I recently visited Salt Lake City for a conference and had the best time ever.
Sure, I got to hang with my bestie, Amanda, and learn a lot at this wonderful blogging conference, but what will really stay with me is how wonderful SLC is. I had been one time prior so when I saw this conference was being held there I was so amped up.
Salt Lake City is just about surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains so there are beautiful views everywhere you look. The common theme for our visit was to jokingly say “Shut up SLC, stop being so cute!” We were just blow away with the landscaping, sunsets, views, friendly people, and food we enjoyed during our stay.
I love to share my adventures around town and when I travel so I created a hit list of things to keep in mind for your visit to Salt Lake City. I have been 2x now and I have loved it both times for very different reasons based upon what I experienced. I can’t recommend visiting SLC enough. Everyone should go and visit!
Where to Stay
The Hyatt Place Downtown @ The Gateway
The Hyatt Place that is located next to The Gateway was the best hotel that we could have asked for our stay. It was in a wonderful location as our conference was held at The Gateway, but it also was located right next to public transportation stops, wonderful restaurants, and local things to see and do.
My mom worked for Hyatt years ago in sales so I have always been a fan, but equally a critic since I have stayed as in so many of their resorts and hotels. I look for things that can easily be managed such a employee customer service, cleanliness, and quality of food. I think that this Hyatt hit is out of the park with this visit. The staff even handled a widespread power outage that hit SLC during our stay with calmness that was reassuring to us and other hotel guests
Aside from being in such a desirable location for us, it had wonderful accommodations. Our room had a view of the outdoor pool, we passed by the fitness center.
Plus, the staff was just wonderful. They were extremely friendly during check in, check out, and when we asked for recommendations for places to eat and visit. I also needed some band aids for my weary feet and they were able to provide me with some as there was a handy first aid kit right at the front desk.
Be sure to utilize the elevator mirrors to check your outfit before hitting the town and for taking pictures, naturally.
Located just off the lobby was the breakfast bar that is home to the complimentary a.m. Kitchen Skillet, ™ breakfast that features a variety of things to jump start your day. There always a wide selction of things like fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, waffles, French toast, yougurt, and steel cut oatmeal. Plus, milk and juices to go along with your coffee.
Be sure to fuel up before heading out on a busy, wonderful day!!!
How to Get Around
You don’t need a car in SLC to have a wonderful time.
We opted not to rent a car for our SLC visit from Thursday afternoon – Sunday morning as we would be so busy with the conference, our hotel was accessible via public transportation and was walking distance (1 minute!) to the conference, and we like to walk.
TRAX
Amanda and I took the public transportation system from the airport right to the hotel (7 miles!) for just a few dollars. Honestly, it could not have been easier to hop on the Green Line at the airport and just get off at Arena Station and walk over a block to the Hyatt. There are several other lines that can take you all over the city. So get out and explore!
Uber
We did a lot of Uber-ing around town when time or weather was an issue. We quickly Uber’ed to restaurants to meet other blogger friends, to just get around to explore, and very quickly get to the airport for our return flights home.
It’s a great option to use in town (as well as other locations) as you can easily pull up the the app on your phone to call up a car to get you to your desired destination.
Everyone we met for our trips around town were super friendly and helpful. Our drivers ranged in ages, backgrounds, and even professions as we had a retired cop pick us up at night once. We even had a driver who was hard of hearing so he just got us around using the info we entered in on the app.
Walk
I really enjoy walking around cities as I get to take it all it at a different pace than if you were zipping around in a car or on public transportation. I couldn’t get over all the flowers that I saw along the sidewalk that brought as through different neighborhoods as we wandered around.
What to See and Do
Temple Square
You can’t skip visiting Temple Square when you are in Salt Lake City.
It’s stunningly beautiful with the temple, flowers, water features, and large green lawn. It makes for a wonderful backdrop for pictures, which is why we saw so many newly married couples taking photos there. It was so wonderful getting to see so many happy people there celebrating their new lives together.
We took some selfies but we also met friendly missionaries who snapped pictures for us as our hair whipped around like crazy on that windy day! ha!
Church History Museum
We did not visit the museum during this trip since we didn’t have time between conference sessions, but I did during my prior visit to SLC, and I really enjoyed it. I am not religious as all but I appreciate history so it’s just a fun stop to make while in town.
City Creek Center
Don’t feel like checking out Mormon history? Then feel free to head over to City Creek Center for some shopping. There is a creek- hence the name- that runs through it so it’s just cool to be there.
The Depot
The Depot is conveniently located right next to the Hyatt Place so you can grab a show there. The capacity is just 1,200 so you can get a pretty intiamte show there, at least more intimate than the Vivant Smart Home Arena located acorss the street. Our conference was held in the venue, but we didn’t see any musical acts like Cyndi Lauper, 311, and Macklamore. Bummer!
