Live Healthy Fridays

Getting away and taking a trip with a friend can be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. I was fortunate enough to get the green light from my wonderful husband to take off for three days and nights to attend the amazing Summer CHA Trade Show. But, what made it even more special was to meet up with my scrappy friend Robbie Herring. I live in Colorado and she lives in Texas, but somehow we have forged a wonderful friendship that transcends the distance between us. Keeping with my live healthy philosophy, Robbie let me plan our accomodations, so take a look at where we stayed...

I had heard that the aloft hotels were pretty cool and when I researched a hotel for us, I learned that there was one within walking distance of the convention center. Here is just a snippet about the concept for this non-traditional hotel. "aloft was inspired by the ongoing democratization of design and an emerging segment of high style, low cost brands such as Mini Cooper, Target and West Elm. Featuring loft-like guest rooms, a buzzing bar scene in the open lobby, an urban-inspired grab-and go café and industrial design elements throughout, aloft hotels are a far cry from the conventional cookie cutter hotel brands."

We definitely agreed that the lobby was "buzzing" with energy and fun, so we spent a couple hours each evening enjoying a cocktail from the bar and hanging out in the lobby. The colors have just the right amount of funky to make it interesting without being too tacky.

The rooms are really simple and sparsely furnished, but I have to say that the bed was very comfortable and I really liked the clutter free environment. It actually made me want to hang up my clothes and keep the floor space clear to enjoy the concept.

I love, love, love how this hotel chain puts an LCD TV on the wall exactly where you want it. It's accessible and out of the way and was perfect for enjoying the Oprah Winfrey show at 11:00pm, which is when I caught a couple of her shows while we were in Chicago.

The bathroom was very efficient and featured a shower only, but the cleanliness and minimalist approach actually felt good. I'm not sure if this is a "romantic" get away type of hotel, but it was perfect for a quick trip to meet up with friends and being from Colorado, I appreciated their GREEN approach and minimalist concept. Robbie and I had a lot of fun at aloft and totally think it's worth looking at again for a future trip.

Thank you so much for stopping by -