4 - Saltwater Suites at Topsail Island

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Hello all, welcome back. I'm kinda laughing at my podcast studio at the moment. I am... I should probably just take a picture of this. In fact, I will take a picture of this and I will post it on our Instagram. So you can check it out at Biscuits and Gravy Podcast on Instagram if you want to, but it's kind of a sad state what my podcast studio looks like today. But maybe it'll work. I am at home with four children and a husband.

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and a farm. And so there might be noises. I don't know. I cannot guarantee what this podcast will turn out like. But we're going to give it a go because, you know, that's just life, isn't it? We just take it as it comes and do the best we can with what we're given. So, all right, I'm so excited to do this podcast episode. We had some family.

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things going on that did not allow me to record this as soon as I got home from this trip. But I wanted to go ahead and do it as quickly as possible so that none of this fades from my memory because I do have mom brain and sometimes things do fade from my memory. But we took the first real trip specifically for the podcast about two weeks ago now.

01:27
This was to the Saltwater Suites at Topsail Island. Adam and I had never, well Adam said he had been to Topsail Island when he was younger but I've never been really. And so I was very curious about what it was like and what Topsail Island had to offer. I did not realize how huge Topsail Island was. I think Adam read somewhere that it takes 40 minutes to drive from one end of the island to the other.

01:55
and yeah, I just had no idea. I'm used to going to a lot smaller islands, I guess, on the North Carolina coast. But we were invited by the Saltwater Suites to check out their resort. I would say this is, it was a very unique stay. So Saltwater Suites is newly built. They built it last year, so 22.

02:23
They built it and it is a 24 unit mini hybrid hotel. And they market it as the perfect combination of luxury and relaxation with lots of amenities so that you will have everything that you need at this day. We found this to be so refreshing. But first, let me back up and tell you probably my even above.

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all of the amenities, even above the cleanliness, the location, everything about this place that we stayed, I would say top of the line was the service, the hospitality. I had been in communication with them prior to our visit because I knew this was going to be kind of a work trip and I just

03:20
They were so friendly to talk to. I talked to people on the phone. I talked to people through email. And then after our stay, I actually spoke with the owner of the Saltwater Suites and got some information from him. He was the one reaching out to me, wanting to talk to me about my experience and anything they could do better. I mean, this was like top of the line hospitality. They...

03:49
went above and beyond to make sure that we were comfortable, that they are hitting all of the marks for their hotel, and that there wasn't anything that they needed to really pay attention to to improve on for their guests, because they are a new establishment, and they just, you can just tell, you know, you can just tell that they're really trying to make a good business out of this place, and they want people to leave feeling good.

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feeling rejuvenated, feeling like they were well taken care of, and they did it. So I honestly could not recommend this place enough to you guys. Let me tell you just a little bit about it. So each suite is designed with comfort and convenience. So they have like, they have really spacious living areas, fully equipped kitchens with dining tables, full size.

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front loading washers and dryers. There was like a little closet that had that in it. We actually use that as well. They've got a TV, they've got Wi-Fi, a sofa that converts into a queen size bed, and every room has an ocean view. So we are a family of six, as most of you probably know. And I was, we've gotten to the point in our family.

05:14
our family growth. So how large everyone is and how much room they need to be comfortable and what kind of bed they need. And that we are not able to really stay comfortably in one hotel room anymore, if you know what I mean. Like we could go to a Hilton or Best Western or whatever and get like the largest hotel room that sleeps in most people. And

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most of the time it's going to be so cramped that it's just going to be inconvenient, you know? So most of the time when we travel we have to go to an Airbnb, like a house or a condo or something like that where people can have their own rooms and that kind of thing. Well this was kind of a combination of the hotel room and the Airbnb because we were all in the same room but it was spacious. It was not cramped. We did not feel like...

