Give the Gift of Adventure

Okay here is the perfect gift for a mom who does not want another household appliance and has fond memories of growing up. As a mom and adventurer I am usually looking for high adrenaline activities to satisfy my appetite for blood pumping excitement. These activities usually take place outside the place I’m sleeping at (unless of course it is a haunted mansion.)But recently, when my friend, Lisa was having small gathering of close friends to celebrate her birthday, she picked a place in a remote part of New York. At first I thought, this better not be some, “Cabin in the Woods” type outfit…I did want to come home from the celebration with my limbs in tack. She assured me the place was not some backwoods murder trap, but did offer a “unique” twist.

Now the words motel and adventure are normally not synonymous…but this one is the exception, the Roxbury Motel in Roxbury, nestled in the Catskills. A quick look at their website, www.theroxburymotel.com and I was sold. It’s a “boutique motel” with dozens of thematic rooms based mainly of 70’s television shows as its inspiration.

The outside of this whimsical motel is gorgeous at night. Just seeing that photo alone, I knew this place was going to be different.

Lisa had us girls staying in the suite Called, “Genie’s Bottle.”

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We got there late at night and the place was class all the way. They had a bottle of champagne, and a birthday card laid out for Lisa. Of course I don’t drink, so I toasted with a glass of cranberry juice. We were amazed at the attention to detail; every nook and cranny had a little treasure to behold.

Almost felt like we shouldn’t’ sleep in the beds and mess things up. The place was clean, creative and just pure fun. (I did rub the Genie bottle in hopes of course someone would give me the winning lottery number – but I think the Genie was out running errands.)

The next morning at breakfast we were greeted by one of the owners, Greg. We were all curious to see what the other rooms looked like so we were given a grand tour of the other rooms (of course this was after the guests were checked out.)

We were like kids walking around our favorite amusement park. Lot’s of ohh’s and ahh’s as we walked in. There is a something for everyone. Some of my favorite rooms were, “Fred’s Lair” based on the Flintstones, the “Final Frontier” based on Star Trek, the “Wizard’s Emeralds” based on the Wizard of Oz, the classy Amadeus’ Bridal Suite” and Maryann’s Coconut Cream Pie based on Gilligan’s Island and topped with a ceiling full of fluffy meringue pie.

You cannot be a wimp to design like this with bold colors, unique lighting and just playful (yet tasteful imagination).

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Now I wanted to know how he came up with these ideas, and where the heck he shops for this stuff, so I interviewed him. I was very low keyed when I asked him to do the interview so he was surprised when I had so much energy on camera. (Watch his face closely at the beginning of this interview.)

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Anyway, after the interview he suggested some of the local attractions; horseback riding, riding ATV’s, paintball, a trek through Howe Caverns and the New York Zip line Adventure Tours, which is the longest, fastest and highest Zipline tour in North America, and 2^nd largest in the World! Of course, I wanted to do that, but only 3 out of us 5 girls wanted to do it, so we opted to all stay together and explore Howe Caverns instead. (An adventure I already covered here on traveling mom, in the past, see my archives.)

So here’s the deal, if you are looking for a great gift for mom, a cool fun getaway with your significant other, or a great weekend with the girls, this is the place. And if you want some family fun, you don’t have to be over 30 to get it. I’m telling you, kids will love this place, and it’s not some boring ass room, what kid doesn’t love a cave or a spaceship as a room?

And as far as bathrooms go, some of the tubs are right smack in the middle of the room and they look like they glow in the dark! (And before you ask, yes the toilets are private.)

But if all this theme stuff is not enough to drag your butt over there, and you are into accolades, how about the fact that this “elegant whimsical motel” is the winner of the 2009 and 2010 trip advisor travelers’ choice award for best service and best hidden gem, and also on National Geographic’s travelers stay list of their top 120 hotels in North America to visit. Enough said, “Go take a ride to the past.”