Staycation Time!

There was a great resident discount going on at the Ritz Carlton and we (as well as a few friends of ours on island) of course took advantage of it and booked an overnight stay! 

I love the Ritz. 

JP and I stayed there on our 1st, 2nd and 3rd anniversary and have always had a great stay and felt like we'd had an amazing getaway even though we never left the island. They always have great breakfasts and brunches which you can go to when you're not actually staying at the hotel. There are afternoon high teas and plenty of other great occasion celebrations which are always beautifully organised and exquisitely carried out. 

This time though, it was taken to the next level. In the past we were in a very small room overlooking the back golf courses (not an ocean view), but this time we were upgraded to pure luxury at no extra charge on the ocean side! 

 This is the view from our personal terrace space with comfy loungers, 

just a few steps to the beach and with the pool on our left.

Jodi and I arrived there pretty early on the Friday to take advantage of our chillax time and checked in at about 9:15am. Obviously the room wasn't ready for us so we went straight to the pool. We have a fixed Friday morning playdate with Kirsten and Leila and we just rotate homes for our getogethers... so clearly it was a no brainer to invite them to "my place" at the Ritz this week! =) They joined us at the pool for a couple of hours in the morning. Rich, Tam and the kids (who were anonymously sponsored by someone to stay there for the night too!) joined us at the pool.

All guests under age five eat for free during their stay which meant that Jodi, Noah and Annabelle were eating like little princes and princesses the entire time...and for free! This included amazing lunches by the pool, dinner at Periwinkle restaurant and non-stop beverages (milkshakes and apple juice were flowing!). I suppose that it makes me feel a bit better about ordering myself a Pina Colada by the pool for US$18 (yikes!)

Walking across the Ritz Skywalk in the afternoon some artwork caught Jodi's eye. 

It was a beautiful sculpture (Jodi: "puppy statue") which was actually created 

by a friend of ours from church on island, a very talented artist, Avril Ward. 

JP joined us in the afternoon, he managed to get off work a couple of hours early which was great. Jodi had a very bubbly bubble bath and then we joined Rich, Tam and the kids for Movies under the Stars and enjoyed a delicious meal from Periwinkle brought to us while we lounged on the comfy chairs watching the movie, KungFu Panda.
All three kids arrived back to their rooms with little giftbags from the Ritz waiting for them, they each got a stuffed toy! Jodi got a mermaid, Noah a Stingray and Annabelle a turtle! They were delightfed!

The next morning we had the amazing buffet breakfast (again, free for the kids) and filled our bellies up for a day of lounging by the beach and pool.  

 Richard, Tamryn, Noah and Annabelle at breakfast

Gotta have a close up on Anni enjoying her hot chocolate

After breakfast JP had to head back to the office (it's still busy season) and Jodi and I headed to the Ritz beach. We bumped into some of our other island friends who were staying the night. Jenn always takes such great pics and her blog often features shots of Jodi =) Here are some of Jenn's photos below.

Jodi and I headed back to the pool and ordered a light lunch before a little more beach play time and then on home. Wow, we had a great time! It would have been so much better if JP could have joined us for the two full days, but I'm so grateful to him for Jodi and my little "getaway". We're looking forward to the next good resident special once busy season is done!!

Bring on the Ritz Staycations!