Happy Thursday! I wanted to do a full review of Costa d’Este Resort in Vero Beach, FL. Fun fact – the resort is actually owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan and is one of the coolest U.S. resorts I’ve ever been to! I’ll start by rounding up some of my instagrams (and outfits) from the trip, so scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full review. 

The resort offered in-room dining at all hours… the breakfast was phenomenal!

Every morning we would walk to the beach (the resort is oceanfront) – there were little cabanas set up that blocked the sun and wind and were so relaxing! A waitress comes to every cabana and serves ice water as well as a full menu from the Beachside Cabana Bar.

 white bikini top & bottoms // Prada sunglasses

I wore this outfit to dinner at The Wave Kitchen & Bar (inside the resort). We had a special 4-course meal made of all fresh, local and organic ingredients that was absolutely TO-DIE-FOR.

 

striped ruffle dress (sold out), similar HERE, HERE & HERE // Prada sunglasses

Jeffrey Campbell wedges // Baublebar drop earrings // MAC lipstick in “impassioned”

Relaxing by the pool… 

black crochet swimsuit // hat by Bits & Pieces

blue and white shirt, similar style but less expensive HERE // white pants // Givenchy handbag

Steve Madden shoes // Michele watch // David Yurman bracelets

Baublebar earrings (20% off $50 with code CAITLIN20) // Prada sunglasses

Another beachside cabana… this time they set up a king bed on the beach, with four umbrellas to block out the sun!

La Blanca cover-up // Baublebar earrings (20% off $50 with code CAITLIN20) // Prada sunglasses

This was the resort’s entrance…

 Storets blue top (love the sleeves!) // Topshop denim shorts (sold out)

 ribbed cardigan (sold out in white, I have the burgundy too) // Topshop white cardigan

 white peplum top (sold out), similar HERE & HERE // jean shorts

Jeffrey Campbell wedges // Chanel bag, similar HERE & HERE // Prada sunglasses

Storets pink dress // Jeffrey Campbell wedges // Givenchy handbag // Prada sunglasses

My airport outfit!

  ribbed cardigan (sold out in white, I have the burgundy too) // Topshop white cardigan

Givenchy handbag // similar jean shorts // booties // Kelsey luggage

One night they served us dinner on the private patio right outside of our room. We had strawberry mojitos, plantain chips, buffalo chicken empanadas and paella. It was amazing!

A view of the front of Costa d’Este when you pull up the driveway…

This is how the pool looked around sunset… what a gorgeous view!

Okay now for the full review! Like I said at the beginning of this post, we stayed at Costa d’Este Resort in Vero Beach, FL. (If you want to receive 20% off your room, daily breakfast & more check out this special offer)

Room: We had an oceanfront cabana room which I would highly recommend – we were on the first floor and had a private patio that was steps away from both the pool and ocean. The room had a king bed (I was staying with my mom and we don’t mind sleeping in the same bed), a TV, small dining room table and plenty of drawer and closet space. The air conditioning worked really well (it was so hot and humid in Florida!) and the beds were SO COMFORTABLE, which we both really appreciated. The only thing missing from our room was a bathtub (I looove baths haha) but we heard that some of the other rooms had bathtubs, so do your research if you want a tub in the room. You can see all of the rooms here.

Food: Perhaps one of the best parts about staying at Costa d’Este was the amazing food. Everything is local, organic and incredibly fresh – every single bite we had was simply amazing. I think I gained a few pounds on the trip but I didn’t mind 🙂 The Wave Kitchen & Bar is a really nice restaurant located within the resort and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dinners are amazing and the staff are experts at pairing the perfect wine with your meal (just ask them). There is also a Cabana Bar beside the pool that serves lunch – my mom loved their fish tacos and I loved the burger! One night we ate dinner on our private patio… they set up a table with candles all around (so romantic haha) and delivered appetizers, a meal and dessert all to our patio while we watched the sun set. I really can’t say enough good things about the food.

Beach: We heard that the ocean in Vero Beach is usually very calm and crystal clear. While we were there, however, a tropical storm was brewing that caused the ocean to be very choppy, so we didn’t get in the ocean at all! However the actual beach itself was beautiful and so were the beachside cabanas.

Pool: We loved the pool at Costa d’Este! It’s an infinity pool with a hot tub right next to it, and the way it’s designed is just gorgeous. Every morning when you walk out, there are fresh towels on all the lounge chairs, so you simply put your stuff down on one to “claim” it. Immediately a waitress comes by with ice water, which is so refreshing in the Florida heat. They also walk by and offer frozen grapes to everyone… how cool is that!

Activities: There are a ton of activities offered at Costa d’Este, so many that we couldn’t take advantage of them all! Almost every morning there is a yoga class or zumba class, and you can kayak right off the beach. The resort also lends out bikes, so my mom and I rode bikes around town almost every day that we were there. The town itself is SO SO CUTE and it was really fun to ride around and look at the cute shops and houses!

Spa: While I was at the resort I got to experience a signature massage. I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders from stress/anxiety, so a massage was the perfect way to unwind when we got to Florida! The masseuse started out the massage by asking which essential oil I wanted, and had me take deep breaths to breathe in the essential oils to start relaxing. The massage itself was so relaxing that I almost melted into the table, haha. And afterward she gave me coconut-infused ice water that tasted divine. 


Transportation: To get to Vero Beach, we took a short plane right from Charlotte to the Orlando/Melbourne airport and then had an hour drive to Costa d’Este Resort. It honestly wasn’t bad at all! There is a small airport in Vero Beach that offers direct flights to some cities, including New York. If you fly out of Newark airport, enter the promo code “cmcoving” to receive a 15% discount off any Elite airways round-trip flight to Vero Beach between now and November 11th. The discount code only applies to a round-trip ticket purchase, and the discounted price will appear at the very last purchase page of the transaction process.

Downtown: Downtown Vero Beach is only a few steps away from Costa d’Este. We were initially worried that we would need a car during our stay, but that wasn’t the case at all! Anywhere you could possibly need to go is within walking distance from the resort. Right across the street there are the cutest shops you can imagine, and a really cool soft serve/orange juice place called Countryside Citrus. There’s a pharmacy a few blocks away along with a really pretty park. My mom and I walked to Nino’s Cafe one night for dinner, a small pizza joint that had really fresh, delicious pizza.

Downsides: I racked my brain but honestly can’t think of any downsides. Usually on trips I am very anxious/stressed about working and taking photos while I’m there… I relaxed more at Costa d’Este than on any trip I’ve ever been on, I think. I read a lot of books, laid by the pool, rode bikes, explored, and just genuinely enjoyed everything about the trip. Another thing that made it really enjoyable was how nice the staff was! Everyone was SO friendly and honestly made it fun to go to the pool or to dinner because they were so nice.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend Costa d’Este as the perfect getaway – whether for a romantic escape, family vacation or just a girls trip. If you’d like to book using their exclusive offer, or just want to check out the room rates, click HERE. xoxo

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*Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post, however I did receive compensation in the form of room and travel c/o Costa d’Este. As always, all opinions are my own.