Face-to-Face With Friends + Choice Hotels Giveaway

Hi, friends!

When we visited Vermont earlier this month, we stayed at the The Comfort Inn & Suites(R) hotel in South Burlington. We had a wonderful time exploring the city, but what we loved most about our trip was spending time with our friends who live nearby. We typically stay in touch via social media and text messages, so it was really nice connecting with them in person.

Our little family arrived in Burlington on Friday evening. We were warmly welcomed by the hotel staff and given a goodie bag with bottled water and snacks inside. You guys know how much I like snacks, so I was especially thankful to have a little something to eat after a lonnng drive.

We reserved a two-room suite, which was the best thing ever when traveling with a toddler. The space was huge with a full kitchen, living room, and bathroom and then a separate bedroom with a king bed and balcony. Having the separate rooms was key for making sure everyone got a good night’s sleep.

We reserved a crib online, so when Quinn went to bed, he slept in the bedroom. And having a crib already set up for us made traveling with a little one that much easier. No need to lug our Pack ‘N’ Play from home!

Having the two separate spaces also made it possible for the grown-ups to stay up and enjoy our vacation while our little peanut slept. In fact, once we realized the kitchen was fully stocked, including wine glasses, Mal ran out to buy us a bottle of wine. It was so nice kicking up our feet, enjoying a glass together, and not worrying about waking up Quinn.

And, in the morning, Quinn and I hung out in the living room while Mal slept in. Having the two rooms was just so perfect for our little family. I honestly don’t think we’ll ever go back to booking just a single room again. And with Choice Hotels, the option is really affordable. The brand covered the cost of our stay, but the suite we stayed in was just $150 per night, which is way less than reserving two adjoining rooms. Now that we know Choice hotels are so affordable (and located just about everywhere), we’ll probably travel even more now as a family!

We also loved that our hotel included a free continental breakfast, which, once again, was great for a (hungry) toddler.

Quinn wakes up pretty early, so it was easy to sneak downstairs and grab some milk and snacks for him.

Mal and I also enjoyed the complimentary breakfast.

And coffeeeeeee. (Quinn didn’t realize vacation is about sleeping late. Haha!)

The breakfast options were actually pretty good and much better than the usual hotel fare. There were eggs, sausage, fruit (bananas, apples, and oranges), yogurt, whole grain bread, bagels, donuts, muffins, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, oatmeal, peanut butter, biscuits, juice, coffee, and make-your-own waffles. We were pleasantly surprised!

And our hotel had an outdoor pool. The weather was cool during our visit, so we didn’t go in, but it was a nice bonus!

Once we got ourselves ready for the day, we headed downtown to buy some doughnuts to contribute to brunch with our friends.

We stopped by The Doughnut Dilemma, an adorable little shop on Main Street, which was a quick drive from our hotel.

We picked out a half dozen doughnuts– most of which were warm out of the oven and, my gosh, they smelled incredible.

With doughnuts in hand, we drove to our friends’ house for a tasty brunch.

Yum!

We had a wonderful time eating, chatting, and catching up.

Quinn especially enjoyed the bagels and new (to him) toys at their house. He carried around a bottle of salad dressing from the toy kitchen for a solid 20 minutes because he thought it was so cool. Haha!

Once we finished eating, we took our coffees out to the back porch and further caught up while our little ones played.

It was so great to see our friends (we already miss them), and we’re so thankful that Choice Hotels helped enable this connection.

When it comes to travel, especially with a toddler, it sometimes seems easier to just stay put. And with social media and video chatting helping us connect with our loved ones, you might not want to make the effort to travel at all. But you always have a choice. The choice to truly connect through real face time is always better than the other FaceTime. Choice Hotels are everywhere and totally affordable, so they help you make the right choice to connect to the special people in your life. I’m so glad that we were reintroduced to this brand. I have a feeling we’ll definitely use them in the future!

Giveaway time!

Here’s your chance to win a $100 Choice Hotels gift card to use at any of their properties!

To enter: Just click over to the Choice Hotels website, check out their locations, and leave a comment about WHO and WHERE you’d like to visit. I will randomly pick a winner next week. Good luck!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Choice Hotels. The opinions and text are all mine.