As a child growing up in South Africa in the 1980s, I remember seeing an advertisement on TV of a unique resort for couples where the rooms included a seven-foot, champagne glass shaped bath-for-two. I had never seen anything like it and was absolutely captivated by it - since then I'd imagine it to be one of the top honeymoon or romantic experiences overseas! Of course being that I was still in school, with no husband and no job - it was a dream that had to be put into the back of my mind for the time being :)
Fast forward to 2017, hubby and I got invited to the destination wedding of his brother in Maryland, United States. Whenever we have to go to the United States, I always check on Google Maps how close we'll be to Cove Haven Resort :D This time, it was only a 4 hour drive away from Maryland and 2 hours from New York! I was absolutely stoked, it's always been number one on my bucket list for romantic escapes in the United States. Off I went to tell hubby the great news...
Hubby and I like to treat each other with experiences as gifts for our birthdays and Christmas so I was over the moon when he said my gifts this year could be two nights at Cove Haven Resort - I couldn't believe that I was finally going to experience this romantic getaway that I'd been dreaming of since forever!
We booked our two night stay in the Champagne Tower Suite for 11 to 12 September 2017, directly through the Cove Haven Resort website as it was the cheapest option. The room price came to US $578.84 and the following additional and some standard US taxes were added to our bill as we completed our booking: County Tax US $17.36 for all nights Resort Fee US $53.00 for all nights Sales Tax US $34.74 for all nights Service Charge US $122.72 for all nights It's good to be aware of these additional taxes when you are planning to book accommodation in the US. As you will discover reading this, our luxury stay was worth every penny! Below is a video showing some of the highlights I will be describing in this blog.
Here's a video showing some of the highlights I will be describing below!
During the booking process you can also choose to book romantic gift-packages to make your romantic stay even more special. We chose to order the Romance Basket gift package which cost US $63.60 and included scented tea light candles in glass holders, bubble bath, a bath sponge, delicious chocolates and Cove Haven Resort champagne flutes which are now my favorite souvenirs! Any of these amazing items can also be purchased separately from a shop in the resort during your stay. On the road trip to love...
After 2 full-days in New York, we rented a car from Budget Rent a Car (which was the cheapest as shown on Rentalcars.com) to drive through to Cove Haven Resort. It was a scenic 2 hour drive and we stopped over for lunch at Magoya Japanese Restaurant in Chester. With paper hearts and declarations of love on the walls, this unique-looking restaurant seemed to be decorated with love! I ordered a noodle dish that was really yummy.
I couldn't contain my excitement when we finally saw the first (road) signs that we were about to have a wonderful romantic escape!
These were the first road signs to the romantic resort!
We parked at the reception where we were welcomed by the friendly staff member at the front desk. He gave us the key to our suite, a daily program of exciting things happening at the resort (such as games, movies, shows and more), a link to the Cove Haven Resort mobile app, a map of the resort and the Romance basket we'd ordered. Check in time begins at 3.30pm.
The wall behind the reception desk was decorated with love and romantic gifts!
It was a short drive through the resort to get to our suite - if you don't plan on renting a car, don't worry - the resort has its own mini bus that that can take you around the resort if you don't feel like walking. We drove past the shop, a bar, restaurant, a heart shaped pool and more to our suite which was located at the top of a hill. We parked outside our suite which, from the outside looked like standard brick walled accommodation - it was so amusing because we were about to step into our own private, magical wonderland!
The outside of our Champagne Tower Suite which was number 729. The window as pictured here was the only window in the entire suite - perfect for privacy!
Highlights from inside our romantic suite included:
♥ The champagne glass whirlpool bath-for-two
Wow, there it was... just as I'd remembered it from the advertisement!!! I had to run over and touch it a couple of times during our stay as it looked too dreamy to be real. When I saw it in advertisements, I often wondered how one climbs into the top of the champagne glass :D Luckily it was as simple as taking the stairs to the fourth level of the suite where the bedroom is and stepping into the top of the glass.
View of the top of our champagne glass shaped bath with the optional red light on! The box on the right is our box of chocolates and the scented tea light candles we got in our Romance Basket was placed on either side of our bath.
