I live in Florida, but I've never truly explored downtown Tampa, so when I heard that the Aloft hotel in downtown Tampa was pet friendly, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to take Ryan and Kuma out on a weekend getaway in the area.

Aloft hotels are generally decently priced with a bright and lively modern decor. This hotel featured signature Aloft amenities, like the W XYZ® Bar, re:fuel grab-n-go, and free WIFI.

Kuma enjoying her free treats from Aloft

After we checked in, we were given our room keys to the 7th floor and found a dog bed, food bowl and a goody bag full of treats and toys for Kuma in our room. I might have been more excited than Kuma when I saw this. It was just so cute and thoughtful. There are lots of pet-friendly hotels nowadays, but not many will go this far for your dog.

After relaxing in our hotel room for a bit, we headed to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, which is right across the street from the hotel. Curtis Hixon is a beautiful area with an open grassy lawn surrounded by the Riverwalk, Tampa Museum of Art and the Glazer Children's Museum. You can take a nice walk along the water or rent a bike from Coast Bike Share.

We walked around the Riverwalk, grabbed some yummy hot dogs from the hot dog stand and took Kuma to the little dog park. She had fun chasing other dogs and kids on skateboards.

At night, we ordered take out from Anise and had dinner in our room. The food was pretty good and we would definitely go back there again. We also ordered a couple of drinks from the bar and took it up to our room. I got my usual margarita with sugar on the rim and Ryan got his old fashioned. Both were very tasty cocktails. To walk off all of our food and drinks, we took Kuma out for her last walk of the day around Riverwalk and enjoyed all the pretty changing lights on the bridge. This area is even more gorgeous at night!

Sunday morning, we woke up early to take pictures of the sunrise and then picked up some coffee at Kahwa's. I personally prefer Kahwa coffee over Buddy Brew or Starbucks and wish they had more around Tampa. Kuma was disappointed that she couldn't get her puppuccino, but I promised her I would get double the amount of puppuccinos the next time we were at Starbucks.