Earlier this month, Ryan and I had the opportunity to visit Hollywood, FL and stay at the beautiful [and brand new] CIRC Hotel! We were so excited about the trip and couldn’t wait for it to arrive. Sunday morning we woke up early and headed straight for Hollywood. Neither of us knew what to expect, but once we pulled into town, we noticed how funky + charming the area was. Up ahead in the distance, we saw a tall building and knew it was our destination😍
DAY ONE
Pulling up to the property, we already felt like royalty! CIRC Hotel has a beautiful circular driveway with valet. We grabbed our bags, thanked the valet team, and headed inside to check in. The employee at the front desk was so incredible to us. [I wanted to give him a shout-out, but he wasn’t wearing a name tag.] He gave us our key and told us to head up to our CORNER SUITE. Ryan and I were so in awe, and whatever we were expecting, what we saw when we walked in exceeded anything we could have dreamt up!
Our suite opened up to a beautiful, extremely large sitting area, with a kitchen to the right, and a dining table to the left. Then around the corner was a small hallway leading to our gorgeous bathroom, and then finally, our extremely spacious, luxurious and cozy bedroom! All of this was so beautiful, high-end, and overwhelmingly exquisite, as the entire suite was decorated [read: hand painted] by artist Luis Valle. It was called the “Hollywood Hideaway” suite, and the walls were decorated with beautiful wildlife and Florida-inspired design.
Lastly, we checked out our balcony and W O W, oh wow… were we impressed. It quickly became our favorite part of the suite. The balcony wrapped around almost the entire suite and gave us INCREDIBLE views of palm tree dotted Hollywood, as well as two nearby city skylines. As much as we wanted to stay and enjoy the balcony [which came with a dining table and two lounge chairs], we also really wanted to explore the rest of the hotel!! So I took a quick few videos for my Instagram story and then we headed out to check out the rest of CIRC.
The first place we went was back down the lobby, so we could see the in-house restaurant, Olivia Restaurant and Bar, which also has Presto coffee house. We took some photos of the gorgeous space, and then walked back to the elevators so we could head up to the ROOFTOP 🤩 The CIRC roof includes a bar called The Muse, a rooftop pool with cabanas and chairs, and of course, incredible views of the city! Ryan and I ordered a drink and cheers-ed to officially being on vacay! The bar was busy, but not too crowded, and made for a perfect vibe. We enjoyed our time in the breeze and once we finished our drinks we headed back upstairs to change for dinner.
Dinner was PHENOMENAL!!! Olivia Restaurant and Bar really treated us specially. We each started with a glass of chianti and were given bread for the table. Ryan and I are starving after a long day of driving so we each ordered a large meal. I had the tortellini papalina, which was described as “pillows of pasta stuffed with veal and beef, tossed in a delicate cream sauce, topped with mushrooms, peas and ham” and Ry had the chicken parmesan. Both were sooooooo good.
We were too stuffed to have dessert, so we headed back upstairs and spent the next two hours just enjoying time out on our balcony. We shared a lounge chair, and enjoyed the breeze, the views of city lights and palm trees, and each other’s company. On nights like that, Florida is absolute HEAVEN, and I could have stayed forever. It was a great first day, and we were so excited for all the more fun still to come!
DAY TWO
Even though we didn’t have to drive almost four hours, we still got a bit of a late start to our morning. After staying up enjoying the balcony past 1am, we slept in, even past breakfast whoops! [Which is served until 10:30] We also had some technical difficulties with our camera, so that took some time, but soon we were dressed in swimsuits with a working camera and ready to go!
First stop: Presto Coffee Shop at Olivia! [Yes, the restaurant has a coffee counter. How cool is that!?] I ordered a deliciously rich iced latte and Ryan had an earl gray tea! We didn’t want to waste another second so we took our drinks with us up to the pool and grabbed an open cabana. The seating around the pool at CIRC was one of my favorite parts. They had large cabanas, many lounge chairs with umbrellas, and fun + trendy hanging chairs! There are so many options and something for everyone. I sat in the hanging chair for bit, and then Ry and I both read while lounging on the cabana. The pool felt sooo nice, but we knew we were heading out to explore in a bit, and didn’t want to be super wet for that, so we didn’t get in. We did however, have a poolside photo shoot [duh!]
