Hotel Jules {Paris} : A Hotel Review

Today I'm adding to my Hotel Review Guide collection which you can find on my travel guides page.

Another hotel to add to the list and another of my favorites is

The Hotel Jules in Paris, France.

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This hotel is where Nick and I stayed at on our honeymoon in Paris.  It's in the Opera district in Paris, in a quiet neighborhood but really close to shopping (Galleries Lafayette, Printemps, etc.) and the large Paris Opera house.  The hotel offers a unique boutique feel in a quiet but accessible area of Paris.
It's also only a block away from a Metro stop, which means you can get anywhere in the city quickly.
And not to mention, that our room on the corner had a wrap around balcony and a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower... it was magical.

Here is my review:

Check in - Check in for us was easy and quick.  The staff spoke wonderful English and we had no problem communicating.  As a note, we took a taxi from Charles de Gualle and the driver had a bit of a hard time finding the hotel, so make sure you keep the hotel's address handy.

Room - Our room was very large for European standards, though we did have the corner room so that's probably why.  Our room was fantastic, complete with a large wrap around Parisian balcony and a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower.

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Bathroom - The bathroom in our room was fairly small compared to the large room, but pretty standard for European hotels.  I remember wanting more counter space, but other than that, lovely design.

Design - Very modern design with updated Parisian touches.  The feel of this hotel was a mixture between Old Hollywood and modern Paris, very chic.

View from our room's balcony - Copyright to Nick Nieto Photography

View from our room's balcony - Copyright to Nick Nieto Photography

Hotel information:

49-51 Rue La Fayette, Paris, 75009 France

Website

Price Range:

$250-300/night

(average in the off season)

Overall Hotel Grade:

A+

The Truth About Traveling: International Trip Costs

After I wrote about the after feelings of a big trip here a month or so ago, I got an overwhelming response from readers that they loved my honesty and the "truth" factor that goes into traveling and especially into a travel blog.  So often, you only see the sugar coated truth to traveling on travel blogs and I try very hard to speak to the negatives on here as well.  So in another feature on the Truth About Traveling, I wanted to touch on the costs associated with a trip, this time with an International trip,
which is not something you generally see... this is the money side of the beautiful pictures and the memorable moments.

The short story is, traveling is NOT cheap.

It's an INVESTMENT.

But in short, it's ALWAYS worth it.

(Also, throughout this post, keep in mind that we work very hard to be able to afford to travel and we definitely sacrifice certain things to be able to travel so often).

Below, I outline our typical International trip costs for a week long adventure,
usually Friday to Friday/Saturday.
The prices shown below are also for the off season (March/April & October/November).

We also do splurge in areas we want (namely hotels) so keep that in mind as you go through this, 

I am not a true budget traveler, but not an excessive one either... we tend to fall right in the middle so there are definitely ways to save from what we spend and also ways to spend more if you want.

Trip Costs:

$1,000/per person average roundtrip coach ticket from West Coast US to Europe

If we decide to upgrade to Premium Economy, it's usually an extra $500/person or more.

Hotels are a point for me that I won't skimp on.  As a designer, I love a great boutique hotel and I base all my decisions for hotels on reviews online and locations.

Typically, we spend about $200-$250/night in European cities with the exception of our favorite hotel in Paris which we pay a little more.

6 nights x $250 = $1,500

One way that we save a lot of money traveling is that we almost always use public transportation or walk around a city.  Very rarely do we use taxis (really only in London/NYC) and even then, both cities have fantastic subway systems.  In Paris, we exclusively use the Metro and we pre-order tickets which saves us a lot.

Depending on how many zones you need, tickets are usually around 10 euros for a day pass or less.

6 days x 10 euros = 60 euros

Just to put some perspective on this, a taxi ride from the Champs Elysees in Paris to the Eiffel Tower (which is not a long distance) can cost up to 20 euros in traffic... that's 1/3 of your whole trip's metro ticket price on one cab ride.

Studying my metro map in Paris.

For food and random things during out trips, I plan on around $1,000 to cover meals for 6-7 days, shopping, museum entry, and miscellaneous expenses.

And on this note, I usually end up bringing some of that home with me, as we usually don't use the whole amount.

Part of my spending money always includes macarons! 

There are obviously other travel expenses for an International trip, but I'd say those are the main chunks.  Other expenses could include train tickets, airfare to another location, specific activities, or car rentals.  But to stay in one city for a week, those figures are pretty close to where we fall.

Total: approximately $4,000-$5,000 for 2 people for everything

Now, ways to save (as we hardly ever pay that full amount anymore on trips.)

With hotels.com, I almost always have at least 1 hotel night for free on our trips.

We use air miles a lot for hotel stays instead of for airfare, and save the money for the flight.

Use air miles for small connecting trips... for example, we usually fly out of Seattle or LA heading overseas, so we use miles to get from Portland to Seattle/LA.

Instead of using metro tickets, walk everywhere.

Use small amounts of air miles that aren't enough for flights for things like 
rental cars or train tickets.

While this may seem expensive, the next time you're worried about the cost, just know that no matter where you're headed, 

it will be a part of your life, you'll never forget!

Dreaming of....

After an incredibly busy and hectic few weeks, we're nearing the end of another month and I seriously can't believe we're almost half way through this year.
We've got a very busy Summer ahead, so I'm enjoying the downtime before the craziness hits again!

