Yosemite View Lodge Review!

 

During the holidays we have shifted from splurging on presents to taking small family trips to explore places close to home. This year our trip took us to California where we stopped by a few places including visiting Yosemite National Park which you may have seen me post photos of earlier this week. The night before we were due to be in the park we wanted to stay somewhere close so we could head out first thing in the morning & get as much time in the park as our schedule allowed. We ended up staying at the Yosemite View Lodge which is just a short drive from the entrance of the park along the 140/El Portal Road. Yosemite National Park is a spot that thousands of people visit every year and of course families will be looking for lodging so I wanted to share our experience with the hotel we picked out. It had a lot of positives & a few negatives, but during our travels I've found most hotels have a balance between the two. 

Over all we had a pleasant stay in our room, like most hotels it is just a place to rest for the night. We had a party of six so we were in one of the bigger family suites, it was nice to have the extra space to stretch out and relax together in one big hotel room instead of getting two smaller rooms. There were a few minor negatives about the suite which included terrible water pressure in the showers, some of the dishes in the kitchen were still visibly dirty from the last guests, a little bit of wall paper in the kitchen was coming down and the spa tub switch was hidden behind the towels. Otherwise the room was cozy & welcoming, we felt relaxed and comfortable. I also liked the little travel toiletries that were provided, they had a nice smell to them. There were four queen sized beds along with a pull out sleeper sofa, so depending on how many people you had sleeping in each bed you can fit up to ten people in this family suite. It included two bathrooms so there is no need to worry about fighting over a single bathroom which is nice especially for bigger families. 

The property has a lot of fun amenities like an indoor pool & hot tub along with an outdoor pool & hot tub. It was nice to relax in the hot tub after a long day of travel. There was also a game room just a short walk from our room which had some board games, random books, two living rooms with sofas and TV's along with a big room that had a pool table, air hockey and more. A few of the electronic games in the room weren't on/working but there was still plenty to do! We hung out in the game room for quite sometime. 

Near the front desk is a large living room type area with plenty of seating where you can relax if you wish. There is also a pretty decent sized store & gift shop were you can find souvenirs, clothing and even do some light grocery shopping. The prices weren't bad, and they had a lot to choose from. We actually ended up buying our breakfast from their little shop, because surprisingly with how expensive the rooms are they don't even include a basic breakfast. If you want actual breakfast they had a small buffet in their on site restaurant, we didn't get breakfast there but looking at other reviews it was almost $22 per person which is pretty high. 

We did visit the restaurant for dinner while we were there. The property has two places to eat aside from the little grocery store they have there is a restaurant & a pizza place. For some reason the pizza spot is closed during the winter so the only option was the restaurant. Service was very slow, it took a while to get seated even with it being mostly empty and it took a long time to order then get our food. The tables were also very uneven and wobbly but I think that may be due to the floor. However the food was very good & the waiter in charge of refilling drinks was on top of making sure our glasses stayed full. 

The view of the river outside of our room was gorgeous and I loved sitting outside in a chair just listening to the sound of the running water. The hotel was over all pretty quiet at night so it was just you and the sound of nature which was peaceful. We also sat out near the river itself at a little firepit area they had set up. The view of the stars at night was spectacular. The short drive to Yosemite National Park from this hotel was also a plus because you can get into the park as soon as they open for the day and try to beat some of the crowds. 

If you are planning a trip to California & are looking for other activities to do feel free to type in "Things to do in California" in the search bar of my blog so you can find some other great activities in California. You can also click the "Things to do in California" link located on the right hand side of my blog/in this post.

🟊 This is not a sponsored post, we paid for this ourselves. I just enjoy sharing awesome spots with my readers. 

Fairfield Inn Las Vegas Review!

 

I always like sharing family friendly places that are affordable to stay when we travel, because if you are like us you want to get the most out of your trip budget. When looking for a hotel to stay at while traveling, I like to look for hotels with decent reviews that are clean, include breakfast and have other amenities like a pool or convenient parking along with being semi-close to what we are doing in that specific city. We recently took a family vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada and the hotel I ended up finding and booking for our stay was the Fairfield Inn at their south airport location. It wasn't too far away from most of the activities we wanted to visit, it included breakfast, had plenty of on property parking and looked like a nice hotel. There is more than one Fairfield Inn's in Las Vegas, we stayed at the "Airport South" location which is located at 355 E. Warm Springs Rd Las Vegas, NV 89119. 