We were starting to get hungry, and on certain weekdays the Muse rooftop bar doesn’t open until 5pm, so we headed out to explore Hollywood a bit and get food! At the recommendation of a friend, we decided to try 5’O Clock Somewhere, which is a waterfront bar and grill owned by the Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Resort. It was sooo good, and we were so grateful she told us about it! We started with conch fritters, and then indulged in burgers and fish tacos. After lunch, we walked across the street and checked out the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk. I was in Heaven. It reminded me so much of the Venice boardwalk, and that started Ryan and I on a Google hunt to learn about the history of Florida’s Hollywood and how it got its name. [It was named after its West Coast sister city!]
After dipping our feet in the water and enjoying the weather and another round of drinks, we headed back to the hotel because it was almost time for the Bachelor finale. When we arrived to our room we were shocked to see that the hotel had left us a dessert platter with cannolis and chocolate covered strawberries, yummy!! It was perfect timing and we enjoyed them in bed while we watched the episode.
By the time the show ended, we were hungry again and we headed downstairs to Olivia again. [They are open until 11pm, which is so nice!] We each ordered chianti again and then this time I ordered the shrimp flatbread which was “a light thin crust made by hand, baked in our wood burning oven topped with chopped shrimp, goat cheese, a touch of marinara sauce, arugula and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.” HOLY MOLY, it was so good. I’m still thinking about it two weeks later…. ugh, wow. Ryan also was blown away by his meal, which was the risotto primavera. I think he’s still thinking about his food too… haha! If we are ever back in Hollywood, I know what our first dinner will be.
After dinner we spent the evening on our balcony again, taking in every last second of the incredible view and the amazing weather. We both said how much we wished we could pause that exact moment and stay in it forever…
DAY THREE
We woke up on our last day sad that the trip was ending but excited for everything we still hadn’t done yet! First up: BREAKFAST ☕️If Ryan and I thought Olivia Restaurant was exquisite for dinner, we were in for a treat when it came to breakfast!! Wow wow wow. I knew it was going to be unlike any breakfast I’ve ever had when I ordered a latte, and when it arrived it said “Coffee Princess” in the foam with a crown. Are you kidding?? I was obsessed. I also struggled to order because there are SO MANY amazing things on the menu. In the end, I decided to go with something I don’t order elsewhere often. I had the “Bagel from the Big Apple”, which was “a toasted everything bagel, sliced smoked salmon, cream cheese, diced tomatoes, red onions, capers, and served with breakfast potatoes.” YUM. It did not disappoint, let me tell you. And Ryan had the restaurant’s iconic avocado toast. We were both in Heaven, and not ready to leave. The good news was – we didn’t have to yet!
After changing into our swim stuff and mostly packing up, we headed down to the Olivia bar and asked if we could bring drinks up to the pool, since the pool bar was closed. [Olivia’s bar serves the same cocktails as the MUSE rooftop bar does. Ryan loved the Mojito De Casa and CIRC Mule, and I was a Dolce Bubbles kind of girl.] The bartender said yes, and told us he would just have to put them in plastic cups. We were fine with that, and so excited to finally swim in the CIRC pool. It was wildly breezy and a perfect day to swim. The pool was heated too [heck yes!] and we had such a great afternoon enjoying each other’s company and spending quality time together. [Most of you know, Ryan and I are a long distance couple!]
We didn’t want to get out, but eventually we had to. Although, shout out to CIRC and O&G PR for hooking us up with a late checkout 🙌🏼We said our goodbyes to CIRC and the staff and thanked them for such an amazing stay! We requested the car from valet and headed back home to Orlando. We truly had such an amazing trip. Hollywood, FL was a great little long weekend getaway and I would recommend it to anyone in Florida, but especially around the Orlando area or in between Orlando and Hollywood. I know for sure if I ever go back to Hollywood I will be staying with CIRC. It’s truly a little gem in the downtown area, five minutes from the beach, and absolutely luxurious! You will feel like royalty staying at CIRC Hotel and I can’t recommend it enough. Try to ask for the Hollywood Hideaway suite if you can 😉
CIRC Hotel gifted us with a complimentary stay, including meals and drinks, but as always, opinions are 100% mine.
