Can I be real with you for a second? My solo staycation at ARRIVE Austin was hands down the most relaxed I’ve been thus far in 2020. It was my DREAM vacation for summer 2020. And if that doesn’t put my in #mommode, I don’t know what does. I was desperate for 48 hours to myself to decompress, journal, brain dump, and sleep. I put off this solo staycation for longer than I should have. Getting away when you have people who are dependent on you is not only logistically difficult, it’s also hard to escape the guilt. But eventually my husband pushed me out the door, my in-laws watched Milo for the weekend, and I chose ARRIVE Austin as my destination.
Also see: my staycation at Hotel Van Zandt
All about my solo staycation at ArrivE Austin
Here’s why I picked Arrive Austin:
In a fun part of Austin. I wanted a hotel near some of the best restaurants in Austin! I’ll share more of those later.
A beautiful boutique hotel. Arrive opened in 2019 on E. 6th St in Austin, and it’s gorgeous. I couldn’t wait to check it out.
Reasonably priced. As much as I would have loved to stay at the Hotel St Cecilia, I wasn’t about to drop $500 a night on a hotel for this staycation. I was hoping to spend less than $150/night. (Prices change, so check on the Arrive website. When I stayed, my entire bill for 2 nights for a corner room was $303, including taxes.)
No pool. Weird request, but hear me out. Hotel pools in Austin are especially crowded on the weekends, and since we’re in the middle of a pandemic I wanted to go to a hotel WITHOUT a pool this time. I’ll save the hotel pools for when I can enjoy them on a weekday.
Near great restaurants. No explanation necessary. 😉
So many fun bars near this hotel in East Austin. I love my friend Shveta’s list of wine bars in East Austin. You can walk to a lot of these from Arrive East Austin!
What does one even do on a solo staycation?
This is totally something I would have asked about a year ago, but 9 months into motherhood + a pandemic + personal family stuff, I was SO ready to get off on my own and have a few hours to myself. Here’s what I did:
I relaxed. I think my shoulders were about a full inch lower by the time I got to the end of the staycation. I allowed myself to do whatever I needed to do to relax. For me, this includes drinking wine, watching some of my favorite TV shows, long hot showers in Arrive’s beautiful spa-like shower, and sleeping.
Ate at restaurants. I went to a few restaurants and coffee shops during the weekend stay at Arrive. There are some GREAT ones! I’ll list a bunch of them in just a second.
I did a brain dump. It’s been a while since I’ve done one, because they take some time. But I sat down, opened my notebook, and just dumped out all the odds and ends from my brain that have been collecting. Once everything was out in front of me, I could actually figure out how to organize it all. This was really helpful for me to make sure I have my priorities in order.
Reviewed my big picture. I checked in on things like my 5 year plan, 10 year plan, state of various relationships in my life, financial goals, etc. These things are SO important, but really hard to do amidst the chaos of life.
Restaurants near Arrive East Austin
How did Arrive Austin handle COVID-19 protocol?
Beautifully. Beyond the typical hotel safety precautions, they even individually packaged hotel towels, robes, and common items like the tv remote. Beyond impressive! Read their COVID-19 response here. (It’s very long and thorough!)
This solo staycation was such a luxurious stay for me! I ate my food slowly and thoughtfully, which is something I haven’t been able to do very often with a baby. I slept as late as I wanted, read books, and played music on the Marshall bluetooth speaker in my hotel room. I geeked out and brought 12 color pens, two notebooks, 3 colored sticky pads, my laptop/iPad/iPhone, kindle, AND camera. Haha. All the tools that I needed to have fun getting my life re-organized.
Have you indulged in a solo staycation? Does it even sound fun? Haha. It might not, and that’s ok. But if you’ve been spending the past 6 months in your home with the entire family, I can imagine that a little bit of brain space sounds nice. I can whole-heartedly recommend Arrive Austin as an escape. Maybe put it on your birthday wish list?
[…] is to book a night alone in a beautiful hotel. (I did it last summer at Arrive East Austin – read about that here!) I enjoy the silence, the unstructured time away from normal life, a drink by the pool, and […]