Honor and Folly, Detroit, Michigan

One of my very favorite hotel/travel blogs is Designtripper.  If you haven't spent hours poring over all of her featured dreamy hotels and guest houses, then this is your lucky day.  Blogger Meghan McEwen looks for the qualities in a hotel experience that I value most - a sense of place and a sense of community - and I think it's what loads of people are looking for more and more. To quote her from her Welcome Beyond interview, "The places I’m most attracted to when I travel are the places that tell a story about their location — places that make you feel like you could really live there. I think the way people travel is changing. People want an intimate, authentic experience — something that feels special and personal, instead of a hotel room that could be anywhere in the  world and doesn't really have a direct relationship to its surroundings."

She officially became my hero when she went from blogger to innkeeper and opened Honor and Folly, a two-bedroom B&B in the oldest neighborhood in Detroit.  It's essentially a converted two-bedroom apartment and you can rent out one room or both.  There's a coffee shop downstairs so you can hang out with lots of locals.  They also have cooking classes and events in the space and seem to be doing a great job blending the too often separate universes of locals and tourists. Something desperately needed here in Los Angeles!

Photos taken from Welcome Beyond.

 

Wedding + Honeymoon

 

Next weekend I'm off to get married!  The big event at El Capitan Canyon Resort in Santa Barbara is sure to be great fun and then we're off to Mexico - Coqui Coqui in Tulum and The Tides in Playa Del Carmen. And for those of you (shamefully or not) watching the soul-sucking program The Biggest Loser, you know that this is the season of No Excuses.  So I'm taking that to heart and come April, I'm back in action.  See you on the other side!

Photos: El Capitan Canyon Resort, Coqui Coqui from Elle.com, and The Tides

Dunton Hot Springs, Dolores, Colorado

Back in the early 2011, when I was newly engaged and addicted to wedding blogs (from which I have since overdosed), I came across this wedding and my head exploded all over the keyboard.  But then another 5 months passed before I started Let's Stay Here and somehow I forgot that the best part of that wedding porn was actually the setting, Dunton Hot Springs.

Thanks to the December issue of my beloved Sunset Magazine, I was recently reminded of its glory and I thought I'd kick off 2012 with my dream winter hotel.

Dunton Hot Springs is an old ghost town converted into a luxury resort nestled deep in the Colorado Rockies.  It's made up of 12 cabins, a saloon/dancehall turned dining room, library, spa, and of course, hot springs.  

Remember way back in this blog's very first post, when I mentioned that one of the reasons I started this was in the hopes that some kind hotel would throw free hotel rooms at me?  Well, Dunton Hot Springs, I was talking to you.

Lake Placid Lodge, Lake Placid, New York

The only thing I know about The Adirondacks in upstate New York is that they are famous for their lovely outdoor chairs.  And the only thing I know about Lake Placid is what I learned from the critically-acclaimed 2007 movie Lake Placid 2 (17% on Rotten Tomatoes!).

That is to say, I know nothing, and when I saw these unbelievable photos of the Lake Placid Lodge, I wanted to know more. 

This winter wonderland is exactly the kind of cozy place I'd like to hibernate in until spring comes around.

p.s. Please forgive my month away from Let's Stay Here.  I've recently started a new job (horray!) and am trying to figure out a way to make this happen during off hours.

Camp Wandawega, Elkhorn, Wisconsin

The end of summer has arrived.  As an Angeleno, I know this primarily because they are now serving pumpkin lattes at Starbucks.  In other parts of the country, I hear, the end of summer is very real and very tragic, and every last moment of it must be savored and celebrated. 

I believe this to be especially true in the winter-is-no-joke Midwest.  My mom grew up in Illinois and every summer she would take an overnight train to Wisconsin for two months of summer camp.  As a child I found the stories about this trip unbelievably romantic.  An overnight train filled with kids off to summer camp?!  Even now it seems like something out of Harry Potter.  When I saw the photos of Camp Wandawega (adorable website!), the summer camp turned hotel in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, I felt like every fantasy I have had about my mom's 1950's childhood were realized. 

This lodge-themed hotel is only open from May to October and it seems like the ideal destination for lessening the pain of letting summer go and welcoming all that autumn has to offer. 

I stole these photos from Time Out Chicago. You'll also find a good article about the place at that link. 

 

Camp Wildwood, Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles

Dear Universe,

Please send me a check for $8,000,000 so I can buy this newly listed real estate property and turn it into the most incredible Los Angeles resort ever.

It's 13 acres of dreamy California coastal mountain summer camp built in 1923 with an Olympic size pool and cute little bungalows. And listen to this, Universe. It's already zoned for resort usage so there really shouldn't be anything stopping you.

Thanks!
Rachel