Thank you IHG for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from IHG, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Traveling, for the most part, is rife with tradeoffs and compromises. You’re getting away from the suffocating monotony of your daily rituals, and you’re trading it for the exotic promise of escape and adventure.
That sounds fun until you’re stuck in an airport on a 3-hour layover eating Auntie Anne’s pretzels, downing sugar laden energy drinks just so you can stay relatively alert while getting across the country, and fracturing your daily routine rich in balance and nutrition to pieces.
Then you get into the hotel lobby, fall into the allure of the dim lobby lights, and just can’t wait to get to the bar for a drink or to your room where there’s an overstuffed minibar crammed with wildly expensive booze and grossly unsatisfying snacks.
EVEN is the best way to maintain-- or even start --a healthy routine by helping you keep active, rest easy, eat well, and accomplish more.
You’re tired. You’re exhausted. The seductive allure of the lobby is a lullaby. You’re ready to curl up on a stiff mattress with scratchy sheets in a room where you’ll use an extra pillow to block out the city noise and just try and forget that your stomach is twisted in knots.
For now, it’s time to just throw your routine out the window. You’ve just got to make it through these next couple of days until you’re back home, you’re eating right, you’re sleeping well, you’re active, and you’re at peace with your own wellness, right?
What if you didn’t have to just make it? Wellness isn’t about surviving. It’s about thriving. That’s why there’s the EVEN Hotels, which, we discovered, help you do exactly that.
EVEN’s the newest hotel concept from the InterContinental Hotels Group that’s helping you bring your core values with you wherever you go whether that’s in Omaha, Nebraska or the bright lights of Times Square in New York City.
Focused on four pillars, EVEN is the best way to maintain-- or even start --a healthy routine by helping you keep active, rest easy, eat well, and accomplish more.
From the moment you enter the lobby, you feel better about where you are. There aren’t any green lamps and shadows bouncing off a decadent glow of wood varnish. It’s bright, cheery, and energetic.
Simply by checking in, we were offered a cup of infused water, ranging from simple filtered water to ginger lime or lemon mint. We were immediately revitalized. It was relaxing. It was soothing.
Rather than just wanting to decompress with a strong drink or a deep sleep, the bright open spaces of the lobby inspired activity. But it wasn't overwhelming or frenetic. It was still peaceful.
Of course, if you’re set on getting a drink, the bar (which didn't open until 5:00 p.m.) changes that experience with wildly fresh cocktails.
Their White Maple Old Fashioned garnished with a fresh chunk of red delicious apple was delicious. The ginger beer is a nice fresh mix of bubbles that clings and reworks the sour bite of the bourbon. Of course, there's something to be said about a perfectly mixed Bloody Mary, and their's certainly was.
Their housemade Bloody Mary mix is fresh and smoky without an overwhelming bite of heat or spice. and garnished with a no-nonsense trio of deliciously fresh olives
But you can’t just drink your stay away. You need food-- good food.
And that's what we found with EVEN setting the table with the help of Cork & Kale.
Breakfast was a little on the pricey side. We tried the smoked salmon platter which is just alright. It's very much what you expect with the setup, but it's nothing spectacular. Still, it gets the job done, and coffee is self-serve, so it all worked out.
The steel cut oatmeal on the other hand, was amazing. It's such a weird texture with quinoa added to the mix, but mixed well with a bit of honey and golden raisins, well, it was everything you hope for when you order oatmeal in a restaurant: hearty, delicious, and worth it.
Dinner's nearly a game changer. We kept it "light" with a Buffalo Chicken sandwich and a pretty hearty burger. Both were delicious, but it was the sides that kind of took it over. They have insanely delicious falafel chips and a surprisingly light turkey chili. Not to mention, a perfectly dressed shredded kale salad.
There’s actually nothing on the menu that sits too heavy at all which, if you're about to be a bit more active or are in the midst of coming down from a workout high, that's exactly what you need.
And you need to stay active. It's easy to ignore a hotel gym. People are weird, workouts are weird, and public spaces like that are their own special brand of weird. But if you have a routine, the worst thing you can do is break it. EVEN gives you options.
Maybe that routine doesn’t involve the state-of-the-art gym equipment sitting glossy and clean in their beautiful, 24-hour access gym. Maybe you’re into your own private workout in the comfort of your own space.
Perfect. Every room comes equipped with everything you need, and that's what we did. Whether it’s simply a yoga mat and a balance ball with a variety of timed workout channels on the TV, or something heavier with resistance cords, EVEN has all of the tools you need to work out on your own time, at your own pace, in your own room.
What separates them though are the tools they provide for you. Yes, they have more than ten different channels with a variety of comprehensive workouts. From core to cardio, they’ve got several different workouts tailored to whatever your routine at home is.
They also have an extensive workout guide book that'll walk you through ideal exercises with each item in the room. Of course, if you're anything like us and you haven’t found inspiration for starting this routine yet, EVEN’s the best way to get into it.
Once you try the videos-- or even anything from their workout book --you’re hard pressed to check out of the hotel uninspired.
That doesn’t mean you have to go out somewhere else and try and find everything you used in your room in order to recreate the experience you had. You can buy every workout item in the room and take it with you. That's convenient
But the most important part of travel is sleeping well. Let’s face it, that’s hard to do.
We're pretty timid around getting under the sheets at any hotel in general. You hear the horror stories. We're acutely aware. But, and not surprisingly, this wasn't the case with EVEN.
They have eucalyptus linens that you can just melt right into, perfectly springy mattresses you won’t be tossing and turning in all night, and a retractable black out shade that’ll keep the lights and noise of the city out of your dreams.
The last of those is probably the most important in New York City. Even though Times Square South is relatively tame from where we roomed, it was still nice to black out all of the light. It was hard waking up the next morning, but that had more to do with not wanting to leave the bed than anything else.
For the most part, travel just gets the best of us. We travel a lot. We know what hell lies on the other side of a 3-hour layover in Newark of all places.
It's an endless grind. It takes the comfort of our own routines out of our control. It forces us to eat that which we would not otherwise, toss and turn in itchy sheets, and renders us completely useless when it comes to being productive.
EVEN helps you find your bearings quicker than you can imagine. They’re helping you eat well, sleep well, stay active, and do more with the time you have away from home because they value maintaining-- and inspiring --your personal wellness.
Instead of looking for a dim room with room service and an overpriced mini bar, we're looking to make the most out of our travels by booking with EVEN.
Fresh food and drinks, private workout spaces, and absolutely to-die-for beds? Yes, please, thank you, please sir, can I have some more?
Check out EVEN hotels, and book for not only comfort, but your own wellness. Coming soon to NYC are hotel spots in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Upgrade Your Quality of Life in Transit By Booking with EVEN Hotels Right Here.
[Feature Image Courtesy Booking.com]