NYC hotel and eats
NYC is a foodie and fitness heaven. There were so many incredible restaurants I wanted to try while I was there in addition to all of the new-to-me fitness classes. Even though I feel like I’d need a lifetime (and $$$$) to truly explore it ALL, we definitely squeezed a ton of wonderful food and fitness into our trip 🙂 I’m so thankful to Reebok and Fitfluential for the opportunity to attend the Skyscape launch, and to my blog buddies (new and old!) who made the trip such a blast <3
We stayed The Plaza, which was absolutely exquisite.
(I couldn’t stop thinking about Home Alone 2 and Bride Wars!)
The Plaza was a great location to walk around and explore, and we could easily get on the subway outside the hotel room doors.
One thing that blew us away immediately was the perfume of fresh flowers. The entire hotel is decorated with elaborate fresh bouquets, which are changed out every week. The Plaza is also well-known for their afternoon high tea.
I took a thousand pictures of my room, which was a unique mix of traditional elegance and modern technology: crystal chandeliers and an iPad which controlled the heating/cooling and lighting. You could also order room service and make concierge requests from the iPad.
The Plaza truly went above and beyond to create a personalized guest experience, especially with custom printed stationary:
fresh fruit basket (which I attacked like a savage beast– I was definitely ready for dinner when I checked into the hotel), handwritten note,
and the Fairmont Fit program, which provided workout attire each day during the stay. On the bed, an entire Reebok athletic outfit was wrapped up for me, including socks and my favorite running shoes.
The beauty about the Fairmont Fit program is that you don’t have to worry about loading a bunch of athletic attire in your suitcase (especially heavy/bulky sneakers). They also included a running map of Central Park, which was right outside the hotel. At the end of the day, you put your Reebok attire in the laundry bag to be laundered. If you like any of the gear so much that you want to purchase it, you could do so with a 15% discount. You can also request specific items (sports bra, socks) and even an mp3 player loaded with music!
I LOVE programs like this because they help to make fitness (especially while traveling for work) much more accessible. I felt motivated to see the gear on the bed, and if I wouldn’t have had fitness classes planned while we were there, it would have inspired me to plan something active. Heather and I wore our Fairmont Fit gear to the Uplift class.
Restaurants we tried:
Todd English Food Hall. I recapped this one the first night of the trip, but the casual restaurant included a variety of foods that you could pick and choose from: traditional American-style food (burgers, fries, etc), Italian (with house-made pasta), raw (sushi and shellfish) and Asian. My kale salad was incredible; I can’t wait to replicate the flavor combos.
(I’ve never been so happy about a salad in my life haha)
Theodora introduced us to Sweetgreen, which is a custom salad bar. You pick your lettuce, all of your toppings (or can choose from pre-designed salad mixes), dressing, and they toss it up for you. It was AMAZING. My salad had kale, chicken, quinoa, sweet potato, goat cheese and a lemon-tahini dressing.
I grabbed a 6-pack of ‘rons to bring home for my macaron-obsessed little lady. I tried a dark chocolate one and it was by far one of the best I’ve had.
I got a flourless chocolate cake to go with my coffee. It was light, fluffy and perfectly decadent; such a lovely afternoon pick-me-up.
We enjoyed cocktails here before dinner one night, and while my wine and the atmosphere were both beautiful, the bar mix was especially notable 😉 We killed an embarrassing amount of the salty goodness– it was so good with a drink!
(pic from Heather! With Roo, Julie, Heather, Erin and Merri)
This is a tapas restaurant, so we ordered lots of little plates to share. My favorite was a tie between the cheese plate (with various types of goat cheese) and the potatoes. I love tapas, especially since it’s a fun way to try lots of different dishes without committing to a full-sized entree.
Heather and I grabbed juices here after our class at Uplift. I had a green juice with apple, kale, lemon and ginger. It was sweet with the lightest bit of spice 🙂
After Terri, we braved the chilly weather and walked to Penelope for breakfast. It was such a cute little spot- I should have snapped a pic!- and their menu offerings were fantastic. Lots of locally-sourced and organic ingredients. I had an omelet stuffed with goat cheese, spinach and chicken sausage + perfectly crispy potatoes.
There were a couple of places I would have loved to try while we were there, but some of them were far, and let’s be real, you can only eat so much 😉
Pure Food and Wine or One Lucky Duck (<– have had both before, but they’re favorites)
Hu Kitchen (Paleo food)
and Levain Bakery.
