We had a great time! We'd booked a really good package at the Hotel Monaco, which was right downtown, and we walked everywhere. The hotel was lovely, and other than an issue I had at check in (I'm not sure if it was a lack of training or truly hotel policy)(And yes, I'm fussy, I admit it. I grew up in a hotel, worked in them for years.) everything from there on out was terrific, even the creepy love LOL Here's the thing, I'd tweeted on our way about our first stay at that chain, and after we checked in, a room service waiter brought us a bowl of strawberries with a hand written card, welcoming us and thanking me for tweeting about them. Now, since I tweet under Ithildyn, I was rather impressed with their detective skills. In a follow up twitter convo, they said they were glad they'd guessed the right guest. Their motto's something like 'love at first stay', so I said it was kind of creepy love, but I truly did appreciate it the lovely surprise - and I love strawberries!

The hotel itself is a renovated old building, and they've done a great job. The room has a funky traditional vibe, and they make the most of the space. My only wish was that the rooms have real shower heads. I can only assume that due to the age of the building, they can't, so instead they have these handheld wands bolted to the wall. Made for a very awkward shower. The bathroom itself however, was huge! And the zebra print robe gave me a giggle.

There's a wine social in the lobby at 5 every evening, which was a lot of fun. On Saturday, the host had SLC Comic Con on his name plate, and since those are usually where they're from, I had to ask. He explained that their staff tags had their guilty pleasure under their name. And he apparently was one of the organizers of the Salt Lake City Comic con. He said Stan Lee was their guest last year. They also have their staff massage therapist available to do a five minute complimentary neck/shoulder massage. I took advantage on Saturday, and she did an amazing job, knowing without me saying a word how messed up my neck is. Oh, and Friday, the host had her dog, Jazzie with her, and I made several trips back to pet the pup. Such a nice change from where I work which bans all pets from property. (We used to be able to bring dogs for a visit, but we had an animal hater employee complain, and so it was ruined for everyone.)

The package came with a dining credit in their lounge, and since their whole restaurant menu is available there, we didn't feel like we missed trying out the restaurant itself. We had some amazing food! I think the highlights were the duck toast, the cheese plate (had that twice!), and the mussels. Amazed at the mussels - tried them even though I don't like fish or clams etc..., but the preparation sounded so good. Yum!! The service was spot on. Even though it was jammed on a Fri/Sat night, the servers instantly noticed when my drink was empty and came to see if I wanted another. We did eat in the restaurant for Sat. morning breakfast, and I had biscuits with spicy elf elk sausage gravy. OMG! So good!

So a great stay was had! I can definitely recommend staying at their property in SLC, and I can only assume that the other Kimpton properties are just as great.

We did a teensy bit of shopping at City Creek: Sephora! And we had dinner one night at an Asian place called The Naked Fish. Before we headed home yesterday, we had our obligatory farewell SLC lunch as Squatters Brewery, which was delicious as always.

All in all, a much more relaxing weekend than going to Vegas. I think it was worth the extra two hour's drive to go to SLC instead.

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