Spending time with your girlfriends is so good for your soul – they share your experiences, offer support – and make you laugh until you cry! I have good intentions about scheduling meet-ups – but often, day-to-day responsibilities get in the way and plans get postponed.
A great solution for this is to book a girls’ weekend away. Once you block off this time for you and your friends, you force yourself to make all your other plans around it. You cram in work ahead of time, and realize that the world won’t fall apart while you’re gone. And when you return, you’ll be the best version of yourself – recharged and twice as efficient!
Eleni, Jenelle, Mandy and I recently spent the weekend at the JW Marriott The Rousseau Muskoka. You’ve probably noticed that we collaborate quite a bit on blog projects – and that’s because we’re good friends who love spending time together! We met through blogging, and while we love fashion and frivolity – we’re also quite similar in other ways. We’re down-to-earth, optimistic, and our personalities complement each other. For example, on this trip, Eleni and I were the list-makers – planning and checking off what we need to do, Jenelle was our camera guru (many of these photos were selfies set up by Jenelle using a timer + remote) and Mandy is just so energetic and capable – she drove us from Toronto to Muskoka and back in a ginourmous truck, and then drove on to work on some more blog projects before heading home!
WHERE WE STAYED:
We arrived on a Friday night and checked into an Executive Suite, which features: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a spacious living area with a pull-out queen sofa bed, dining table, fireplace, a full-size kitchen, and a wrap-around balcony with amazing water views.
Despite our over-packing, sharing the space was very easy as there was so much room. We each had our own bed (one bedroom has a king bed, the other has 2 queens, and we also used the queen sofa bed) – but if you share beds, you could fit up to 8 people in the suite! Each bathroom had 2 sinks – so we could spread out our makeup and toiletries without any overlap. We loved having the full-size kitchen as we brought up a lot of our own snacks and drinks. We ended up dining out for most of our meals – but there was more than enough space to store and prepare full meals in our own room.
My favourite spot in the whole resort was our balcony. It was so peaceful to spend time there, looking at the tranquil water, beautiful sky and amazing sunrises and sunsets. It’s the perfect place to lounge with your girlfriends – and it totally restores your soul.
WHAT WE ATE:
As mentioned earlier – we brought our own snacks and drinks, but dined out for our meals. Breakfast was at Cottages – they had all the brunch classics such as French Toast and Eggs Benedict – check out my video at the end of this post for all my food pictures! We ordered room service for lunch – I had the most delicious veggie burger (I love it when you can actually see the fresh ingredients in the patty)…and we were all mildly obsessed with their smokestick fries (especially the sweet potato version) – we ordered them multiple times during our stay! For dinner, we dined at Teca – an elegant Italian restaurant on the property. I love how they accommodated for my dietary requirements, making sure my choices didn’t have any dairy. I usually skip desserts at restaurants because most are made with dairy – but they brought me a sorbet platter, so I got to indulge my sweet tooth too!
SPA TIME:
No girls’ weekend is complete without some pampering – and we were truly spoiled with our spa experience on this trip. Three of us did body treatments and Mandy had a facial. I chose the Almond-Orange Fruit and Nut Body Polish – where my arms and legs were body-brushed (I didn’t know it could be so relaxing!), then an exfoliating scrub was massaged on. After the scrub was rinsed off, a hydrating cream was applied – leaving me with smooth and glowing skin. It was such a relaxing experience – I felt so warm and cocooned, wrapped up in blankets and towels during the treatment.
Post-spa, we hung out in the relaxation rooms in our bathrobes – where they had healthy snacks, fresh tea, fruit-infused water and lots of magazines.
ON SITE ACTIVITIES:
There are so many activities to do on the resort. If you’re feeling energetic, you can walk the trails, go on bike rides or take a dip in the indoor/outdoor pools. If you feel more like lounging, you can relax in the hot tubs, play board games by the lobby fireplace, check out movie night and enjoy hot chocolate and smores. You can check out the full activity schedule here – some are included in the resort price, while others have an additional fee.
We loved exploring the hotel – there were so many cozy nooks to hang out in. We also loved curling up on the comfy sofas in our room, with the fireplace on, holiday movies playing in the background – lots of snacks and lots of chatting – in fact, that is what a girls’ weekend is all about!
CRANBERRY FARM:
Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh invited us to experience their Bog-to-Bottle tour on our last day in Muskoka. It was a short drive from the resort, and we got to walk around the marsh, taste fresh cranberries (my first time – I’ve only ever had preserved ones before) and learn how cranberries were harvested. I purchased some dark chocolate covered cranberries from the gift shop – they’re SOOOO good – they taste like chocolate-covered gummy bears but are much healthier.
I put together a mini-video of our trip – I had also filmed a room tour but sadly that footage didn’t get saved (guess I’ll just have to visit again soon!) – but you can see everything we ate, the pretty views and a peek inside the spa.
Thank you to JW Marriott The Rousseau Muskoka for hosting our stay!
The resort has a total of 221 rooms – a mix of studios and suites. All rooms come with a fireplace and kitchenette. Check out this page for information on their deals and packages. The Rosseau Escape is great for a mid-week getaway and starts from $190, there is also a Spa Getaway package starting from $449 and includes a treatment and daily breakfast.
Where is your favourite place to go with your girlfriends?
Read everyone else’s Girls’ Weekend posts here: Eleni / Mandy / Jenelle
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