Andaz Hotel Ottawa: Celebrating 8 years of marriage with a magical staycation in the Byward Market

Chantsy-Ottawa-Andaz-Hotel-Travel-Foodie-Blog-Fashion-Blogger-Wedding-Anniversary

On August 15th, Michael and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary at the Andaz Hotel in Ottawa. We were given this lovely experience in exchange for an open and honest review. Thank you to the kind and caring staff at the Andaz Hotel Ottawa who took excellent care of us and made this night especially magical. To capture the memories, I hired Ottawa photographer Kamara Morozuk for a couple’s session. Here is a recap of our stay. 

Bronze or pottery are the traditional 8th-anniversary gifts, with linens and lace taking over as the more modern option. I, on the other hand, like to celebrate odd milestones with extravagant experiences, like a stay at the Andaz Hotel and a custom designed ring, to keep things fresh and exciting in our relationship. I wanted to mark this year as a particularly special one, because we had lots to celebrate this year.  Even though I haven’t healed optimally, I wanted to celebrate my speedy recovery from surgery and a successful third year in my blogging business. Because Michael and I work full-time and each own a business (Michael runs a landscaping company in Ottawa!), I always make sure we spend some quality time together in the summer, because we don’t take time off for summer holidays.

On a side note, it turns out that the number eight is considered to be a lucky number in Chinese because it sounds like the word that means “to generate wealth”. Pretty cool if you ask me!

A night at the Andaz Hotel Ottawa

We checked into our spacious room at about 4:00 p.m., and got ready for Kamara to come take a few pictures of us. We had a corner room on the 11th floor facing West. The view of the Byward Market and Parliament Hill was quite spectacular, especially in the evening. Upon check-in, we were told that there were fireworks that we could catch from our hotel room at 9:00 p.m. Fireworks just for us? You shouldn’t have! hahaha

It turns out that the fireworks competition was on, and although we couldn’t stay for the entire thing, we caught some of them on our way to the Kontinuum light show later that night.

Andaz Ottawa Supports Local

The bathroom was stunning! And better yet, was filled with locally made personal care and beauty products from Purple Urchin. The hand soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel were all Turkish Fig flavoured and smelled divine. I buy their products all the time but had not seen this scent before. Confession- I took all the products home with me! hahaha

I am such a huge fan of Purple Urchin and could not agree on a better collaboration. What a lovely way to feature and share a piece of Ottawa with all the out-of-towners that visit the city.

If you look around the hotel room, you will notice other things like snacks and alcohol that are all locally made. The hotel restaurant, Feast and Revel under Chef Stephen La Salle, also pride themselves on including local ingredients and using traditional recipes for their cocktail menu and dishes. I think that’s what I really love about this hotel, it makes the local Ottawa scene mainstream and puts a spotlight on local talent and customs.

The Gift- A Custom Design Anniversary Ring

For my 8 year anniversary, I chose to have a ring custom designed for me by Engage Diamond Studio in Toronto. It’s owned and operated by my childhood bestie and her husband. I knew I wanted a stackable ring, and something that would be classic. Before coming up with this concept, I had a few other styles in mind. But once I received the digital rendering, I wasn’t sold.

In the end, I opted for a 14K rose gold ring with blue sapphire, which somehow coordinated with the copper and navy accents in our room! I chose blue sapphires since they are my birthstone (yep, September baby!). I am in love with my ring and will cherish it forever. I hope I can pass it on to my daughter one day (pretty, pretty please!).

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14-k-carrat-rose-gold-ring-blue-sapphire-custom-band-stackable-engage-design-diamond

While we were getting our photos taken, we received a lovely little note, celebratory bottle of champagne and a dessert to share. It was the perfect boost and “prop” for our shoot!

After a whack of pictures in the hotel room, we headed upstairs to Copper Spirits and Sights, the rooftop bar and lounge located on the 16th floor. It has an impressive cocktail list and hands-down, the best view in the city!

The rooftop patio was bumping. Naturally, it was the most beautiful day we had all summer and folks were settling in for the best seats to watch the fireworks. Thankfully, we managed to squeeze in a few classic rooftop shots without being too obtrusive.
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I really love how these pictures turned out. I am so glad I invested in a shoot. Posing with Michael for these reminded me of our wedding day. We laughed and giggled and had our awkward moments trying to make the other person laugh. He was pooped at the end, which was a great way to remind him how “hard I work” for the pics on my blog! 

Dinner at Feast & Revel Andaz

Our soot ended just in time for our dinner reservations at Feast & Revel.

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Chantsy-Ottawa-Andaz-Hotel-Travel-Foodie-Blog-Fashion-Blogger-Feast-and-Revel

Although Kamara got a shot of us at our table, I was left with only my iPhone to snap pictures of dinner. Everything was fantastic, beautifully presented with no shortage of flavours. I had my favourite John Daly, Arnold Palmer-style cocktail and Michael had his very first spicy ceaser… ever!

We shared the octopus and tuna as our main course. These dishes were plated beautifully!

I had the famous turkey dinner and succotash (my new favourite thing !!)

Michael had the arctic char.

 

After supper, we headed back to the room to soak in the view of our hotel room. We then made our way to Kontinuum, the underground light show in the new LRT station at Lyon. The show was really spectacular and made the evening really entertaining. Between the fireworks, the hotel stay, the new buildings downtown, and the light show… for a minute it felt like we weren’t in Ottawa. It just seemed like a new city, a place I hadn’t seen before. I got a whole new perspective that evening and really fell in love with the streets of Ottawa again.

Breakfast at Feast & Revel Andaz

The next morning, we woke up from our cozy bed and dreamy stay at the Andaz and headed downstairs for breakfast. It was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend it to anyone. Michael had the deli eggs and I had the Farmhouse skillet. We shared the avocado toast, which was probably excessive… but that is nobody’s business!

We were truly happy with our stay and made some pretty unforgettable memories! Thanks again to the entire team at Andaz! XOX

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