Thursday, June 17, 2010

Swanktastic Hotel> Dingy Dungeon Basement Suite

This post has been on my to-do list since Monday, but this has been quite the Week In Transition for L. and I, so I'm just now getting to it. And I know that blogging should never be something on your "to-do list" since that inherently makes it rather a bit of a chore, but believe me...this post is something you guys need to see. And yes, that is me being completely obnoxious, as you'll see in a second.

On Monday, L. and I both started work in our college town, Williamstown, and we'll each be holding our respective internships/fellowships until the end of August. The only thing is, we both started work at 9am on Monday. And our dorm we're staying in this summer, which L. is getting for free as part of his fellowship and therefore I am squatting in for free since paying rent is not part of my summer finances, did not open until Monday at 2pm. So what are we to do? Well, apparently if you're L., you decide that means we get a hotel room Sunday night in Williamstown, drive right to work from there, and move in in the afternoon. L. and I are big fans of the hotel rendezvous--we like them because they're like one night vacations. We usually do them when we're traveling, and love to go out to a nice dinner, cuddle and watch a movie, and mostly sleep in a huge bed. But this was not just any hotel room. Oh no. This time L. outdid himself.Being the cheapo that I am, I would have signed us up for a room at the local HoJo's and called it a day. Or, night. But L. decided that this night was going to be special, and also a surprise. And surprised, indeed, I was when we arrived in Williamstown and pulled into the Orchards, easily one of the prettiest and swankiest hotels in town:


I squealed with delight, but L. informed me that the surprises were not over. I antsily waited for him to check us in, and he came back out with the key and an envelope with "Date Night" written on it. Then, L. informed me that he had signed us up for one of their romantic packages, which includes a three course dinner, breakfast, and an upgraded suite for the cost of the room. I was in heaven. And then, I walked in the room and saw this, and I was in more heaven:


That's right--Date Night package also included a gorge cheese and fruit platter and a bottle of Blackstone Merlot, which I'm sad to say we only got through about half of. If it had been a bottle of white, L. would have had to fight me to get some, but I can't do too much red. Here's a close up of the plate of AMAZINGNESS:


The reason L. and I are soulmates? He liked the cheddar and swiss cheeses, and I wanted the bleu cheese and goat's cheese in the center under the apple slices, which was to DIE for. So naturally, the first order of business when we got settled into the room was to break out the plate, crack open the bottle of red, and settle down on the settee in a huge fluffy white bathrobe. Which is exactly what I did:


Come on, you know you would have done the same thing.

Oh, and the room. You probably wanna see the room, too, huh? Well, look no further:


Isn't it just the prettiest little room that you ever did see? I'm usually drawn to neutrals, greens, and blues in design, but I LOVED how warm and inviting this room was, and how well it mixed modern glam with traditional elements. Look at those tone-on-tone stripes on the panels on the walls! LOVE them. And isn't a small section of fun wallpaper surrounded by crown molding a PERFECT alternative to a headboard? I think so!
But we couldn't spend ALL our time in the room-- we had a free (and by "free" I mean included in the price of the room) three-course meal to get to! So downstairs to the dining room we went, to the restaurant associated with the Orchards, Gala, where I ordered a Gala-tini (with a cinnamon sugar rim...SO good) and a tomato mozz salad to start with.


Tomato mozz salads and cheese and fruit plates are probably some of my favorite things in the world, so the evening had already reached a pretty high apex for me. BUT it was about to get a lot better...because for my meal, I ordered the steak frites, which came with a perfect little rosemary garlic butter-slathered filet mignon:


And I know it looks charred, but trust me: it was the perfect shade of pink, warm, and melt-in-your-mouth goodness on the inside.

L. had the St. Louis Style rack of ribs, which is fitting, since that's where he grew up. And I tried some, and they were delicious as well. But obviously they did not compare to my delightful little filet.

You can imagine that at this point, my little tummy was as happy as could be, with all the joys it had had in the span of only a few hours. But this was a three course meal, and by golly we were going to have our third course, and we were going to like it!

Cue the creme brule.


And yes, I forgot to take a picture until I was basically half done with it. So sue me. You better believe that when that puppy showed up at our table, I had to restrain myself not to just faceplant right into it. And the chocolate covered strawberry on the side there was SO delectable that L. wanted to order a bunch to be sent to the room, but my poor, poor tummy, which at this point had only been getting a soy protein shake in the morning, some cheese and fruit in the afternoon, and a light dinner of grilled chicken or salad, begged for a pass on more strawberries and chocolate, especially since I'm allergic to the latter. Clearly, it does not stop me.

What did I do to deserve this person who does these nice things for me? I have no idea, but I hope whatever it was is just as meaningful to him as this night was for me!

And don't worry, the bask of my pampering has already worn off, since we currently live in a basement suite of a brick building that was literally a dungeon when we moved in. I didn't even take any pictures because I would be ashamed to show you guys. But you know what? It's free, which means that this summer we can save our money so that next summer, after we graduate, we can buy the prettiest little apartment in all of LA.

12 comments:

  1. Swanky, swanky, swanky! I love it and I love how he spoiled you! We need to be spoiled every once in a while. :)

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  2. Holy romantic heaven batman. That sounds amazing!

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  3. YUM! How romantic of L!!! Dan and I did one of those romantic packages at a resort once and it was one of our favorite vacations.

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  4. Stephany, I think I need to spoil HIM more often! He spoils me all the time! Haha.

    It was sooo amazing, and the best part was there was no occasion we were celebrating. It was nice that instead of us finding something to do because it was Valentine's Day/an anniversary, we just celebrated together for no reason at all.

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  5. Swanky indeed! You're adorable! If that had been us, Mr. FC would have had to fight me for the Blackstone merlot. HA! We had that wine on our first date 10 yrs ago!

    Thanks sooooo much for dropping by my blog w/ your sweet comments! =]

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  6. HA! That's so funny! I guess you guys are a good example of what it leads to--it must be a good romantic date wine then!

    I've loved your blog for a really long time--I thought I had commented before but I must have been lurking. Your home is to die for!

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  7. Ohhh that looks like an amazing date night. I love caprese salad, and cheese plates are better than chocolate.
    If we ever hung out I'm pretty sure we'd become fat friends together. :-)

    Sorry you had to return to a dungeon. I'm sure you can come up with some fun decorating ideas to make it a little more homey. And you're right, better to save for LA!!

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  8. Oh and PS you guys so have the Olive Theory but with cheese. I hope you know what show that's from!

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  9. HAHA we would totally become fat friends, except we're both so determined to exercise! We totally need to organize a California bloggers meet up when I move out there next year!

    Oh my gosh, we do have the Olive Theory! (HIMYM of course!) Luke and I are a LOT like Lily and Marshall. Just as nauseating, similar how-we-met story, even physically and our personalities.

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  10. This looks magical. I'm so jealous.

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