Sugar Castle 2013

A Christmas activity that appears in our advent calendar every year is visiting the sugar castle at the Westin St Francis Hotel in San Francisco. After visiting Santa at Macy's last Friday we braved the rain and wind to make a detour on the way home and stop by the hotel for a look at the castle.

Each year in December the Westin St Francis on Union Square displays a beautifully made castle crafted entirely of sugar in their main lobby. Each year the castle is added to or modified slightly from the previous year. The fairy tale castle is always surrounded by a picture perfect little village and a (not made of sugar!) model train that chuffs its way around  and around. The castle itself also revolves so that all sides can be seen from any one spot.

The lobby of the Westin is rather dark which makes for a dramatic setting for the castle. The fact that it was a very gloomy night outside made it even more atmospheric, although a little hard to photograph without a tripod.

Ava and Lola watch the train go around the base of the castle

Fairy tale magic

Beautiful castle

Close up detail

A very festive lobby

The main Christmas tree is the lobby is always a hit with the girls

The other highlight of a visit to the Westin St Francis is the glass elevator that scales the outside of the building. The girls love taking the elevator to the top to take in the views over Union Square. I think the fact that it feels a little naughty seeing as we're not hotel guests appeals to them as much as the actual ride up and down and the views!

Due to all the rain the elevator windows were quite wet and the view of the giant Christmas tree and ice skaters in Union Square was a little blurry however it did lend itself to a much more authentic Christmas scene. Looking over the frosty Union Square it really did feel like it could've been snowing rather than just raining. Now that would be a Christmas miracle!

Ava and Lola rush through the lobby toward the glass elevator

Looking over Union Square from the glass elevator

The sugar castle is on display in the lobby of the Westin St Francis through to January 3rd 2014. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area make sure you drop by to check it out. Oh, and take a ride up that glass elevator too. Shh...