There are different light settings for the bath - you can have a red light shining from above it or switch on a starry ceiling for a even more dreamy effect. It can take a while to fill up the bath with water so it helps to plan ahead!
The settings for the whirlpool and the shower as displayed on one of the walls of the suite.
Another practical tip: You don't need to use much bubble bath to have plenty of bubbles to play in. I poured about half of the bottle of bubble bath into the running water to start with and was disappointed at the amount of bubbles I saw forming. I then made the mistake of pouring the entire bottle in which still didn't give me the desired effect. When the water level was above the water jets, I switched it on and turns out the water jets were the magic ingredient to a proper bubble heaven! As I had poured in too much bubble bath though, we nearly found ourselves in bubble trouble as it threatened to flow over the sides so don't do what I did! We managed to contain it by only running the jets for short periods of time but had to get out of the tub often to do it. Initial bubble madness aside... We lighted our scented candles from our Romance Basket, filled our champagne glasses with our favorite drink (Coke Zero) and shared our delicious chocolates while enjoying our unique bubble bath under the stars more than once during our stay!
Enjoying the many bubbles in Cove Haven Resort's champagne glass shaped bath was a dream come true for us! When we stepped out of it, a heart shape was visible in the bubbles :D
The experience was even better than I had imagined - it was so much fun, romantic and relaxing - we absolutely loved it and will never forget it! ♥ An indoor, heated, heart-shaped pool
Our private heart-shaped indoor, heated pool at Cove Haven Resort
I immediately fell in love with our heart-shaped pool - it could be seen from the living room, the steps that led upstairs and even from our bedroom. I loved that I could almost always see it and it would always make me smile :) The water seemed to be room-temperature - not too hot for hubby and not cold for me - just perfect in every way! There are steps leading into the pool and also a step inside the pool on which to sit if you like. We could stand anywhere in the pool and loved that it wasn't too shallow or too deep. I'm 1.72 meters tall and the water level came up to my shoulders when I was standing. The pool is in its own room with own floor to ceiling glass doors and windows which keeps the humid air contained.
Our very own glass-enclosed, heated heart-shaped pool.
A few steps down from the same room, is a massage table and a dry sauna which we didn't get a chance to enjoy as much as we would have liked to - maybe next time when we stay longer! ♥ A shower big enough for two It's not often that you get to stay in accommodation that features a shower big enough for two people to stand in comfortably so make the best of it :D ♥ A round bed with mirrors on the wall and ceiling
Our bedroom had a round bed with mirrors on the wall and ceiling.
This was our first time sleeping in a round bed and it was honestly the most comfortable bed I can remember ever sleeping in! The bed was huge so it made no difference that it was round.
There are two remote control TVs in the suite featuring Lodgenet in-room movies - some of the content on there is very sexy! Like the champagne whirlpool, the bedroom comes with a celestial ceiling above the bed, that when switched on, feels like you are sleeping under the stars. The ceiling and walls also feature a lot of mirrors. I will leave it to you to discover the charm of the bedroom, bathroom and private pool mirrors :P
♥ On the right of the champagne glass was a fire place One can buy cheap wood for the fireplace from the shop in the resort and light it using the matches provided (you don't have to buy matches, you can find some matches next to the fireplace). It's a lovely addition for those cold but cosy nights in the winter months :)
These were just some of our favorite highlights of the lavish, four-level Champagne Tower Suite! There's so much more to discover in the details though, such as this cute card in the pic below that you place on your door for extra privacy :)
I was so happy that the suite looked exactly as pictured in the advertisements I saw all those years ago - to me it was just perfect - I was fulfilling a long-time dream. I was told by the friendly hotel staff that there will be some renovations made to the property soon though to give it a more modern feel while still keeping the champagne glass bath and heart-shaped pool. We hope to see the new version one day too!
The resort itself has plenty to offer, so as tempting as it was to stay inside this stunning suite all the time, we decided to explore the facility a bit more. Click here to read our recommendations for romantic things to do at Cove Haven Resort. Loved this blog or have any questions? Let me know in the comments section :)
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Please note: I'm not affiliated with this resort in any way - this is my own genuine review and opinions from our stay.
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