06:09
We were on top of each other all the time and you know having to move furniture just to scoot around it was very spacious something I really appreciated that I let the owner know as well was That when we've gone to Airbnbs before or we've gone to hotels before Either it's one of two extremes either. It's a very sterile environment where there's no character. No nothing I don't know you just feel like

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you're really out of place or the other extreme, there's too much stuff in there. There's too much decor. There's too, we've been in Airbnbs before where they've got fully stocked kitchens with like food in the cabinets and stuff like that. And that seems overwhelming to me, kind of like you're in somebody's house that you're not supposed to be eating their food. This was a very good middle ground at the saltwater suites.

07:07
there were no carpet, which I appreciate. I do not like carpet in hotel rooms. That freaks me out, y'all. It freaks me out because, I guess because I'm used to living in a house with no carpet and we can mop those floors if there's something dirty on the floor, we know we're gonna be able to mop it up real quick. You know, carpet just really freaks me out, y'all. So when we go to hotel rooms where there's carpet, I'm always like really...

07:35
I don't know what to do. I don't know whether to wear shoes. I don't know whether to wear socks. I don't know whether to be barefoot. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. So I did not have to worry about this here because they had floors that were not carpeted. This being a new place, they had... I didn't see any sort of issues with paint peeling or...

08:04
leaks or anything like that like you do sometimes when you go and stay at hotels or whatever. Everything was decorated very simple and tasteful and kind of minimalist I would say, but comfortable you know. The appliances were all new. They had a really cool fridge with a little door that you can put some

08:34
easy to grab items in. We always travel with our milk. If y'all know us, y'all know. Because we have a dairy, so we have raw milk. And we're gonna take that with us. They had this little pop open door on their fridge where you didn't have to actually open up the whole fridge just to get out a couple of items that you wanted. So that was a really cool feature. They had every...I mean, I was telling them...

09:03
as well that we cook most of our food when we go on vacation because we raise a lot of our food. And to be honest, we don't want to feel like junk for our whole vacation. So we take our own food to cook a lot of times. We did go to the grocery store down there and got some food so that we could cook some things. And the kitchen had everything that we needed. It had an oven and a range.

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and a dishwasher. It had all the... it was not overwhelming the amount of things that they had for you to use as far as plates and utensils. It was not overwhelming. And that way, like, if we ran out of something, we would just have to have to wash it, you know? Because I've been places before where we've been real busy, you know? And we will eat and then we'll run and then

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You know, it's like an endless amount of dishes that we have to do at the end of the day So I appreciated it not being so overwhelming but Accommodating like we had enough of what we need of all the essentials So the saltwater suites Like I said, they had ocean they have ocean views every room has an ocean view We could open our windows at night and hear the ocean. It was so nice

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Another cool feature is that this hotel is three stories and it has an elevator. So we had stairs right beside of our suite, so we didn't use the elevator every time, but for sure bringing luggage up and down was very nice to have an elevator. The beach access was not far away at all. It was about a block away.

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and it was a super easy walk. Like I was telling the owner, I loved the location because it was a public beach access, but it actually did not feel like a public beach access. It felt like a private beach access because there was not a lot of like town parking spots available near that beach access. So really we never saw anybody. I mean, this was, this was, let's see, when did we go? The end of April, 1st of May.

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And there was hardly anyone on the beach, hardly anyone using the beach access. It was such a private kind of experience, which is really what we love. We love to just be able to come and go. Another cool feature was the keyless entry. So they actually texted me the keypad code and the instructions and all I had to do was use that to get in and out. Another...

11:53
very unique feature to this resort or this hotel was downstairs at the very bottom level open air there was a game room so the kids loved this feature. Me and Adam loved it as well but they had a ping pong table, they had cornhole boards, they had bikes. I thought this was super unique. You could rent bikes for free if you were a guest.

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and I mean these are nice bikes that you could rent and they had I don't know how many eight or ten of them down there to rent and it was just so

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It was just such a relaxing environment. It was such a relaxing, fun environment. Another cool thing is that the Saltwater Suites, they're actually building a second hotel that's called the Saltwater Resort, and that actually should be finished by the end of this year, 2023. So when I talked to the owner about it, he said, yes, it's coming along really quickly.

