‘Hotel’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Heading to Toronto for a getaway? Check into the Kimpton Saint George Hotel, and you will not be disappointed.

Ever since I got my drivers license a million years ago, I have always loved road trips. My kids kinda sorta love them (depends on the destination, duration, and mood).

And so that’s how we found ourselves driving to Toronto at the end of May. We had been to Canada a few years ago, and loved our Niagara Falls visit, so when we went back to visit the Falls again this past Spring, we wanted to venture a little bit beyond that area.

In the grand scheme of things, I would have liked to stay a few days longer in Toronto, but we just did one overnight this time. When I was looking for hotels, I picked the brain of a friend who had recently gone there with her family for Spring Break, and she mentioned how much she loved the Kimpton. I had never even heard of the hotel chain until then, and now that we’ve been, we are all smitten.

Any time I’m booking a hotel room, I like to stay under a hundred bucks a night. Because, let’s be real, I am looking for a safe area and a clean bed, anything after that is a bonus (swimming pool and room service check my kids’ boxes). I sometimes find great deals through Groupon or Living Social, and scour all the travel web sites, and the hotel’s own web site as well. Kimpton is not exactly an inexpensive brand, but I got lucky and because I had flexibility with my arrival date, and with the US/Canadian conversion, our gorgeous room ended up being around $75/night.

SCORE!

We pulled up right to the front door and splurged the extra ten bucks for valet parking, because even if I didn’t, I still would have had to pay for parking, and it would be in a separate lot and a bit of a schlep. We were greeted warmly as soon as we walked into the lobby and checked in quickly. Adjacent to the lobby is a comfortable sitting area, with lemon water, a few books, and a fireplace.

We walked down the hallway to the elevator so we could dump our bags and start checking out our room.

To say the hotel is very Instagram-worthy would be an understatement. There was a photo opp literally around every corner.

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A quaint hotel with a gorgeous view right outside of Boston … let’s visit the Nantasket Beach Resort!

Last year, for Spring break, my kids and I met up with Sarah and her kids for a whirlwind day in Boston. Because I’m only slightly crazy, we spent the night in Hull the night before, to break up the long day of driving for me. Although it would have been more convenient to stay in Boston, I picked a spot outside of Boston because the price is dramatically less expensive.

When I’m looking for a hotel, I always start with Groupon and LivingSocial to hunt for the best deal. My kids have two criteria for hotels … a swimming pool and room service. This one had neither, but it had an in-house restaurant and a stunning view of the beach across the street, so it was still a winner.

We were only in the area for the night, and headed straight to meet Sarah in Boston the next day, so we didn’t really poke around too much, but I CAN tell you that there was a drive-thru Dunkin’ Donuts, which makes this caffeine-driven mama very happy. The town, however, has an interesting history. It is long and narrow, with one main street going down one side along the water, and the other side to exit, and it feeds into the Boston Harbor. Because of its convenient location to the waterway, it was originally set up as a Trading Post for Indians back in 1621!

The parking situation was a little odd at this hotel. Guests park a block down from the hotel. It’s not a terrible distance, but when we arrived it was raining, so it was a bit of a pain. It is, however, free parking, so bonus points for that.

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Stay: Kimpton Saint George Hotel {Toronto, Canada}

Visit: Nantasket Beach Resort {Hull, MA}