As the summer comes to a close, you are sure to be talking with friends or coworkers about all the things you got up to these past few months. Some might have took a camping trip or two out in the mountains, while others ventured out of the country, and have all kinds of adventures to tell you about.
However, not all of us are able to get away, perhaps more so given the recent economic slump. Fortunately, within time and budget restraints there is still an opportunity to get away from home and still have a great adventure. It’s called the staycation.
A staycation is exactly what it sounds like. It is a vacation but you don’t even have to leave the city. Thanks to the lovely people at Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG), I was given the opportunity to stay at one of their hotels and share my experiences and insights with you.
I could not resist the pool and waterslide at the hotel. Photo courtesy of Holiday Inn Express.
The Details
When: August 21 – 23, 2015
Where: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary NW – University Area
This location was a great fit for me because it was accessible via Calgary Transit and within a 15 minute LRT ride downtown, where the possibilities are endless. If you are carless or looking to maybe ditch the vehicle for the night/weekend, this is a great option. I also know there are some wonderful restaurants around, and I immediately was sold on the fact that there was a pool and hot tub at the hotel.
The initial plan was to have my friend stay with me for the weekend, but she ended up having to leave unexpectedly on the Saturday evening. It ended up working out alright though, as I got to experience both staycationing with a friend and by myself.
These slippers were given to me in a lovely welcome package I received, and they replaced my shoes the whole time I was at the hotel. Photo by Heidi Stobert.
What Did I Do?
Friday evening:
Before checking in at the hotel, we decided to go to Big T’s BBQ for supper. The McMahon location is right around the block just off Crowchild, so completely walkable from the hotel and any other hotel in the area.
After that, we checked in and got settled into our room. Since it was almost 9pm, we quickly got ready so we had time to take advantage of the hot tub, pool and waterslide before it closed at 10pm.
To cap off the night, we drank sangria in our respective beds and fell asleep watching Border Security. It felt just like a slumber party, which was perfect.
Saturday:
The plan was to hit up YYC Wingfest later on in the afternoon, so we needed something to do in the morning. We had our complimentary breakfast and my friend had her car so we were able to travel around the city a little better than using transit. We hit up a few second hand stores in the Northeast (a favorite past time of ours) and then went and wandered around the Crossroads Farmer’s Market.
YYC Wingfest was pretty fun, minus the crazy lines and the abundance of wasps attacking me. It was the first year for the festival, so it was nice to experience something new like I would on a regular vacation. There are many local festivals during the summer and fall in the downtown area, an excellent choice of event if you choose to take your staycation downtown or nearby.
After we got back to the hotel in the early evening, my friend had to leave. I toyed with the idea of maybe meeting up with some friends, but I decided to take advantage of my time alone. The bed was so comfortable that I could not pass up the opportunity to just lay around and watch the Stampeders game while finishing off the aforementioned bottle of sangria.
I then decided to go to the hot tub. Now thinking that it was past 8pm, the pool area shouldn’t be too busy, but unfortunately this didn’t end up being as relaxing as it could have been. The area quickly filled with people, many rather loud children, so I escaped back to my room after awhile.
I enjoyed some free pancakes late at night in the breakfast room. Photo by Heidi Stobert.
Since this was kind of a working vacation I thought that maybe I should start writing something up for particular post. The hotel was running this wonderful promotion where they opened up the breakfast room from 8pm to midnight and ran the automatic pancake machine. So yes, I ate free pancakes for dinner while working on this post. This was basically what took me into the end of the night.
Sunday:
I was awake fairly early and didn’t have to be out of the hotel until 11, so I considered taking one dip in the pool but decided against it. I enjoyed my breakfast, packed up my things and checked out.
Even though I left the hotel, I decided that it was perfectly ok to still be in staycation mode, so I spent most of the rest of the day on my couch watching Netflix. It was a great wrap up to a successful staycation.
Thoughts
So I may have only been on one officially, but staycations are a blast! I got to spend some quality time with my friend (who had been away in Europe all summer) and forgot about the stresses in life for a few days.
It is something you have to mentally prepare yourself for though. You have to find value in the fact that you are out of your home for a significant amount of time, willingly ignoring your chores and to-do lists. Sure, you might do the same things with your day as you would have if you stayed home, but you are allowing yourself to find the joy in it. There is always something new to discover, whether it is a new restaurant nearby or that waterslide at the hotel.
Feel free to use my experience to build yourself a little plan for your own staycation. The places to stay are endless, maybe you just go camp in your friend’s backyard on the other end of the city from your own. If you do decide to go the route of a hotel, I highly recommend you consider the Holiday Inn Express I stayed at, or one of the others in the city. The hotel and my room were beautiful, clean and modern. My room had everything I needed, including free wi-fi and a mini fridge, and of course you can’t go wrong with a free breakfast with plenty of options.
You can ask me more about staycations or tell me about your own by messaging me on Twitter or sending me an email.