13:03
We hope to have everything, so the difference in the resort is that they're going to have a pool and an event center there. And that's one thing, like my kids did not lack for entertainment, a pool, anything like that, but they do love a pool. So I think when we go back, I'd love to try staying at the resort just to see what the difference is and the kids would have access to a pool there too. But if you're not interested in a pool...

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or if you know that all these games and bike rentals and everything is gonna be sufficient for you and your family, then I would certainly stay at the Saltwater Suites. So I would love to hear any questions that you have about our stay. I'm going to be putting up lots of pictures that we took from our stay on our website. So we have a fully functioning website now that I'm so excited about. It's just biscuitsandgravypodcast.com.

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You guys can check it out. Each podcast episode is on there. And so you can go and see it and listen to the podcast episode and also look at all the pictures that I took on the vacation of the things that I'm explaining on the podcast. So I encourage you to check that out as well as our Instagram Biscuits and Gravy podcast on Instagram and that will...

14:27
That's what I use to kind of explain and show real time when we're actually on a trip what's going on and all the different features and that kind of thing. But one more really cool thing I need to tell you before I go today because I hear my kids going wild in the next room is that the Saltwater Suites have been so nice and accommodating that they want to give.

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you guys a discount of 10% off of your stay until the end of this year. I would jump at this if I were you. Like I said, this is probably one of the best vacations we've been on. It was clean, it was accommodating, the hospitality was top of the line, the access to the beach was easy.

15:25
It was not crowded at all. And the amenities at the hotel were so unique. I've never stayed anywhere like this before. We would love to go back. And so we want to encourage you guys to go as well. So the discount code that you will use when you go and book your room is all caps biscuits 2023. So,

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B-I-S-C-U-I-T-S, biscuits, 2023. And that's your code for 10% off. And we would love to invite you to do that. Something else really unique about this place is that you can book one night if you'd like, or you could book weeks if you'd like. They do not have a minimum night stay, which is so unique in today's travel accommodations. So...

16:24
Please check them out. Show them some love. When I find people who are like top of the line, wanting to really do their customers justice by their accommodations, like I really, I just encourage people to support people like that. You know what I mean? It's really hard and I would never be able to get on the podcast and be like, here y'all go check this place out if

16:53
We didn't have a good experience. You know what I mean? I was a little nervous, to be honest, going there for the first time, traveling for the podcast for the first time, because I had already decided, if it was not a good place, if it was not a place that I would want to go again, then I was not gonna do a story on this place. But thankfully, Saltwater Sweets was top of the line. Adam was just, he was already...

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when we got back and you know my husband, I've told you before, he's not a traveler per se, but when we got back he was like, I could definitely go there again. That was easy, it was convenient. He loved it for all the same reasons that I did. So please check out the Saltwater Suites at Topsoil Island. I will leave their website in the show notes so that you can go and just click on their website and go and book directly.

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through their website or you can call them as well. But you will use the discount code if you book online and that is biscuits2023 for 10% off your stay. So I am so excited to be able to do this for you guys. It makes me feel like not only am I getting to enjoy some of the South's amazing places that most people don't know about, but I'm getting to share it with y'all and y'all are getting to reap the benefits as well because

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I'm asking for some incentive to get people there, because I want people to check out really cool places like this that deserve our business, to be honest. So, all right, well, my kids.

18:37
We're quiet for about five minutes of this podcast and now I hear commotion. So I'm gonna go, but thank you guys for listening so much. I am going to do another episode on Topsail Island in general, some different places that we traveled on the island and some experiences that we had. And I will post that in a few days on.

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the podcast. So if you guys are not already following us, subscribed to us, then please do so on your podcast app of choice. That way you'll be notified anytime we have a new episode that comes out. And if you have some suggestions for us, then please send us an email. It's biscuitsandgravyfm at gmail.com. And let me know where you'd like me to travel, restaurants.

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Hotels, spas, resorts, anywhere that you think are unique places in the south to go. I'd love to hear from you. So that's all for today, but I will talk to you next time. Thanks for listening.