I was happy with the choice of staying here, the location was convenient & quiet. After spending time on the strip or on Freemont Street you will probably want to get a quiet and good night's sleep, so this is just the spot away from the hustle & bustle of the busy part of Vegas while still being a short drive away from all of the fun. This hotel offered a small convenient store inside with items like frozen pizzas, ice cream and snacks if you didn't want to leave the hotel for something to snack on. There was also a bar, a gym, a pool area with grills you could use and a nice working front area where you could set up your laptop to work if you didn't want to be in your room. It is right next door to a gas station which only takes about two minutes to walk to if you want something the hotel does not offer or want something slightly cheaper than what they have in their little convenient store. 

Our hotel room was quite comfortable & offered the four of us plenty of space in our room. My mom & stepdad enjoyed their room as well which was directly across the hall from our room. Our room had a large bathroom, mini fridge, microwave, coffee pot plus a nice seating area along with the two queen sized beds. The A/C unit worked well and helped keep the room nice and chilly to escape the heat outside. Everything inside of the room was clean & felt welcoming. We didn't run into any issues with our stay & would stay here again. 

For breakfast they had a continental breakfast which included a nice assortment of options from fresh fruit to make your own waffles. They even had an oatmeal option with a bar set up with an assortment of toppings, you could also use the toppings on your waffles. They had a good amount of seating & you were able to take your food back to your room if you wished. Inside of the seating area was a small walk up stand that offered coffee along with hot water so you could use one of their tea packets or hot chocolate packets to make a drink. This small stand was available all day long & staff would periodically come out to swap out empty dispensers and bring out fresh coffee. If you are a family traveling together being able to book a hotel that includes breakfast can be a huge way to save money and cut back on your travel budget. If you are a family of four like us, even stopping at a fast-food place can be a little pricey depending on what you order it can be anywhere from $20-$40+ for breakfast so if we can find a hotel that is comparable in price to another that doesn't include free breakfast then why not book it? 

What kind of hotels do you like looking for when traveling?

🎲 I will be sharing some other family friendly spots around Las Vegas including other FREE things to do, so if you want to check them out keep an eye out for more posts or type in "Things to do in Las Vegas" in the search bar of my blog. I also have posts on some great places to check out in California & Arizona. 

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Tucson - Williams Center Review!

When traveling it is always nice to find a hotel that is close to where you are visiting, looks nice outside & inside the rooms while not cost an arm & a leg just to stay the night at their location. During December we took a trip to Tucson & while we were there, we stayed at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Tucson - specifically the Williams Center location. The rooms were stayed in were suites that had a living room area with a sofa that had a pull-out bed, a tiny kitchen nook, a working area, TV & coffee tables/an extra chair. Connected to it was a back bedroom that had two queen sized beds, a second TV, storage areas and the bathroom. It was big enough to comfortable sleep six people. 

I selected this hotel as it was within 10 to 35 minutes of all of the locations, we planned on stopping at during our trip, however it also had great reviews & from the photos other guests had posted it looked cozy + clean. As everyone knows sometimes looks can be deceiving what you see or read online isn't always what you are guaranteed to get & not all hotel experiences will be the same. Luckily, everything was exactly as described, and we were very pleased with our stay at the hotel. Upon check in we were all offered a complimentary warm cookie, if you've never had them before they are amazing! They are walnut + chocolate. 

Our room was clean & had plenty of space for the four of us to stretch out, relax after a long day of walking & the sofa + beds were comfortable. Our family just a few rooms down enjoyed their room as well. The carpet did make me laugh though, it reminded me of the carpet in the Shinning. There was already a bag in the hotel closet that had extra bedding & pillows for the pull-out sofa, so it was nice not having to walk down to request any. If you felt like having a little snack or wanted a drink that the bar doesn't offer, they have a snack room near the front desk where you can buy a number of different items. The pool area was also quite nice, however we went when it was a little chilly & we didn't really have any time to go for a swim, so we didn't visit the pool during our visit. 

Near the pool they had a hotel bar + grill, where we ended up grabbing dinner once we got back from our last stop of the day. The pizza was way better than I had expected it to be! The hostess at the bar was also very chatty & friendly, we enjoyed talking with her while we were waiting for our food to be done. You can eat at inside the grill, or you can take your food back to your room, we ended up taking our pizzas back to the room as we had ordered not too long before closing time. The bar + grill is also the location where they serve the complimentary breakfast that comes with your stay.  