Now that we’re done talking about food, I have to tell you guys that I SAW A RAT! My first rat down by the Subway, haha.
Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend so far <3
xoxo
Gina
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Thanks for the recommendations — I’m definitely going to try to visit some of these places on my trip next week!
Wow! What an amazing NYC trip. I am not a super macaroon fan, but an especially good one is heavenly!
Those “In Residence” business cards make me smile. Looks like an awesome trip, and I am utterly jealous you got to stay at the Plaza. The only time I went to NYC, I stayed at a really lame hotel right around the corner from the Plaza and would always look at it longingly when we walked past it.
Looks like an absolutely amazing trip!
I’m looking into moving to NYC in the fall, and this post got me really excited…until I was reminded of the rats. Ha. 🙂 Going to have to work on facing fears!
It looks like you all had such a wonderful time! I hope to go to NYC one day – I’ve been there once but it was for the marathon and we were in and out so fast!
Everything about that room looks so cool! And the Fit program, such a great idea!
Sounds like an amazing trip. I dream of staying in a fancy hotel like that one day! As much for the stationery as anything else, I would write to everyone I know, just to show them the paper!
Aww glad you had fun!! I miss NYC so damn much. I lived there when I went to college at NYU a while ago–from 2000-2004–I’ve been back a few times since then but it’s nothing like actually living there. It’s really a special experience that city. Sweet Greens looks amaze!! I checked their website and. I wish Chicago had a salad bar like that. And cafe Hu looks incredible. And yes–NYC rats are a breed of their own–they are literally the scariest things I’ve ever seen! They’re enormous!! I think all the garbage from the subway makes them stronger or something–lol.
What a great program, supplying gym clothes! I always fill half my suit case with sneakers and gym gear and this would def make travelling THAT much easier!
I so badly want to go back and chill in that hotel room and eat a bunch of tapas again. So glad we got to hang out! Next time we’ll do an Instagram video of eating macarons while working some vinyasa poses. 🙂
Sounds like a fabulous vacation!!! I love New York! It seems like it would take a lifetime to enjoy all the good eats the city has to offer.
If you are still in the city check out Eataly, in the Flatiron district
it is amazing
we wanted to go SO BADLY and passed it a couple of times when it was closed!
That sounds like a wonderful experience.
Out of curiosity, I checked out the Fairmont Fit program, which sounds amazing. However, I was disappointed to learn that the sizes exclude plus sizes (women’s go up to XL only), though shoes would be workable. It would be a way to avoid having to bring athletic shoes, certainly, but I do wish the program accommodated more sizes because people who are already “fit” or “healthy” or whatever term used to define the opposite of being overweight need the help, too. Of course, the program is the place for this suggestion, but just wanted to thank you for the info on the program.
Wow, I would LOVE to stay at The Plaza next time I’m in New York. Reebok knows how to pamper!
Great recap! You look like you had an amazing trip experience. I love NYC! So many things to explore and discover. The Plaza hotel looks incredible too. All I can say is Home Alone!
Dreaming of a trip to NYC in the near future! It is pretty crazy that I have been all over the world but never to NY! I am a macaroon girl so that photo made me kinda drooll..maybe a bit haha have fun! xo C
This post has me drooling! So many good eats in NYC. Fun fact: Bride Wars was actually filmed at the Fairmont Copley Square in Boston even though they claimed it was the Plaza. Now that I type that I realize it wasn’t quite a ‘fun’ fact but oh well, now you know 🙂
All the food looks amazing! What a fun trip!
Sounds like a yummy trip! I love eating my way through a vacation. 🙂
I love seeing the room at the Plaza. What a beautiful room and hotel! I always think of Home Alone and Bride Wars, too!!
I went to Levain yesterday! (I live in NYC but don’t make it there often.)
ahhhhh! HOW WAS IT?
Wonderful as usual! My husband had somehow never had the cookie…I felt like such a failure! Lol.
What a beautiful hotel! And that’s the second awesome salad I’ve seen today! I think I’ll got buy a beautiful, huge salad bowl to help inspire me!
I remembered reading this in March and now that I’m moving to NYC in August (!!!), had to find it again as a reference! So crazy excited to try these spots. Thanks!