Welcome back to my 2021 rewind countdown. If you haven't read my article highlighting my top 5 experiences of 2021 you can do so here. To continue on with the countdown I'm sharing my top 4 restaurants of 2021 that I've personally eaten at. Now I eat a lot (lol) mainly because I love trying new restaurants and also the atmosphere of going out for dinner. However, throughout the year there have definitely been some restaurants that I just can't seem to get out of my head.
I loved the Courtyard Aruba, nestled in Palm Beach, Aruba, mainly because they made me feel so special. The hotel is gorgeous! The ground floor where the lobby is, was completely open so no doors to go through to get places. The lobby in turn opens up to the pool area and the restaurant and bar where they serve breakfast. There is also a swim-up bar which I unfortunately never got a chance to use. My favorite part of the room was the bathroom.
The bathroom was so spacious, and the shower had plenty of room for you to do your thing. The double sink vanity took up a whole half wall and there was a full-length mirror right next to it which was perfect for getting ready for the night out. The best part was that they really made me feel special on my birthday. They wrote me a personalized note wishing me a happy birthday along with a bottle of champagne and some chocolates. When my friend and I had dinner at the hotel they poured us glasses of wine and the chef even came out to talk to us about his cooking style.
Not to mention, the hotel is a short walk to local restaurants like Lola's Taqueria that I mentioned in my top 4 restaurants, and another short walk to the beach. They helped arrange anything that we needed and even had a shuttle to the beach. It was a perfect stay.
Now, this Airbnb was just gorgeous. The view alone made this one of my favorite places to stay. The Airbnb is located in Grenada, Spain located directly in front of the Alhambra. Everything is a short away in tiny cobblestone streets and it feels like you're in a fairytale.
The property is on a World Heritage Site that is close to 600 years old and the owner "designs unique building, spaces and experiences." He said he named it the "Lovers Workshop" because he hand-made everything in the room and retired antique tools to the design. The host was super easy to work with and answered all of my questions. He also has other gorgeous properties around Spain. My favorite part of the room aside from the view was the bed. The comfiest bed I've ever been on. After a long day of walking around the cobblestone streets, I fell asleep so easily on that bed. The only thing was that the bathroom is pretty small, but I loved the almost studio/loft feel I got when I entered the room and definitely felt like I was stepping through history.