If you follow us on social media, you’ll already know that we recently teamed up with Hyatt to shine a light on their Hyatt Loves Local campaign. If this is the first time you’re hearing of it, stay tuned for some background on the initiative - and how we experienced it first hand through two weekend getaways over the summer! 

This year, over 100 Hyatt hotels and resorts in destinations across the globe banded together to provide complementary resources and exposure to over 160 local businesses that have struggled during the pandemic, taking particular care to support minority and female-owned businesses, groups that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. In turn, these local businesses are offering Hyatt’s guests unique and enriching experiences that foster a meaningful connection to the destination’s local community. Think: culinary, wellness, music, art - collaborations span a variety of industries to add color to destination experiences!

A few standout experiences that we got the chance to partake in for ourselves include the collaborations between Hyatt Place Eugene x Iris Vineyards, and Holston House Nashville x High Garden Tea. Wine, tea, travel? We signed up in no time! 

Hyatt Place Eugene/Oakway Center x Iris Vineyards

Hyatt Place Eugene / Oakway Center, a property close to home, partnered with Iris Vineyards, a local winery that produces world-class, award-winning Willamette Valley wines, by providing space in its lobby, bar, and 5th floor Sky Deck to host pop-up tasting events that started in June, while their tasting room is closed. The wines are seriously good, we can attest to that!

The hotel is now offering a package where guests can enjoy overnight accommodations, a bottle of Iris Vineyard wine upon arrival, an exclusive private tasting and tour of the vineyard (which remains unavailable to the general public), and souvenir wine glasses to be kept following the tasting. The package is available to book Thursday-Sunday night with one week’s notice.

We set off to meet the vineyard team, learn about their production and their wines (we liked the rosé most of all!), and even enjoy lunch to accompany our sips! We had the best time experiencing a bit of our local area in Eugene Oregon, and getting a taste of what makes Oregon home. We hope to get back to Eugene soon!

Holston House Nashville x High Garden Tea

Next up, we boarded a redeye and made our way to Music City! It was our first time in Nashville, and we got to experience tea the true southern way - with a little whiskey and bubbly thanks to Hyatt Loves Local. Cheers!

To get another taste of Hyatt Loves Local, we stayed at Holston House Nashville to check out their collaboration with High Garden Tea, a local retailer of organic, locally naturally grown or ethically wildcrafted heirloom herbal and craft tea supplies (that was previously impacted by the pandemic). As part of their collaboration, they created an amazing tea and cocktail experience on the hotel’s rooftop! IT IS DELICIOUS, and is all a part of the Hyatt Loves Local initiative!

This collaboration highlights High Garden Tea’s products during the hotel’s rooftop tea service, on the menu at TENN restaurant, and for sale in the hotel’s marketplace. The tea service will resume on October 24th, and will be available on Sundays. What can you expect? A reserved poolside lounge seating area at the far end of the rooftop and a selection of boozy tea cocktails, complete with a spread of small bite-sized items served up on a tiered serving tower. Now in our book, drinking boozy tea cocktails and taking in rooftop views is quite the fun way to ward off Sunday scaries! 

We had an excellent time trying the variety of delicious tea and cocktail concoctions. We can’t wait to make it back to Nashville and try this experience again!

For more on Hyatt Loves Local campaign and other small businesses they are collaborating with, check out the link HERE. 

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