Romantic 1st Year Anniversary Ideas on a TIGHT budget (Des Moines: for rent, hotel)

[jerryastevens]

My husband and I will be celebrating our first year anniversary this weekend and are looking for something to do. We don't have a lot of money to spend. We would like to do something and maybe spend the night in a hotel with a hot tub for around $100 if at all possible. We live in New London and are willing to travel to Des Moines or the Quad Cities. Please give us some ideas as we would like to make our first year anniversary a memorable one.

Thanks a bunch,

The Stevens

[serate]

Heartland Inn in Altoona and Davenport both have whirlpool rooms for $128.00 a night.

AmericInn in West Burlington & Davenport both have whirlpool rooms for $119.00

Comfort Inn in Ankeny has a whirlpool room for $99.
Comfort Inn in Pella has a whirlpool room for $114.00.
Comfort Suites in Burlington has a whirlpool room for $129.99.


These prices are off of the hotel websites. You might try Orbits or one of the other online travel "agents". At the moment I'm having a brain fart and can't think of any of the other names.

If you head to the Des Moines area you might find something to do here:
Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau

Good luck and Happy Anniversary!

[w1ngzer0]

Sorry to butt in from Arizona. I had this giant paragraph typed, but i'll type it again. lol

Buy a hot chicken dinner from the grocery store and a couple sides. Go to a place where you can see the city lights or the sunset. Eat dinner and watch the sunset, then stars come out and things get interesting. After you guys are done watching the stars, go home, both of you get into a hot bath with smelling salts. Have candles, piano music, and martini's. If you guy's prefer beer, go get a pack before the night begins and put it in the fridge. Your relaxed, had a great night, and ready for bed. Though if you want a hot tub because you don't have a roman tub, that would make more sense.

I only make 13.50 @ 40 and this is what i can afford to do.

Good luck

[El Rhino]

Visit lovely South Des Moines, hit up Tasty Tacos and then down the street to Romantix...

Just kidding.


I've gotten some good deals off the kind of places Serate mentions, like $42 a night at the Renaissance Savory in downtown Des Moines. That was a few years ago though, so who knows. That hotel does not have a hot tub, but it's very nice and in a good location if you wanted to take the ol' lady for dinner and drinks downtown.

In Des Moines if the weather holds up, I would suggest taking her to the Art Center during the day for lunch. For one, it's a nice place with many great pieces of art. Secondly, they have a cafe that serves some fancy food at reasonable prices in a nice environment. Eating outside by the reflecting pool on a nice day, that's good times, my friend. Even if the weather doesn't permit being outside, it's still a good bet.

Anyways, they have a soup, a salad, a sandwich and a pasta entree. Usuallly the food is somewhat innovative and at $8.95 you can get one thing or a combination of two smaller portions (say, half a sandwich and a small salad). They use high quality ingredients and I've never been disapointed.

Just shooting from the hip here, I'd say that the Art Center's restaurant is the best dining value in Des Moines considering what you get.
D M A C :: V I S I T

The building is adjacent to Greenwood Park, which would probably be worth a quick stroll-through. During the summer it's full of roses and stuff, but probably not now.

On W1ngzer's idea, Grey's Lake just south of Downtown on Fleur would be a good place to go for the sunset, city lights, etc. Grab some coffee from Cup o' Kryptonite down the road or something to bring with... but not Java Joe's because they hate punk rock.

If you do decide to go to Des Moines and need some sort of dining recommendations, I could help you with that. There's all kinds of good restaurants with reasonable prices serving all kinds of food.

[Iowamom1]

Theres lake george in Andalusia, close to Quad Cities.. They have boats for rent, and you could do a picnic lunch.. it's gorgeous there... especially with fall colours right now..

[kygman]

Originally Posted by serate

Heartland Inn in Altoona and Davenport both have whirlpool rooms for $128.00 a night.

AmericInn in West Burlington & Davenport both have whirlpool rooms for $119.00

Comfort Inn in Ankeny has a whirlpool room for $99.
Comfort Inn in Pella has a whirlpool room for $114.00.
Comfort Suites in Burlington has a whirlpool room for $129.99.


These prices are off of the hotel websites. You might try Orbits or one of the other online travel "agents". At the moment I'm having a brain fart and can't think of any of the other names.

If you head to the Des Moines area you might find something to do here:
Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau

Good luck and Happy Anniversary!

One thing to watch for with whirlpool rooms. We rented a whirlpool room once for a romantic weekend. The whirlpool is a regular size bathtub with the whirlpool in it. Talk about a tight fit! Not saying that's what these rooms are but you might want to check with the hotel before reserving a room. Happy anniversary and best wishes for many more.

[serate]

Originally Posted by kygman

One thing to watch for with whirlpool rooms. We rented a whirlpool room once for a romantic weekend. The whirlpool is a regular size bathtub with the whirlpool in it. Talk about a tight fit! Not saying that's what these rooms are but you might want to check with the hotel before reserving a room. Happy anniversary and best wishes for many more.

Good point Kygman. We had one of those at a Microtel Inn and to us it wasn't worth the extra money.

Heartland Inn in Altoona is alot bigger than just a 2 person tub. It's not in the bathroom, but in the room itself, and the room is bigger to accomodate it.

Never stayed at any of the other places I listed, at least not for room with a hot tub. Was just looking up prices. Though the Comfort Inn in Morton, IL [just outside of Peoria] has the bigger tubs [the ones in the room with you, not in the bathroom] like the Altoona Heartland Inn.

[w1ngzer0]

jerry, have you made a choice? make sure you let us know how it went