Breakfast was fantastic! They had a wide range of options to choose from baked goods like muffins, bagels & breads to fresh cooked eggs, bacon/sausage and biscuits & gravy along with a fresh fruit, yogurts and even a cereal bar. If you were feeling thirsty, they had a whole drink area with a juices, coffee, water and milk. If you didn't want to eat near the other guests, you can take the food up to your room. Over-all it was a great stay & I would stay at this hotel again if we are back in the area. With taxes & fees the room was about $115 per night which isn't bad especially considering breakfast is included and if we were to go out to eat somewhere it would easily be $40+ just for breakfast for four of us. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. (Click on the name or locate it on the right-hand side of my page).

Hotel Amarano in Burbank, California

 

We went on vacation recently & wanted to stay at a hotel that was near everything we were going to be visiting on our trip. As with most families it was important to us to find something that was affordable & wasn't run down while still being in a close proximity to our destination. During my search & comparing hotels we landed on staying at Hotel Amarano in Burbank. Price wise, it was in the middle price range, it wasn't cheap however it also wasn't the most expensive hotel in the area. Aside from the location the two things that drew me to the hotel was that they had on-site parking & offered breakfast as part of their daily amenity fee. You are not able to self-park so you will need to pull up to the front of the hotel so the valet can park your car for you in their parking located under the hotel. Overall, it was a good stay, there was a small downside or two, but that is almost expected when traveling. 

There was a bit of confusion when we first arrived as we had booked two rooms through a booking site & were not aware the booking site had put the reservations under two of our names since the confirmation only showed one name with "2 rooms" under it. It took a few minutes, but they were able to get us into two rooms, although they did end up overcharging our credit card so we had to come back down so they could fix it. Thankfully they realized the mistake right away. We liked that it was right across the street from a small shopping center that had restaurants, a grocery store, Starbucks & more to make it continent to walk over and grab anything you might need. It was also located close to the freeway & several tourist type attractions which was the biggest draw for this hotel, was that it was close to everything we had planned on doing during our trip.

The hotel lobby & bar area were nice. I enjoyed looking at the art and décor they had on display & they had a few different styles of seating available. You could order both drinks & food at the bar and it is also where they placed the continental breakfast in the morning. Our party was a little surprised at the breakfast though, we've stayed in hotels that were much cheaper that had a breakfast spread better suited to multiple appetites which included cereal, eggs, pancakes or even make your own waffles. For the price per night for this hotel you would think they would have something similar. The first morning they had three flavors of bagels, yogurt, a bowl of granola bars, some fresh fruits, mini muffins/pastry and coffee. The second morning they had plain bagels, mini yogurts, mini muffins, half the fruit they had the morning prior and coffee. There were no drink options for non-coffee drinkers or young children, nor were there a lot of non-bread options for non-gluten eaters. One of the families that was getting breakfast at the same time we were had asked if they could get some milk for their small children & were told it would be an extra charge to their room. I know it might sound whinny to be a little judgmental of the breakfast offering, but some people like to book hotels specifically for the included breakfast to help cut down on travel cost when traveling with their families. In a way the hotel felt like more of a spot to stay if you are traveling on business or just in town to see family verses being more family friendly for those visiting Universal, Disney, etc. 

Our hotel room was nice & cozy, there were plenty of space for the four of us in the room we had & the rest of our party was in the room across the hallway. The sofa they had in the rooms were decent & offered plenty of support, they were relaxing to sit down on & watch TV after a long day of exploring and walking around. There was plenty of space for everyone to store their luggage off of the ground. My favorite feature of the room was hands down the bathroom because of the shower, there was a shower head + handheld shower head at each end of the shower. They aim to be eco-friendly in the bathroom so you will not find travel sized shampoo/conditioner instead they have it mounted on the wall in the bathroom. Our room also had a small, enclosed patio attached to it; however, we didn't spend much time outside as the patio could have used a cleaning & we didn't spend enough time in the room to hang out on the patio. 

**This is not a sponsored or hosted post, we paid for this hotel on our own while on vacation. I like sharing fun spots we visit, restaurants to eat at & lodging that we stay at to help others who may be traveling to the area & are looking for recommendations. **

Az Staycation at SpringHills Suites.

 

Recently my mom, my daughter & I decided to have a girl's staycation to have a day where just the three of us could spend together. We wanted to find a hotel that was near some of the spots we wanted to visit, didn't break the budget, had a pool & possibly had breakfast included. I ended up finding a great deal on a room that was perfect for the three of us at a hotel called SpringHill Suites Scottsdale North. This post is not sponsored, we paid for this ourselves, I just wanted to share this great hotel with others in our area or even anyone traveling to Scottsdale/Phoenix that is looking for an affordable hotel. It is located in North Scottsdale just south of Scottsdale Road & the 101 freeway.

