Spencer and I travel a lot. It is the biggest interest we have in common and we always feel so refreshed when we return. We enjoy planning the trips as much as we do experiencing them. We decided on Amelia Island for an Easter weekend away after reading about the Ritz Carlton property there online. Amelia Island is known as Florida's first luxury vacation destination. Spencer has always wanted to stay at a Ritz Carlton property so we decided it would be a good match.
Amelia Island is only a 6.5 hour drive from Greensboro North Carolina. Upon arriving to the hotel, we were impressed. The valet was polite and we were able to check in two hours early. There were lots of Easter treats waiting at check in for the holiday weekend!
The bellman brought our luggage to the room immediately and we headed straight to the beach to get use of our complimentary umbrella and chairs. There were beach attendants to put your umbrellas up and put your towels on your chair. Spencer and I were impressed that the lady that took care of us knew how to turn a towel into a pillow. Next, we headed to the indoor hot tub before going back to our room to get ready for dinner. Right before we left for dinner, we took some photos on the gorgeous lawn that overlooks the beach. There were lots of pretty spring flowers planted everywhere.
One neat part about this hotel is that they offer a photography concierge. Every guest receives a free photo session as well as one free print from that session.
We decided to head to the Historic District for dinner. This is where most of the restaurants we heard about were on Amelia Island.
We ended up trying out Ciao, an Italian bistro. We split the chicken alfredo and got house salads and left satisfied. One neat fact about this restaurant was that they put their checks in Italian DVD boxes. For dessert, we decided to indulge and tried Fantastic Fudge for ice cream. We almost had a major scare when I ordered a flavor with nuts in it (I'm highly allergic)! But the girls that worked there were nice and scooped me another flavor when they found out I was allergic right before I took my first bite. We went in some of the shops while we were in the Historic District and even got a couple of souvenir t shirts that said "Amelia Island". This is a tradition of ours and our collection of travel t shirts is growing quickly. When we went back to the room, we slept like babies. It was one of the more comfortable mattresses I have ever slept on. I don't think I rolled over again until my alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.
Friday morning, I wanted to get a sunrise picture. I found a blog on the best spots for photos and saw a gorgeous picture on firefallphotography.com.
Spencer was less than thrilled about waking up at 6 a.m. on vacation but was nice enough to drive me to Beach Access 31 near Hutchins Avenue which is where I got this pretty shot.
Once we returned to the hotel, we rode bikes for about an hour. This was complimentary of the hotel as well.
Did I mention how many amazing free amenities this place has? Your stay in any room guarantees your use of 2 hours of free bike rentals, access to tennis and golf on their beautiful grounds, an umbrella and chairs by the beach, one free fitness class per day, complimentary shoe shine service (Spencer used this), and access to their staff which are literally there to fulfill any need you may have. There is a turn down service at night where your bed covers are turned down for you, room is quickly cleaned, and a calendar of events and weather for the next day is left along with some Ritz Carlton chocolates on your bed. We could not have been more impressed by the way we were treated and how clean everything was. Even though we were staying in their coastal view room, which is the most affordable room they offer at $499 a night, we could not have been happier with our stay and service.
Friday morning passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to check out. We were heading to another hotel on Amelia Island, Amelia Hotel at the Beach. We were sad, but were told there were no rooms available at the rate that we had originally booked for at the Ritz Carlton that night. We weren't surprised at this because it was Easter weekend and decided trying another local place couldn't be so bad. When we pulled into Amelia Hotel at the Beach, we noticed the outside seemed well upkept and was painted a pretty coral color. Upon walking in, we smelled a distinct odor of urine and smoke that did not leave us until we walked out of the doors. The staff at check in were polite and informed us that there would be cookies in the lobby that afternoon. When we walked in the room, I was horrified. Not only did the stench we smelled get worse, but we found our air conditioning unit in about 5 pieces laying in the floor. We were very let down. We knew that nothing was going to compare to the Ritz Carlton but this was just not acceptable. Meanwhile Spencer had a conference call for work he had to take so it was my job to inform management of this. When I walked up to the front desk, a lady was complaining about the smell in her room. When she walked away the guy at the front desk muttered something about squirting some air freshener in her room over his walkie talkie. It was almost comical. The maintenance man came to our room and popped the air conditioner back together without even using any tools. I was horrified and clearly he had done it before.
When Spencer got off of his phone call, we both agreed we wished there was some way we could get a different room somewhere else and get out of this other hotel. We called the Ritz Carlton and they said that there had been a change and a room was available for us. We immediately checked out of the Amelia Hotel at the Beach (which we were refunded for) and headed back to the Ritz Carlton. Upon arrival, Buddy at the front desk recognized us because he had just checked us out a few hours before. He apologized for the mistakes of the other hotel and upgraded us to the Atlantic Suite that had become available (a $1500-$1800/night room) for the same price that we paid for the other Coastal View room that we had stayed in the previous night. Spencer and I were trying to contain our relief and excitement.
