Avalon Staycation with Haven

Greetings from 3 stories above Avalon! 
The other weekend, Haven at Avalon in Alpharetta invited me to stay in their executive suite on site to experience the Avalon Lifestyle.Already very familiar with Avalon, as seen here here and here, the only thing I have yet to experience is what it was like to live in (even if just for a weekend) modern luxury style apartments situated in the heart of a booming establishment just 20 minutes North of Atlanta. After two years of living in a small one bedroom apartment with a roommate who had a rather large dog, apartment living isn’t exactly what I consider ideal for our lifestyle.  However if I had to pick an apartment complex to live in, Haven would be the top of my list! With a spacious layout and clean lines, these apartments are built for functionality, dinner parties and good living! You can tell a lot of thought and consideration went into building these rooms to match an entertainment based lifestyle- which is right up my alley!  One of my favorite features of the room was all the large windows letting in so much gorgeous natural light. There is nothing better than waking up with the sun (you guys know I’m a morning person) so it was easy rising with the sun when the windows let in all her light! Since we were here to experience the Avalon lifestyle, we filled our itinerary with guilt-less sun lounging and indulging in patio dinners and lunches. Friday night came and went with a Black Card Event hosted at the Vintage in Whole Foods, so Saturday we decided to indulge in Colletta– Oak’s sister Italian restaurant. 
After ordering a couple of plates for sharing and some prosecco, we dove in. We shared the Proscuitto Di Parma charcuterie board and the Bow Tie crab and shrimp pasta. The Proscuitto Di Parma was a spectacular combination of parmesan cheese, Georgia honeycomb, apple and heavenly house cured Proscuitto served alongside my personal favorite: fried flatbread. If it wouldn’t make me an absolute glutton, I could eat that flatbread every day of my life for every meal. The Bow Tie pasta was nice and fresh for the sweltering hot evening. Little pieces of shrimp and huge chunks of lump crab meat dotted the plate in between spectacularly authentic pasta in a light lemony white wine sauce. Between the sinful fried flatbread and this dish, it was definitely motivation to eat a little less and be sure to take the long way back to our apartment. But of course, when you see something on the menu called Flourless Chocolate Tort and the server claims it’s her favorite, then you just have to order it. But make sure you split it because without the blood orange sauce and the salted caramel gelato, there is no way one person could eat this dish alone due to the richness. However, it was one of the most delicious flavor combinations, blood orange and super dark chocolate go together extremely well. 

When the sun began to set behind the horizon, we left our seats on the patio with a to-go glass of rose (Avalon has an open container policy and is very dog friendly, this place is basically my heaven) and headed to the green space in the middle to enjoy the atmosphere curated by bistro lights and the Regal Cinemas which acted as a Suburban-American Eiffel Tower with glowing lights and a lawn that encourages picnicking and drinking in the beginning days of summer. 

The next morning we awoke with the birds and headed down to the pool to snag the “good seats” before the rest of the establishment awoke. This retro rooftop pool sits on top of the walkway near The El Felix and has a 60’s design theme mixed with modern elements. Green and white couches dot the perimeter of the pool and half of the patio is covered in fake grass which adds to the imagination that this is the type of patio hangout Lilly Pulitzer would love to relax on if only it had a few more touches of pink! My floral aerie bikini fit right in with the atmosphere. 

Aerie Bikini (c/o) || Pineapple Flip Flops (try eBay) also if you’re a 9.5 get a size 10 || All Natural Suncreen 

The whole weekend was a refreshing change and enabled me to get some much-needed relaxation in. As someone who juggles a full-time career and a blog, I constantly find myself with events after work and on the weekend which leaves little time to hang out and do nothing. So being able to clear my schedule for a weekend and just BE, was extremely refreshing. 

Haven has employed a unique concept unheard of in Alpharetta that is causing quite the buzz and helping them win numerous awards in hospitality. The employees want to ensure that you are taken care of 24/7. There is a concierge on staff at all times to be able to assist you in any need, onsite security to ensure your safety and you have the opportunity to use any of the office spaces in the building for personal and professional use. 

I definitely see this establishment as a huge perk to people who travel a lot for work, have their own businesses and need flexible office space to work, empty nesters, young child-less families (although I saw plenty of very well behaved young children running about at the pool!) and people who have big or small dogs. Haven works hard at providing that “big city feel” to this suburban tech city and I really think they nailed it. I can honestly say their employees were more hospitable than some hotels I’ve stayed at in various cities. 

If I could commit to living in an apartment again, this place would be first on my list. 

*Thanks to the people from Haven who comped my stay in the Haven Executive Suite. While this trip may have been free, all opinions are my own as I am a loyal and active supporter of Haven and Avalon themselves.