My Weekend at the Ritz
Every year, the girls in my family take a weekend shopping trip to Dallas, and this year I was especially excited. Why? Because we stayed at The Ritz-Carlton! For those of you who’ve stayed there over and over, ok, fine. But, as for me? I’ve never stayed at The Ritz and I’m not gonna lie about how much I squealed in the car on the road trip down. And nothing disappointed. I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels in Dallas (and loved many), but the service at The Ritz was by far the best. Impeccable. Everyone knew how to treat us and it felt like home (um, a really, really nice one at that – with lots of Louis Vuitton bags). So, I tried to take more photos than usual to really capture the essence of the weekend stay. The flowers below were the first thing we saw upon entry, if that tells you anything? The hotel was completely stunning – down to every last detail.
Here’s a shot at our room with two queen beds. I have to say, I could’ve slept in this bed foreva, eva. (But, alas, my sister’s phone buzzed at 8:30…love ya, G.) The bedding and pillows were incredibly soft (I do love me a feather bed), and we all agreed that we enjoyed every bit of our nine hours of sleep (total bliss for us moms!).
We wondered to the spa twice to check out the (you guessed it) shopping. While we didn’t have any spa appointments (there’s just not enough time in the day!), G. ended up buying a Lacoste polo shirt for just $30 and my mom found a really luxe yoga hoodie for $30 as well. I was amazed to see the shop carried Lululemon apparel (although none my size, sad face) and the cutest mini Melissa pink Mary Jane jellies. Swoon.
While were were in town, we stopped by Highland Park Village (honestly, because we can’t get enough of Patrizio’s Italian cuisine…), and we shopped a little in Tory Burch. Her store was having a great shoe sale, and I saw these stunners. Um, they weren’t on sale, but that’s beside the point! Isn’t the bow detail cute??
I went crazy in Anthropologie as if we don’t have one at home (we do). But, this location always seems to have exactly what I love – like these green polka-dot Stiletto jeans by Current Elliott and green Splendid top. I didn’t even mean to pair the two together, but they ended up working, no? I bought them in a heartbeat.
G. and I were joking around in the hotel and wrote mom a little note while she was relaxing in the super-nice bathtub. We did end up waiting on mom and took the Bentley house car (I know, right?) to the downtown Neiman Marcus for more shopping. It’s the original store, so I was curious to see it!
And here is “said” Bentley all shiny and new. It came complete with a chair massage and the best satellite radio. The leather seats were to die – and I must admit it was fun having folks stare and watch our grand exit. It did get pretty busy by the time we were finished shopping (who knew NM closed at 6?), so we had to wait longer than usual for someone to pick us up. And when we got back to the Ritz it was hopping like crazy (did I mention The Dave Matthews Band stayed there that night? We even caught a glimpse of the tour bus…). At 6 p.m., they have a “guacamologist” in the lobby with freshly mixed guacamole and chips with mini margaritas – complimentary. Lucky us!
Here are the mini cupcake sugar cookies I bought by Dylan’s Candy Bar (a fav) at Neiman Marcus. Um, they’re already all gone, haha. I def hated to eat them because they’re so cute, but hey, someone had to, right? I did buy a sweet chiffon Ella Moss top as well and not just cookies, thanks.
We spent way too long in the Children’s department swooning over items like these mini Stuart Weitzman shoes. They also had a mini grand piano marked with the words “Neiman Marcus” and a red toy Mercedes convertible. Oh, the life.
And while we didn’t have time to eat a long dinner (shopping kept us soooo busy!), I must mention that Fearing’s drew a crowd the entire time. I’ve heard it’s amazing, so if you visit The Ritz, you should def try the restaurant just off the lobby. Instead of eating dinner at a decent hour (we waited until after shopping, duh), we drove over to NorthPark Center (my fav mall) to finish up our retail therapy for the evening. I ended up buying most everything for little C. (alas, Barneys wasn’t having a shoe sale), including the cutest madras swim trunks from babyGap; board shorts and a sailboat tee from crewcuts and our beloved Hanna Andersson organic PJs. Oh, the life of a mom! 🙂
Before we checked out, I spent some time at the pool with G. and then made my morning coffee run to the gift shop (which serves gelato, by the way). These are the new bright orange shorts I bought at Anthropologie (in my own town), and I paired them with a navy Splendid top, Report wedges, my Minkoff mini MAC and piles of bracelets. Typical morning coffee run, no? I had to prep myself for the shopping to be done at TJ Maxx, where they have The Runway section of tons of amazing goodies. I scooped up a striped dress and hot pink mesh sweater by C&C California; a navy striped Vince tee I wanna live in for the rest of my life and a pair of luxe alice + olivia pinstripe jeans (and now I know why Stacey Bendet is known as “staceypants” – best. pants. ever.).
And here is the rooftop pool. It was nice and serene around 9:30 a.m., but when we stopped by the Saturday afternoon prior, wow, was it shaking. They serve tea and cucumber water, and you can order anything you want to eat or drink. Told you they had impeccable service.
And here’s a view up at the Ritz from my seat by the pool. So pretty. If you happen to visit The Ritz-Carlton Dallas anytime soon, tell them I’ll be back. Heart. that. place. And now? Back to reality…le sigh…
May 22, 2012 @ 4:03 pm
Wow – what a great trip – looks like fun was had by all!
May 23, 2012 @ 3:24 am
such an informative post, thanks!
May 23, 2012 @ 3:46 am
I agree! The Ritz-Carlton is the best hotel in Dallas and I too am looking forward to my next visit.
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