Complete Zen At The Eden Roc Miami

July 14, 2015 • Hotel • Miami • Travel • Wellness

i still have so many more travel memories to share with you, and with summer finally here, i figured now is as good a time as any to resume regular programming here on the blog! the trip i’m most enjoying looking back on, is the one we took to miami. it was about six weeks after we got back from our honeymoon, so we were still on cloud number nine. to arrive at EDEN ROC was as if our honeymoon had never ended.

the hotel is a lot different from what we usually prefer – small, cute, boutique hotels with a maximum of maybe thirty rooms. in comparison, eden roc is like a village, with hundreds of rooms, a gigantic restaurant, four different pools and its own private beach. but because we arrived there right before the height of their touristic season, the hotel wasn’t fully booked, and we sometimes felt like we had it entirely to ourselves. we loved our beautiful room, with its ocean view and larger-than-life bed. we loved the restaurant, with its vast breakfast buffet (seriously, they think of everything!). but above all, we loved the spa.

let me tell you about this spa, you guys. it might have been one of the most beautiful i’ve ever been to. every room is so pure and white, and the decorations are quirky and sleek at the same time (that horse!) from the chill-out area (with view of the ocean, of course) to the bathrooms (with delicious elle-branded products) – every space i entered, i never wanted to leave. we had a delightful relaxing massage, but unfortunately didn’t have a lot of time to discover the saunas, hammams and other amenities – so that’s definitely a reason for us to think about going back there.

staying at eden roc certainly made our first visit to miami so enjoyable. we felt pampered from the minute we walked in to the very last second of our stay, so in that sense it has been one of our favorite hotel stays ever. if you’re planning to experience miami to the fullest, i really recommend this place – it has the perfect location (you do need a car to get to downtown miami though), and it has the perfect vibe.

photos by stephanie duval and matthias rabaey first published in the CONNECTIONS miami guide. check it out HERE to discover more of my tips.

M De Megève

March 6, 2015 • Hotel • The Alps • Travel • Wellness

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my 30th birthday this week was a quiet and cozy affair – not quite the ‘dirty thirty’ bash i had always imagined, but to be honest i have other things on my mind than the arbitrary numbers that are supposed to indicate your phase in life. (nope, not bitter about leaving my twenties behind me at all). in any case – if i could have one birthday wish, it would like to go BACK TO MEGEVE and spend a weekend at this gorgeous hotel.

M DE MEGEVE was renovated last year and turned into the most beautiful hotel in the area, in my humble opinion. it manages to be charming and rustic and modern and sleek all at the same time – no small feat. i especially love the rooms in the new part of the building, which has one suite in particular that made me go like whoa. i would be perfectly content to just spend 48 hours inside of that room, in front of that fire, cuddled up in that bed.

but then i would miss out on the CINQ MONDES spa downstairs, and i wouldn’t want that. i personally believe the cinq mondes spas are among the best in the world, and the delightful pregnancy massage i had here did not prove me wrong. we also went for a little swim in the dimly lit indoor pool – so relaxing, i get tingly all over whenever i think about it. after the spa we were treated to an amazing dinner at LE SOMMET DU M restaurant, which blew our minds in the best possible way. good design, the ultimate state of zen and great food – that’s not too much to ask for, right?

m de megève, if you could just adopt me and give me a permanent roof over my head, i would be the happiest thirty-year-old in all of the land.

photos by stephanie duval