I've also been busy working on upcoming posts and deciding the direction I want to head with my blog.
To start with, I have updated and changed my sponsorship options a little bit,
so check them out here if you're interested!

The weather has also cooled a bit here in Portland which always soothes me and as we head into the last weeks in May, 

here's what I'm dreaming of currently...

The Hotel Wilshire {LA}: A Hotel Review

Today I'm introducing the first hotel review to add to my Hotel Review Guide collection which you can find on my travel guides page.

The first hotel I'm going to begin with is the hotel that sort of kick started this idea:

The Hotel Wilshire in Los Angeles, California.

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I found this hotel when I was looking for a place to stay in LA for our trip to Disneyland.  

We wanted to stay more in downtown LA, instead of Anaheim, and we always enjoy a great boutique hotel for the design, service and feel.

This hotel has recently become a Kimpton hotel, which is a personal favorite boutique hotel chain of mine in the US.

The nice thing about Kimpton hotels, is that they are managed and operated like true boutique hotels, instead of a chain.  They also offer free wifi and a $10 mini bar credit if you join their loyalty program which is free, so it's a great deal.

But back to the Hotel Wilshire...

Here is my review:

Check in - We checked in late in the evening and the hotel was relatively quiet.  Quick check in and easy valet service to park your car.  Parking overnight was around $30.

Room - Our room was large and well designed.  There was lots of room for luggage storage, as well as a chaise lounge to relax in.  My only complaint was that our windows looked out onto another building's rooftop, but that's what you get sometimes in a city setting.

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Bathroom - Large bathroom with large shower/tub combo and lots of counter space.  My only complaint was that there was a glass panel in between the bedroom and bathroom (shown in the above image), so in the middle of the night if you use the restroom and turn on the light, you can see it faintly through the wall into the bedroom.

Design - Very modern design with nice boutique hotel touches.  Lovely and relaxing updated color scheme and finish choices for the rooms.

Restaurant - The rooftop restaurant at this hotel is not to miss.  We enjoyed brunch up here around 10am on a Sunday and it was truly delightful, good food and amazing setting with sweeping views of LA.  Be sure to make a reservation here, as it fills up quickly.

Photo by Casey

Photo by Casey

Photo by Casey

Hotel information:

6317 Wilshire Blvd,  Los Angeles, CA 90048

Website

Price Range:

$200-260/night

(average around the time we stayed here in April)

Overall Hotel Grade:

A+

Summer Love & Memories

This past weekend, some friends of Nick and I got married in a gorgeous renovated barn down near Corvallis, Oregon.  It was a weekend of reunions, friends of ours from high school (Nick's from elementary school), people we hadn't seen in a number of years and it was so great to see everyone.

No matter how much time goes by, some people and some friendships always seem to stand the test of time.

Weddings in general always make me think, they bring about emotions that often get lost in the span of routine and busy lives.  But it's at times like this wedding last weekend, that really got me 

thinking about how fast our lives fly by, how fast we count down the days and months of our lives.

As I get older, it feels like in the blink of eye, months are gone.

It's in those moments at weddings and other events, that we get to stop for a moment and take in all the love in the room.

It's moments like that we get to stop and dream, surrounded by family, by friends.

We get to laugh with people we've known for a long time, catch up on their lives,

and remember great memories that have come and gone with them.

As it now begins the season of weddings, we have a few more scheduled to attend this Summer,

and at each of them, I hope I remember to take a moment, 

breathe in the love in the room and enjoy those special moments with my husband and friends,

because in the end, those are the moments that will make new memories,

new memories we'll remember down the road.

{Favorite Places} Sacre Coeur, Paris

Today, I'm headed back to one of my favorite spots in Paris and the newest place in my 

{Favorite Places} series.

While Montmartre has never been my favorite area of Paris, I do love heading up that direction to take in the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the view from the top over all of Paris.

The church is gorgeous, especially at twilight and the view over the city is breathtaking.

I've been up to the top of Sacre Coeur a couple times now and each time, it really is a spectacular spot.

Head up there just as the sun is setting and you will not be disappointed.  

Sitting in front of Sacre Coeur this year, March 2013 (left) and in November 2010 (right)

Copyright to Nick Nieto Photography

Copyright to Nick Nieto Photography

Nick and his Grandma

Admiring the view over Paris

Copyright to Nick Nieto Photography

Mother's Day Brunch

One thing you might not know about me from this blog is that I love to bake.  It's a hobby that's right up there with traveling, well okay, maybe not with traveling, but probably a close 2nd.

But yes, I love to bake and I love to host brunches or dinner parties to be able to cook and 

spend time with people in my life.

Last week (actually on Cinco de Mayo) I had my grandparents up to our apartment for an early

Mother's Day brunch as on the actual Mother's Day weekend, we had a few other things going on including a wedding.  

So because my grandparents are my only family nearby, 

I created a small brunch for them and me and Nick.

We indulged in:

Cream drop Scones

Lemon and Blackberry tarts

Rasberry braided bread

French Toast rolls

Turkey bacon

along with:

Angel Food cake and strawberries and fresh whipped cream

&

Black Tea cake with a honey buttercream frosting

The day was delightful and I got to spend time with family as well as baking all these lovely foods.

We snapped a few photos of the food, as some of it turned out beautiful and I always love having 

photos to remember these sorts of days.