Upon walking up to the door, we noticed it was very separated from the others and had a doorbell. We opened the doors and were immediately amazed. Every time we turned the corner, the room kept going. With a living room, two showers, a marble bath, and a separate half bath, as well as two oceanfront balcony entrances in addition to our room, we were blown away.
I am not sure that pictures or videos can do it justice but here are a few photos I took on my phone to show my family the room right when we had checked in.
After about 5 minutes of being in the room, our own personal mini bar attendant rang our doorbell to service our mini bar and see what else we needed. Spencer and I looked at each other in confusion and amazement over the fact that we had our own mini bar attendant. We tried to stay in our room and on the property as long as possible that night because we knew it was probably one of the nicest hotel rooms we would ever have. The balcony view was just so beautiful. It was steps away from the beach access and had a complete view of the ocean. You would think that a first floor ocean view would not be as good as a third floor view but in this case it was much better!
Before leaving, we ordered breakfast to have delivered to our room. It came within 30 minutes and there was a team of three women to set our table for us. They were great and the food was pretty good. The best part was the view for sure!
One last walk on the beach resulted in us spying a turtle and her babies in the dunes! It was so amazing and our hotel explained they were endangered and doing their best to protect them.
From start to finish, I just cannot say enough good things about this property and we will definitely be returning! Spencer even made the comment that he would love to make this an annual vacation for our family whenever we have kids. If you have any questions about this destination or want to know some tips and tricks we have found on saving money while traveling to places like this, feel free to email me at carleewilley@gmail.com! I love helping others plan their vacations as well.
A Few Extra Tips and Details:
-While on our trip, we also visited Fort Clinch State Park, which has a great view of Amelia Lighthouse, the oldest standing structure on Amelia Island. We also toured around the fort and got some pretty cool photos and stories with the cannons.
- One place I would not recommend for dinner is Brett's Waterway Cafe, food was mediocre and service was awful, but if you are going for a view, this place has the best!
- For lunch, I would try Pepper's Mexican Grill in the Historic District!
- Arrive early, the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island does not charge extra for early check ins and is very accommodating to get you in your room and on with your day!
- Amelia Island is well known for their horseback riding on the beach as well as kayak tours. Check out Groupon for some of these deals. These are things we are hoping to try when we return next time!
- Shop smart and look for deals! Spencer and I paid a fraction of the cost for our stay because we are eligible for government rates due to Spencer's military service. We also joined the Rewards program to build points since we plan on returning!
Amelia Island is only a 6.5 hour drive from Greensboro North Carolina. Upon arriving to the hotel, we were impressed. The valet was polite and we were able to check in two hours early. There were lots of Easter treats waiting at check in for the holiday weekend!
The bellman brought our luggage to the room immediately and we headed straight to the beach to get use of our complimentary umbrella and chairs. There were beach attendants to put your umbrellas up and put your towels on your chair. Spencer and I were impressed that the lady that took care of us knew how to turn a towel into a pillow. Next, we headed to the indoor hot tub before going back to our room to get ready for dinner. Right before we left for dinner, we took some photos on the gorgeous lawn that overlooks the beach. There were lots of pretty spring flowers planted everywhere.
One neat part about this hotel is that they offer a photography concierge. Every guest receives a free photo session as well as one free print from that session.
We decided to head to the Historic District for dinner. This is where most of the restaurants we heard about were on Amelia Island.
We ended up trying out Ciao, an Italian bistro. We split the chicken alfredo and got house salads and left satisfied. One neat fact about this restaurant was that they put their checks in Italian DVD boxes. For dessert, we decided to indulge and tried Fantastic Fudge for ice cream. We almost had a major scare when I ordered a flavor with nuts in it (I'm highly allergic)! But the girls that worked there were nice and scooped me another flavor when they found out I was allergic right before I took my first bite. We went in some of the shops while we were in the Historic District and even got a couple of souvenir t shirts that said "Amelia Island". This is a tradition of ours and our collection of travel t shirts is growing quickly. When we went back to the room, we slept like babies. It was one of the more comfortable mattresses I have ever slept on. I don't think I rolled over again until my alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.
Friday morning, I wanted to get a sunrise picture. I found a blog on the best spots for photos and saw a gorgeous picture on firefallphotography.com.
Spencer was less than thrilled about waking up at 6 a.m. on vacation but was nice enough to drive me to Beach Access 31 near Hutchins Avenue which is where I got this pretty shot.
