Hotel Reviews

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Small Barrels offers boutique hotel reviews featuring upscale and otherwise-outstanding accommodations to help inspire your next vacation’s home-away-from-home. We spotlight places that offer comfortable and elegant rooms, indulgent amenities, personalized services and effortless access to fine dining and wines. Let our curated list guide you to choose a hotel that is a remarkable experience of its own.

a pool at a resort with a white sand beach and palm trees

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess – Scottsdale, AZ

We recently spent a week in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. A last minute trip, we decided to use the week to explore different areas of the region and three different hotel/resort […]

king bed beside a window in a hotel room

Hotel EMC2 – Chicago, IL

Chicago’s Hotel EMC2 is a boutique hotel in Marriott’s highly creative line of Autograph Collection of properties. This collection is all about creating thematic statements that capture something important […]

sitting room with couch, coffee table and television in a hotel room

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – BC, Canada

We had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver, Canada this past May. Our primary purpose was to take in Pearl Jam’s kickoff concert for their 2024 Dark Matter tour. The show […]

Kimpton Rowan Hotel – Palm Springs, CA

Putting the Palm in Palm Springs Many come to Palm Springs for the hot desert sun, mid-century architecture and design, a nod to old Hollywood glamour, and the laid back…

The Cloudveil Hotel, Jackson, WY

We hit the open road last May to explore several National Parks of the United States. Our journey included an exploration of Yellowstone (WY, MT, ID) and Theodore Roosevelt Parks(ND),…

Review of Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Resort – Las Vegas, Nevada

We spent four nights at Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Resort this past December (early in the month – a sort of pre-Christmas Christmas vacation). Located on the north side…

Review of Thanksgiving Dinner at the Post Hotel – Lake Louise, Alberta

The Post Hotel is a lovely place to spend and celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. The holiday falls on the second Monday in October, but many families celebrate with a bountiful Turkey…

Kimpton Muse – New York, NY

Our four-night stay at the award-winning Kimpton Muse New York this past April was in fact our third time at a Kimpton property (see our reviews of the Hotel Monaco…

Kimpton Hotel Monaco: Chic and Quirky (Portland, Oregon)

I love the picture of our room above. Love. It. Whenever I see at it, I react just as I did the moment I walked into our suite at the…

Shipwright Inn (Charlottetown, PEI)

Just a pleasant summer stroll away from the Charlottetown harbour front is the Shipwright Inn, a lovingly restored home originally built by shipbuilder James Phillips Douse in 1865. The quiet,…

Inn at St. Peters (St. Peters, PEI)

The Inn at St Peters is an intimate hotel on the St Peters Bay waterfront. A short drive from Charlottetown, the town of St Peters is a lovely, quiet and…

Great George (Charlottetown, PEI)

It seems to me that you could spend a lifetime exploring Canada. “From Sea to Sea”, there are so many breathtaking sights, pristine landscapes, and fascinating cities to experience. And…