little things individuals can do here in Austin is so great! Staying busy is so beneficial for one’s mental health and sometimes having a stay-cation is even better than leaving and going somewhere!

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