Where to Eat and Drink
The food in Salt Lake City is ridiculous. Every meal and every drink that we had was wonderful.
I know that most people will be like “you can drink in SLC?!?!” as they imagine that The Church of Latter Day Saints prohibits the sale of liquor in SLC since half the residents are Mormon, who are prohibited from drinking. But, fear not, you can get plenty of fantastic drinks, and mocktails, to go with your meals.
The Hyatt Place Downtown @ The Gateway
Okay, so I already suggested the Hyatt as a place to stay, but why would I suggest the Hyatt again as a place to eat?
Well, they have a very wide selection of things to eat from the breakfast, the prepared snacks in the lobby displace cases, room service, and the appetizers from the wine bar.
Since getting drinks and eating dinner at one place, then splitting dessert at another was not enough for us fatties foodies, we then split a flat bread from the wine bar to enjoy with some chardonnays. A fun, yummy way to end an evening.
Rye
We headed over to Rye for brunch prior to heading to the We split the Breakfast Bowl ($12) which was a savory rice based breakfast dish that was topped with Ballard pork belly, house kimchi and a fried egg. So good! As well, we split the Chicken and Waffles that came with their house potatoes on the side. While we didn’t love the potatoes ( a little blah) the waffle, the fried chicken and the whiskey infused maple syrup were all awesome.
Besides the food being stellar, the overall vibe and decor of Rye was so cool too. It’s hipster-y with laser cut panels, brick walls, exposed deck open ceiling, and cool lighting.
Tacos Hidalgo
As soon as we arrived we dove into the food in SLC with hitting up the Tacos Hidalgo food truck about 10 minutes after dropping off our luggage at the Hyatt. The food truck is stationed right outside The Gateway, so about a minute walk from the hotel. We decided to get all the tacos (except for the beef head!) as they all sounded so good and were so affordable at just $1 each! So for $7 we split lunch that we took back to the hotel lobby where we stationed our selves at to recharge ourselves and our phones before checking into the conference.
Fleming’s Prime Steak House and Wine Bar
Also located next to The Gateway Complex and the super short walk from the Hyatt, Fleming’s is a great place for dinner or just to cozy up to the bar with an appetizer and a glass of wine or a cocktail- I suggest the Blackberry Bramble.
Whiskey Street
The food and drink menus at Whiskey Street are quite impressive. At least I was really excited about their selection of Moscow Mule cocktails. Between Amanda and I we had 4 different kinds and all were killer, esp the Mountain Mule.
The food at Whiskey House is
Bourbon House
The Bourbon House is owned by the same people that own Whiskey House, so we had to stop by as we loved Whiskey House so much the prior night.
We only stopped by for drinks after having dinner at the conference so we just enjoyed some drinks. While we just had drinks we enjoyed the visit as the vibe of the below ground bar was super cool. So chill.
The Red Iguana
The Red Iguana is a must visit place in SLC. Thankfully, it’s walking distance from The Hyatt so we were able to walk back after stuffing ourselves that night.
Get a reservation!! The lines can be crazy so be prepared to wait, but it’s worth it.
Ruby Snap
So here is a funny story about Ruby Snap…
When we walked into the conference there was table of cute boxed up cookies to take and next to them was the menu with prices. I LOL’d that that flyer as it said a dozen cookies were $23. Who the heck pays for that?
I do. I do! After 1 bite of the cookie Ruby Snap provided (Mia) I became a convert deciding to give them my life’s fortune for an endless supply of cookies.
In the end I settled on a dozen to share with my family. Sothe 30 minute walk from the hotel. Shoot, maybe it helped burn some of the calories from the cookies I stuffed my face with!
Blue Copper Coffee Room
After we picked up our cookies from Ruby Snap, we decided that we needed an afternoon pick me up so we refereed to yelp to find some coffees. We discovered Blue Cooper was nearby so we walked on over for ‘cute, instagam-able’ coffees.
The small cafe is hipster paradise that is scented with the aroma of roasted coffee. It’s dreamy. Plus the succulents just make you swoon.
And be sure to grab a table along the window so you have nice natural light for your Instagram picture!
___________________
I am still afraid to step on the scale since my trip to Salt Lake. Whoops! But every calorie, every blister, every silly snapchat, every late night was worth it.
I hope my tips and tricks for visiting SLC will encourage you to visit and help you out while visiting.
__________________
Thank you to Hyatt Place Downtown at The Gateway for giving us such a great deal on our hotel room for our stay. All opinions that I expressed about Hyatt and other places mentioned in this post are completely my own.
Leave a Reply