Did I mention how many amazing free amenities this place has? Your stay in any room guarantees your use of 2 hours of free bike rentals, access to tennis and golf on their beautiful grounds, an umbrella and chairs by the beach, one free fitness class per day, complimentary shoe shine service (Spencer used this), and access to their staff which are literally there to fulfill any need you may have. There is a turn down service at night where your bed covers are turned down for you, room is quickly cleaned, and a calendar of events and weather for the next day is left along with some Ritz Carlton chocolates on your bed. We could not have been more impressed by the way we were treated and how clean everything was. Even though we were staying in their coastal view room, which is the most affordable room they offer at $499 a night, we could not have been happier with our stay and service.
Friday morning passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to check out. We were heading to another hotel on Amelia Island, Amelia Hotel at the Beach. We were sad, but were told there were no rooms available at the rate that we had originally booked for at the Ritz Carlton that night. We weren't surprised at this because it was Easter weekend and decided trying another local place couldn't be so bad. When we pulled into Amelia Hotel at the Beach, we noticed the outside seemed well upkept and was painted a pretty coral color. Upon walking in, we smelled a distinct odor of urine and smoke that did not leave us until we walked out of the doors. The staff at check in were polite and informed us that there would be cookies in the lobby that afternoon. When we walked in the room, I was horrified. Not only did the stench we smelled get worse, but we found our air conditioning unit in about 5 pieces laying in the floor. We were very let down. We knew that nothing was going to compare to the Ritz Carlton but this was just not acceptable. Meanwhile Spencer had a conference call for work he had to take so it was my job to inform management of this. When I walked up to the front desk, a lady was complaining about the smell in her room. When she walked away the guy at the front desk muttered something about squirting some air freshener in her room over his walkie talkie. It was almost comical. The maintenance man came to our room and popped the air conditioner back together without even using any tools. I was horrified and clearly he had done it before.
When Spencer got off of his phone call, we both agreed we wished there was some way we could get a different room somewhere else and get out of this other hotel. We called the Ritz Carlton and they said that there had been a change and a room was available for us. We immediately checked out of the Amelia Hotel at the Beach (which we were refunded for) and headed back to the Ritz Carlton. Upon arrival, Buddy at the front desk recognized us because he had just checked us out a few hours before. He apologized for the mistakes of the other hotel and upgraded us to the Atlantic Suite that had become available (a $1500-$1800/night room) for the same price that we paid for the other Coastal View room that we had stayed in the previous night. Spencer and I were trying to contain our relief and excitement.
Upon walking up to the door, we noticed it was very separated from the others and had a doorbell. We opened the doors and were immediately amazed. Every time we turned the corner, the room kept going. With a living room, two showers, a marble bath, and a separate half bath, as well as two oceanfront balcony entrances in addition to our room, we were blown away.
I am not sure that pictures or videos can do it justice but here are a few photos I took on my phone to show my family the room right when we had checked in.
After about 5 minutes of being in the room, our own personal mini bar attendant rang our doorbell to service our mini bar and see what else we needed. Spencer and I looked at each other in confusion and amazement over the fact that we had our own mini bar attendant. We tried to stay in our room and on the property as long as possible that night because we knew it was probably one of the nicest hotel rooms we would ever have. The balcony view was just so beautiful. It was steps away from the beach access and had a complete view of the ocean. You would think that a first floor ocean view would not be as good as a third floor view but in this case it was much better!
Before leaving, we ordered breakfast to have delivered to our room. It came within 30 minutes and there was a team of three women to set our table for us. They were great and the food was pretty good. The best part was the view for sure!
One last walk on the beach resulted in us spying a turtle and her babies in the dunes! It was so amazing and our hotel explained they were endangered and doing their best to protect them.
From start to finish, I just cannot say enough good things about this property and we will definitely be returning! Spencer even made the comment that he would love to make this an annual vacation for our family whenever we have kids. If you have any questions about this destination or want to know some tips and tricks we have found on saving money while traveling to places like this, feel free to email me at carleewilley@gmail.com! I love helping others plan their vacations as well.
A Few Extra Tips and Details:
-While on our trip, we also visited Fort Clinch State Park, which has a great view of Amelia Lighthouse, the oldest standing structure on Amelia Island. We also toured around the fort and got some pretty cool photos and stories with the cannons.
- One place I would not recommend for dinner is Brett's Waterway Cafe, food was mediocre and service was awful, but if you are going for a view, this place has the best!
- For lunch, I would try Pepper's Mexican Grill in the Historic District!
- Arrive early, the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island does not charge extra for early check ins and is very accommodating to get you in your room and on with your day!
- Amelia Island is well known for their horseback riding on the beach as well as kayak tours. Check out Groupon for some of these deals. These are things we are hoping to try when we return next time!
- Shop smart and look for deals! Spencer and I paid a fraction of the cost for our stay because we are eligible for government rates due to Spencer's military service. We also joined the Rewards program to build points since we plan on returning!
