Solo Staycation at The Starling Hotel, Atlanta

My life as a single mom who's the primary physical parent is VERY busy. Unlike other co-parenting situations that are 50:50, my daughter's father lives in a different state. This means that she gets to see him just a few times a year. Even though I have a great support system in my parents, sister and cousin, I prefer to take solo or "me time," only when Coco is with her father (when he comes to visit, or she goes to visit him. For her birthday this year, he came into town for the weekend, and I seized the opportunity to get some well-deserved time alone. 

I chose to spend my time at The Starling Atlanta Midtown, Curio Collection by Hilton because I wanted

1. A Hilton brand hotel (trying to get Hilton points) 
2. A hotel with a spa;
3. My coworker said I should "put myself out there" (see my vlog on Am I Ready to Start Dating?)

Things I Liked 

1. The hotel is beautiful!!! Everywhere you look, there's something pretty to look at. It is definitely a great space with lots of photo ops for any influencer's social media feed. 
2. My room was lovely and spacious. I loved the decor and my creative juices instantly started flowing. The bed was VERY comfortable too - just too bad I slept off very early, then woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep (ended up finishing an audiobook I'd been listening to)
3. The drinks and food. I asked the bartender to make me something sweet but light on the alcohol - and I can't remember what she made but it was FANTASTIC! I also ordered room service for dinner - fries and sweet chili chicken wings - DELICIOUS!
4. It's within walking distance of a lot of different attractions, like the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (which I've still never been to), Piedmont Park, Fox Theater and more. Since I had less than 24 hours at the hotel, I opted to stay in.
5. The spa was great! I booked the Destress Massage and followed it with a steam shower and a few minutes in the sauna. Unfortunately I was rushing to meet my family for Father's Day lunch, so couldn't enjoy the spa as long as I would have liked. Otherwise, I enjoyed my time there.
6. The hotel has a DJ on Saturday nights. My plan was to head down to the bar at about 10:30 or so and enjoy good music and drinks. Unfortunately my body was exhausted and I slept off at 9:30 and didn't wake up until long after the bar closed. So in theory, I like that there was a bar that I could have gone to and possibly enjoyed. 

Things I Didn't Quite Like

1. Pretty pricey. I booked the hotel via Delta (hey, I need my skymiles), and paid off the room immediately. What I didn't bargain for was the $60 overnight valet parking. I'd have thought as a paying guest, parking would be complimentary. Not so! Self-parking is not an option either. Also, as delicious as the chicken and fries were, I don't think they were worth the $35 bill. I thought about getting the breakfast buffet but after the unexpected $100 extra spend, I decided to walk down the road to Starbucks and Einstein Bagels to get breakfast for less than $10.
2. Maybe I didn't explore enough, but when I tried to watch TV, I only got options to pay for different programming. After a few minutes of trying to find something to watch that I wouldn't have to pay for, I gave up. 
3. Between dropping my car with the valet service at check-in, and picking it back up at check-out, my car key got broken. My keys were not broken when I got there, so it was pretty irritating. I watched them use painters tape to put the key back together and didn't get a real apology. Again, I was rushing to lunch so I didn't bother making a big deal out of it. I wasn't happy though. 

Overall though, I'd go back for another stay at the Starling hotel, and would be better prepared (to spend). I'd also like to stay for more than one night, and maybe even make it a Moms-Off weekend trip!

I was glad to get to use my camera again after such a long time. I hope you enjoy the photos.