I recently stayed at Aloft Detroit at The David Whitney during a weekend getaway and was able to enjoy the resort's numerous amenities during my stay, including their on-site dining amenities, a gorgeous suite and the hotel gym. While I partnered with Aloft Detroit on this post, I wanted to be clear that my opinions and thoughts on my experience are my own. 
Nestled in the heart of downtown Detroit lies a not-so-hidden gem - The David Whitney building - which now holds the glorious Aloft Detroit. Luxurious doesn't begin to describe the property, and I can't think of a better place to spend a weekend of relaxation than at this enchanting place as we were able to whisk away for a perfect weekend post-baby. The husband and I had a goal. Honestly, we still have the goal but it has slowed down over the years. Visit all 30 baseball stadiums before age 30. Welp, I'm 32 and we haven't made it. However, that is not stopping us. In the past five years, we have married, graduated from college, graduated from graduate school, bought a fixer upper, birthed a baby, flipped a house, birthed another baby... ya know, the cheap things in life. So hitting our 30 baseball stadiums by the age of 30 didn't necessarily fit into the budget. Thankfully, we have kept going. 
Since baby Ollie was born, we try to examine our best options for knocking a new stadium visit off of our list, and this year it was Detroit. Detroit was perfect for us. A simple city to get to, a relatively cheap flight, and had a great baseball stadium that we had never visited. I'll be honest. I never have dreamed of visiting Detroit. Don't get me wrong, those serene tourism commercial with Tim Allen get be excited to be in Michigan... but never really Detroit. I had these visions of an empty downtown with gangs at every corner. Boy, was I wrong. I fell in love with Detroit. It's city. It's downtown life. It's safety. The local community so heavily involved in bringing Detroit back to life after a hard few years of bad luck. It was inspiring. It was vibrant. It was magical. We spent exactly 48 hours in Detroit and although I know we just scratch the surface, here's what I would do all over again in I only had 48 hours:
THURSDAY
8pm: Touchdown
We landed on a Thursday evening fairly late. We hopped into our rental car, stopped on the way into downtown to pick up some snacks at a Target (because we're frugal like that), and then drove to our lovely hotel at the Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney building.
10pm: Punch Bowl Social
By the time we checked in our room, our dinner options were limited; however, we got to experience this lovely place that still had a kitchen opened serving full dinner meals. If you have never had a chance to visit a Punch Bowl Social, I highly recommend it. The atmosphere is great along with options to play arcade games, darts, and bowling. The decor is super eclectic and the food and drinks were good too. 
FRIDAY
9am: Rest and Rejuvenate
We started our Friday morning slow. With two littles at home, it seems like any chance we get, we try and sleep in. Of course, sleeping in for us isn't all that late into the morning hours and so, we were able to hit the hotel gym prior to heading out for the day.
10am: Brunch at the Dime Store
This place was the best! Voted Most Creative Brunch and Best Brunch in all of Detroit, it truly was a stop that I would hit up again. It was within walking distance of our hotel and the best food. 
12pm: Detroit Experience Factory
After brunch, we hit up the coolest walking tour in Detroit. We aren't touristy people and tend to shy away from touristy things; however, we have learned that especially when we are in a new city for only a short time, taking a tour helps us jumpstart our comfortable level on where to go, what to do, and where is it safe and people friendly. This tour did just that. The Detroit Experience Factory offers cheap to free walking tours and experience of the city that you cannot miss. These people have a love for their city and are extremely knowledgeable. I honestly wish we were in the city for longer to do multiple ones. We were able to do the Art & Architecture – Downtown Walking Tour which took us a little under three hours to complete; however, we saw art and walked inside buildings that we would have never explored ourselves. It was so much fun! 
3pm: The Detroit Coney Challenge
All I heard about when I told people I was coming to Detroit was their coneys. 'Wait?' I thought. 'Isn't coneys a New York thing?' Nope. It's totally a Detroit thing. They are everywhere and everybody thinks their favorite place is the best. Most importantly there is a long time competition in between American Coney and Lafayette Coney, conveniently located side-by-side one another. Of course we tried both... and I liked Lafayette wayyyy better. After our coney stop, we walked around downtown a bit, viewed Canada from the other side, and hit up a few bars in Greektown for happy hour. There was a bit of walking that we had to do, but downtown Detroit was so extremely walkable that we barely even noticed. 
6pm: Game Time
Of course, our whole purpose was to see a baseball game and knock another stadium off of our list. We don't always get to see our beloved Cardinals when we visit other places, but this trip was an exception. We spent the evening at the lovely Comerica Park and finished out the evening at the hotel bar for some late night drinks and snacks.
SATURDAY
10am: Brunch
Saturday morning was back to the hotel gym, followed by a great brunch again. We had a car for this trip and felt that we had really explored most of the downtown area the day before, so we ventured into Corktown for brunch. We found ourselves at The Brooklyn Street Local and it did not disappoint. The food was delicious and the prices were so so reasonable. 
12pm: The Eastern Market
We finished out our trip with a visit to The Eastern Market to poke around and see what it was all about. The Eastern Market is the oldest and largest year-round public markets in the United States, and has a nonprofit that manages the market whose goal is to build on its rich history to make a healthier, wealthier and happier Detroit. Coming from St. Louis, I didn't know if I would be impressed due to how much I love our downtown market, but I in awe by the amount of vendors and people that were there. It was truly a sight to see.
3pm: Back to the Airport
We headed by to the airport to catch our flight home. It was truly a great experience to be able to see so much of downtown Detroit in such little time, but it goes to show you how easy it is to still enjoy a city and keep adventuring even when it is just a weekend away.
WHERE WE STAYED
The Aloft Detroit at The David Whitney is right on the edge of Grand Circus Park and has a People Mover station in the building (which is about the only thing we didn't experience)! Comerica Park, The Fillmore Detroit, Fox Theatre, Ford Field and the Detroit Opera House are all a few minutes' walk away with many nearby restaurants. The building itself has 105 boutique apartments in The Residences at The David Whitney Building and the 136 hotel rooms at Aloft Detroit at The David Whitney. The rooms were spacious, modern, and glamorous. We met the friendliest hotel staff while we were there and it was so nice to stay at such the heartbeat of the city. After sitting empty for almost 15 years downtown during some of Detroit's hardest times, it has now been remodeled in the coolest space. I highly recommend checking it out while you are in town! 
