Thursday, July 19, 2012

Bedscape: Hotel Helix in DC

helix bed
Groovy baby.
Omigaw y'all! We haven't had a bedscape post in yonks, and yet I do love 'em so! The kids and I were up in Washington DC for the week of the 4th, and we had some fun accomodations. Part of the time we stayed in a little pied-à-terre of Matt's Uncle John. I was going to do a bedscape of that, because it's a cute wee studio in Dupont Circle, but then I thought that maybe people don't want their bedrooms published on my blog? Possibly?

Then we moved to a hotel for part of the week. I had set out to find a place that the kids would think was fun, because hotel living is big entertainment for them. Major entertainment. If you only saw how much they enjoy even elevators, you would, like, almost cry.

(True story: while we were at John's apartment, the kids asked me if they could ride the elevator unaccompanied down to the lobby and back. I said sure. They came back and reported that a woman in a business suit got onto the elevator with them for the ride back up. She smiled at them and said, "Tough day at the office?" And Hank said, "Oh no, we are not workers. We're just here touring." In case that wasn't clear.)

So the Helix is in Logan Circle, and it's one of those "trendy" places that I knew would speak deeply to Laura's soul. And it did.

helix bathrobe

The decorating scheme was bright and modern, and very comfy. We all liked it. Especially because we arrived there for the first time having walked all the way up 15th St., with thousands of our closest friends,  after the fireworks on the Mall. We were hot, dusty refugees, and the Helix was like an oasis. With a minibar.

mirror

helix hank
God bless America.
Our room came with a "credit" for the minibar. The prospect of actually getting things out of the minibar was, for the kids, like their birthdays and Christmas at Hogwarts combined. Unimagined heights of delight. They picked pop rocks and Pez. The way you know a place was designed by hipsters: The minibar contains pop rocks and Pez. Also wax lips. Mama had her eye on a little bottle of wine, but I might have had to share it with them.

So we just had a great time there. Very friendly place and just what we needed.

Laura enjoying her continental breakfast.
The boy has simple tastes.
The dining room in this place is sort of loungey, and I gather they have a hopping happy hour at which they serve free wine and champagne. I did not get to take advantage of this as we were always touring around, but it would be fun for a grownup trip. Our main indulgence was all piling in the bed and watching TV at the end of a long day of sightseeing. At home, we don't have TV's in our bedrooms. And we don't have Cheez-its very often either, so this for them was The Good Life.


I'll be back with more reportage about, I guess, our actual trip outside of the hotel, but you know, bedscape! Wishing you happy travels with your brood. xoxo

10 comments:

My Kids' Mom said...

My kids go batsh*t crazy over escalators, not elevators. All I can figure is that for years with strollers escalators were out of the question. Although the arguments that ensue about who gets to push the elevator buttons... that still matters to them. And a mini bar with a credit? That makes me excited!

Cassi said...

Oh, yes, elevators! We were in a hotel recently and my husband sent our daughter (same age as Laura) on a scavenger hunt. After she'd found everything, she had to go to the front desk and get the receptionist to sign her list. Unbelievably, she did it.

csmith said...

After our last vacation, during which we spent an ungodly amount of money on tourist activities, all our kids talked about were the glass elavators, the goldfish pond, the indoor pool, the miniature microwave, the big screen TV, the snack machine, and the jetted tubs. All were located in our hotel. For the next vacation we are just going to go to a nice hotel and spend a few days and save the rest of the money for an adults only weekend away.

Lisa Lilienthal said...

For some reason this makes me recall the summer of 1973, when my father (then a struggling entrepreneur) took us to Disney World soon after it opened. All we really wanted to do was go back to our hotel (The Contemporary, at the time, tres contemporary) and swim. So he said, "We are going to go home, put in a pool, and never go on vacation again." And that's what we did.

puncturedbicycle said...

"Oh no, we are not workers" killed me.

Beth said...

In NYC a few weeks ago, we did lots of touristy things: Broadway show, Empire State Building, yadda yadda. The kids' favorite things BY FAR were riding the subway and climbing on rocks in Central Park.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a fun place to stay! We loved Aloft in Chapel Hill. It had one of those lounges you mentioned, only we spent time there! I had a yummy cucumber martini while playing Scrabble with my boy.

Megan said...

WHY did you not go here a few weeks earlier??? We went to DC a week or so prior to the 4th, completely ignorant to the charms of the Helix. Poop and a half! You and the kids need to start doing a travel blog. You can homeschool 'em on the road, and they can ride multitudes of elevators, and then Laura can write a book someday about how traveling throughout her childhood made her feel lost and rootless which is why she became a rich and famous painter who specializes in tree root systems.

You're welcome.

laura said...

Becky sez: "The prospect of actually getting things out of the minibar was, for the kids, like their birthdays and Christmas at Hogwarts combined. Unimagined heights of delight."

Laura sez:"Dude, if I raided a minibar it would be the equivalent of Christmas at Hogworts or the result of an epic hangover. But not both."

Isn't DC just the best? Did you see Julia Child's kitchen? Did you see the cute airplanes? Did you see the crack down the side of the Washington Monument? Did you sniffle over the Korean Conflict memorial?

AmandaSN said...

My kids think there's nothing cooler than a hotel. Even crappy rode-side drive-ups. I'm encouraged to see it lasts!

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