The Southern Hotel Garden House

{This stay was sponsored by the Southern Hotel. This review are all of my own original thoughts and opinions.}

Justin and I had a much needed overnight away at the Southern Hotel. We have been trying to get a way for a while now and every time we plan something one of the kids has gotten sick and we had to cancel or come home. This time we came up with a fool proof plan… go to Covington (15 minutes from home) and if anything happened we were right there. It turned out to be the perfect weekend.

Our Room

We stayed in the Dragonfly Suite in the Garden House. It is a beautiful suite with a full sitting room and separate bedroom. I didn’t know this until after our stay but apparently it was Keanu Reeves room when he was staying in Covington to film Bill and Ted.

The Garden House is a historic property across from the hotel. Originally it was the rose garden and tennis courts for the Southern Hotel when it was first built in 1907. The property was sold and at various times it has been a post office and also part of the school board offices. It was renovated and made into five suites, an interior king room and a small conference room.

I love the little touches from the wall paper to the mixed furniture to the custom sunglass illustrations from Jan Dicks. Overall it is perfection. Also, the way the Garden House is set up it is very secluded and private. We didn’t really see anyone else when we were coming and going.

Happy Hour

We checked in a little early and headed straight to the Cypress Bar. They were having happy hour and we enjoyed a few cocktails and a charcuterie platter in the atrium.

These are the little gems that you can do when it’s a weekend just the two of you. When we travel with the boys I don’t typically get to sit down and sip a cocktail and eat fancy meat and cheese. Not only did we get a chance to eat some fancy food but it was nice to just talk and not be interrupted.

The daily happy hour at the Cypress Bar includes things like an Old Fashioned, Blood Mary, Bellinis and more.

Dining Out

We chose to have dinner at Del Porto which is directly across the street from the main hotel. We had a leisurely walk over to the restaurant and got there a little early to enjoy some of their signature cocktails. They always have a martini of the night and we got to enjoy the watermelon.

Del Porto is some of the most amazing Italian food in the area. We had red pepper involtini to start and then I did the fennel sausage and red pepper Bolognese for dinner and Justin had the Seafood linguini. The menu changes often as everything is sourced seasonally and locally.

Breakfast in Bed

The Southern Hotel has a small but incredibly affordable room service menu for breakfast. I was impressed that the muffins weren’t $20 because that is what I have come to expect from a lot of boutique hotels. We decided to have breakfast in bed and ordered cappuccinos and blueberry muffins. Everything was delivered to the suite on a tray and we were able to enjoy our leisurely morning.