The room included two queen sized beds along with a sleeper sofa. The hotel room had quite a bit of space; it was essentially two rooms along with a bathroom & vanity space. The first half of the room contained a small office space + kitchen nook which had a desk, desk chair, mini fridge, microwave and coffee pot, it also had the 'living room' area where the sleeper sofa was located plus a ottoman & big screen TV. The back half of the room contained both the queen-sized beds, a closet area to hang up clothing + a safe and another big screen TV. In addition, there was the vanity area plus the bathroom that was spacious with a large step in shower. 

The shower was nice, it had a multifunction shower head. This hotel aims to be more eco-friendly so instead of having small travel sized toiletries in the bathroom they have shampoo, conditioner & body wash secured to the shower wall which get refilled after guests have visited. I really liked the scent of the body wash it was a mixture of lavender and eucalyptus. The only thing I didn't like about the shower was the weird metal bar they had as a drain, it made such an odd sound when the water hit it and you could hear it in the room itself when someone was in the shower. The beds were comfortable as was the sofa and sofa bed, the room in general was very relaxing & no one felt cramped. We even had a friend of mine stop by and when she was there everyone had plenty of space and somewhere to sit. 

I also liked that the pool was open late (until 11pm) as we were able to relax for a little while after having dinner before getting in the pool. The pool was quiet, when we went down there was only one other family who was in the hot tub at the time. The other family left after a little while, so we had the pool and hot tub to ourselves. The pool area was nice, it was well kept & had plenty of chairs and tables for everyone. I wouldn't consider their pool towels actual pool towels though, they didn't have any out at the pool so we asked the front desk for three pool towels. We were provided with two towels that were smaller than the towels in the bathroom of our room & one hand towel. 

The breakfast they offered was great, they had a wide selection to choose from which included an oatmeal bar, build your own waffle, cereal, bagels and more. It was filling & everything was fantastic. Both our check in & check out went quickly and smooth. So how much did a night run? I found a deal to get the room for $98 per night, with taxes along with a parking pass (they require you to buy one to park on the property) the room came to about $120. Considering you save a decent amount of $$ by not buying breakfast for everyone in the room, that isn't a bad deal. We also liked that it was close to shopping plus a variety of restaurants along with fun things to do. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

Hotel McCoy in Tucson a cute alternative hotel!

 

Aside from selecting a destination, the first step in planning any vacation is deciding which hotel you want to stay at. I always like to look for a hotel that is not only within our set budget for the trip, but also close to what ever attractions we will be visiting. I recently planned a mini in-state trip to Tucson which is only about a two hour drive from us to visit some attractions in the area we hadn't been to before & also visit an old favorite. Prior to the trip I had already seen a few posts online about a newer hotel called Hotel McCoy & decided to reach out to the property owner about checking out their hotel while we were in the area. Before booking a hotel it is always nice to check out reviews of previous guests to read about the good, the bad and the ugly, after all you are paying hard earned cash to stay so you want to make sure the property is right for you. On Google they have a 4.7 star rating with 87% five star reviews and 13% four star or less reviews which isn't too shabby, after staying I can agree with both some of the good and bad reviews left for the hotel. They are located at 720 W Silverlake Rd #302 Tucson, AZ 85713 which is right off of the interstate and is close to pretty much everything we had planned for the trip. 

One of the main things that originally drew my attention to the hotel is that they have tried to create a fun & welcoming hotel experience that sets them apart from other hotels in the area. Every room on the property has some kind of mural on the wall or art work displayed in the room, there are murals painted all over the property itself and they have a wide range of amenities available for their guests. I do want to note for families with small children who book a double queen room or singles room to put a crib in, aside from the murals painted directly onto the walls any photography or artwork in the rooms is for sale & range in cost thus if anything gets damaged you will have to pay for it (You should take care of items in your room, no matter where you stay). Each room features a different artist/art style, we had several lovely photography canvas prints in our room. Parking is free, each room has a space in front of it to make your room easy to access. There is also a retro mini fridge in each room which is nice as we ended up picking up some cereal bowls & milk for breakfast our second day there so we were able to keep the milk cold over night along with our other beverages.

