Feeling luxurious: Quiet luxury with the 2017 Lincoln MKZ

Title So if you were asked, what is the most luxurious activities to do in your city, what would you answer. Would you say a spa? A shopping spree? An afternoon on a yacht?

I was tasked with that very question at the beginning of this month when Ford Canada reached out to offer me a ride in the 2017 Lincoln MKZ for a week. Since their whole brand is about quiet luxury, I had to give a list of activities that I deemed as luxurious. Since I had to deal with things in Winnipeg, the list was quite short. Sadly there were no yacht rentals to be found, so I pitched a helicopter tour of the city, the Fully Loaded Hamam treatment for two at Ten Spa, dinner at Hy’s Steakhouse, and a VIP, front-row experience at a concert. I wasn’t given a budget, so I went very extravagant with my requests. Surprisingly, they approved everything.

I picked up the Lincoln MKZ on Friday, August 26 and right away I started playing around with the features. The car has an amazing audio system thanks to its 14-speaker Revel Audio System (there’s also an available 20-speaker Revel Ultima System), providing you with clear surround sound. I quickly found BPM on Sirius Satellite, which I kept on for the entire week with the car, opened the massive sunroof, turned on the massage seats, and hit the road.

Right away you can tell this car is not for the faint of heart. The control panel has everything you need for a comfortable ride (there’s even a little shelf under the cup holders where I kept my purse), and just like the Lincoln MKX that I test-drove earlier this year, there’s no physical gear shift, all you need to do is press a button beside the steering wheel to park it, start it, drive it or reverse it.

Front of car Outside of Inn at the Forks

Other luxurious features include custom ambient lighting (everything from cool blue to amber), leather and wood detailing, that fancy Lincoln welcome mat when you approach the car at night, and a 3.0L twin turbocharged V6 engine, delivering 400 horsepower (AKA it can go really fast). Let me put it this way, when I had to return the car this past Friday and then hop back into my 2014 Honda Civic, my car felt like a toy compared to the Lincoln.

Unfortunately the helicopter place was booked up the week I had the car, so instead I asked my bestie what she thought we should do since her birthday was coming up. She said she always wanted to get a giant suite at a hotel and order room service. I pitched the idea back to Ford Canada and they were all for it, so Sunday we checked into Inn at the Forks in their Gold suite, a just-shy of 800-square-feet suite located at the city’s most popular tourist destination, The Forks. Although we all felt that the room was a bit dated in interior (the hotel opened in the early 2000’s I believe), we had an awesome time just chilling out, painting our nails, getting ready for dinner and then eating at Smith, the lobby restaurant which is one of my absolute favourites. After, we retired back to the room to watch the VMAs, eat some red velvet cake, and then three of us piled into the king-sized bed to sleep. In the morning we ordered room service and just relaxed before checking out.
Makeup at inn at the forks Pillowfight Breakfast in bed

My one girlfriend went off to work since it was a Monday, but a different one and myself played hooky (okay, we both took vacation days) and went to The Be-You-Tee Bar in Osborne Village to get blow outs for the Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas Future Now Tour, happening that evening. We ended up getting the meet and greet package and second-row seats, so we wanted to look amazing for our photo with Demi Lovato.

We headed to the MTS Centre super early as the check in for the meet and greet was from 4:35 to 4:45 p.m. We got our VIP lanyards and then stood in line waiting to meet her. After about an hour, which flew by because we were chatting with some Demi superfans – they flew here all the way from Toronto for the concert and meet and greet – the line finally moved and we were ushered in for our photo with the superstar.

The whole meet and greet experience lasted maybe 10 seconds, you walk in, exchange hi’s, take a photo, and then leave, however, after the meet and greet we got to stick around for a seminar with CAST Centers (I also want to note that while we were standing in line, Nick Jonas walked by us on the way to his meet and greet). I didn’t actually know we were doing this until we got the wristbands for it. Noah, the Demi superfan, explained to Rose and I that CAST Centers is a program that specializes in interventions, sober companions, and transitional living for those struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse. Demi invited CAST to come on tour with her and before each show they bring in a speaker to chat about how you can help with your mental health. Demi occasionally sits in on these talks as well, and as soon as I saw a couch in the front row I know she would be walking in, which she eventually did.

The Be You Tee bar

Demi Lovato photo

After the talk, we got our limited-edition hats, backpacks and signed posters and went to our seats. After sitting second row at a concert, it’s going to be hard going back to regular seats. It was so cool to actually see the artists’ facial expressions and make eye contact with them (Nick and I made eye contact a few times.. #NBD). Although it wasn’t the best concert I’ve ever been to, I’ll never forget this experience and it definitely ranks super high on my list of best experiences ever.

The last luxury experience I got to do was go to Ten Spa with my boyfriend for the Hamam Fully Loaded. I’ve previously done the self-administered hamam, but have only heard amazing things about the actual treatment. I drove to Ten Spa straight from work since our appointments were at 6 p.m. and I wanted to indulge in all the extra goodies they offer at Ten Spa (aka the hummus and pita).

Since it was my last day with the MKZ, I made sure to take advantage of the panoramic sunroof. The panel lifts up and slide back over half of the rear window, which can make it a little difficult checking your back window, but with the sunroof being so large it feels like you’re driving in a convertible.  Pair that with the air conditioned massage seats and you’ll feel like you can drive forever.

After we were done at Ten Spa (I don’t think I have ever felt so clean), we headed to Hy’s Steakhouse for dinner. We indulged in the yummiest food and drinks before heading home.

In car mirror in the car

I’m lucky that I get to test drive a lot of cars courtesy of Ford Canada, however, I have to say that the Lincoln MKZ has to be my favourite so far. The MKZ starts at C$39,385 and as soon as you enter the car you can definitely see and feel the luxury.

Huge thanks to Ford Canada for letting me drive the Lincoln MKZ around for the weekend for letting me do all these luxurious activities.

Back of car

If you were tasked to come up with a list of luxurious activities to do in your city, what would you chose?

Please note, I was not paid to do this blog post. Ford Canada did pay for all the activities though. All opinions are my own.

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