This hotel also has a small gift shop that has snacks, drinks & souvenirs next to a small bar that serves beer and wine. When you first check in you will be given one poker chip per member of your party, each adult can cash their chip in for a free small glass of wine or beer and kids will get to select a non alcoholic beverage from under the check in desk. My kids went with the Jones Soda! If you get a little hungry they have some local tamales they can pop in the microwave which will run you $4 each or there is a cute food truck that sits in front of the lobby that is open in the evening. It smelled really good, but we didn't end up trying it out for a family of four the prices were a little high so we went into town for dinner. Free breakfast is included in your stay, they set everything up on the bar in the morning which is poptarts, oatmeal with a number of toppings to add to it, apples/oranges, fruit juice boxes and coffee/tea. For various reasons I would give the breakfast a 2.5 star rating. You can eat in their lobby dinning hall which has a good amount of seating, at any of the outdoor seating arrangements or in your hotel room. There is a small on site bookstore, I was told the hours of it vary but we were able to check it out the second day we were there and my daughter found a pair of earrings she loved & bought. The hotel pool is saltwater & it is heated, they provide pool towels so you won't need to bring the towels from your room. It was nice to get into the pool for a bit, but man was it cold running back to the hotel room after getting out of the warm water. 

During our stay there were a few things we feel could have been improved a bit, such as our room cards didn't seem to want to open any of the pool gates or the room which has the gym/ice/water bottle refill station so to get into the pool we just had to reach over the gate and open it from the other side, but we never got to visit to get ice or water as we couldn't get into the room. The hotel is a remodeled old motel strip so the shower pressure & shower head quality were poor, the water had primarily one setting which didn't get that hot but I am not sure if that part can be improved. Wear socks in the room or bring slippers, after check in we decided to unpack a little & relax which meant walking around the room. When I went to sit down on the bed to lean back & relax against the wall to watch TV, I noticed that my feet had picked up a lot of dirt from the floor they looked grey on the bottoms, so I went to the bathroom to wash my feet off and throw on a pair of socks so they would pick up the dirt instead & I could take them off before bed to prevent any dirt from getting onto the white sheets of the bed. 

However there were other perks we did take advantage of that most hotels don't have, in the front lobby area they have a ping pong table, a foosball table, a claw machine, a pinball machine and a mini grass area with cornhole. We played used the ping pong table, foosball table & pinball machine several times plus we played a fun round of cornhole in the morning. They have it set up to where you can easily play at night as well because it is well lit and there is a firepit you can relax next to if you get cold. The mattress on the bed was very comfortable & the blankets kept us cozy. Each room also has a 55" TV with a roku hooked up to it, they had Netflix and Disney+ easily accessible on it so we watched a few things on Disney+ when we were relaxing in the room in the evenings, our remote had a few issues but we got it figured out. As mentioned before it was also really coinvent because we were close to all of the places we visited during our trip. Is it affordable for families on a budget? Yes and no, it honestly depends on when you plan on visiting. Like most hotels the price per night can vary depending on what events are happening in the area at the time, if it is busy season, etc. so the price can range from anywhere from $100 up to $400 a night for a room. Lastly I did also enjoy a lot of the artwork & murals that were painted along the hotel walls, there were some pretty whimsical & fun characters. You can see it all as you drive by to your room, or go for a stroll to see it all. My daughter & I took a short walk along the walls to look at everything. The hotel is also pet friendly, they allow dogs and fish however they can not accept poisonous animals such as snakes, nor do they allow cats. We were able to see a lot of cute dogs that hotel guests brought with them & everyone was doing a great job of cleaning up after their pets. 

So there you have it! A review of the good and bad from my point of view, I always feel slightly awkward writing about the things that I didn't like about a review opportunity but it is life & the whole point of why people read reviews in the first place. If you are an art lover & want to check out a new type of hotel experience, this hotel may be for you the next time you are in the Tucson area. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of the hotel do you think you would enjoy the most?

Disclaimer- A one night stay was provided free of charge + a 50% off was applied to a second night stay which were provided by Hotel McCoy for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Mountain Resorts Promo.

**This is not a sponsored post, In exchange for posting this I receive a chance to win a free three night stay at the resort mentioned below but I was not paid anything nor did I receive anything aside from an entry for this post.**

Are you looking for an awesome get away this winter? I know I enjoy playing in the snow from time to time but we don't really get snow in Phoenix so we have to drive out of town in order to see any. One of the places I would want to go is Colorado, it is such a beautiful state and I have family there that I would visit.

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