Three great hotel deals in NYC this winter

It’s getting cold in New York City and as the temps drop so do prices for the city’s hotels. Across Manhattan, you’ll find deep discounts and deals, plus added perks and freebies. Here are three fantastic hotel finds for winter.

The Upper West Side’s Moroccan-themed Marrakech Hotel is offering rates starting at $99 per night, which is 20% off the normal rate. Guests will also receive two complimentary tickets to the Top of the Rock. The deal is valid January 4 to February 28 with a two-night stay. To book online, use the Deal1.

Three GEM Hotels locations (SoHo, Chelsea and Midtown West) are offering a rate of $129 per night in January and February. Blackout dates are January 22 to 25, January 30 to February 5 and February 13 to 14.

Rates at The Portland Square Hotel, in Times Square, are just $129 per night for a queen guestroom. That’s a savings of 20% off the regular rate. Guests will also receive two tickets to the Discovery Channel’s Titanic Exhibition. As with the Marrakech Hotel deal, the rate at The Portland Square Hotel is valid January 4 to February 28 with a two-night stay and the promo code Deal1.

More travel deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The folks over at the LA Times have rounded up a few more great travel deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And what better way to recoup from this most hellish of shopping weekends than by looking forward to a discounted vacation?

Shell’s Vacation Hospitality’s Black Friday Sale runs today with discounts of up to 50% off at 26 of its resorts located in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas, Wisconsin, California, Mexico and Canada. Sample deals include a $79 per night room in Napa Valley, $84 per night on the Big Island of Hawaii, and $64 per night in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There are some blackout dates around the holidays and the rooms must be prepaid and are nonrefundable.

Gap Adventures’ sale runs from Black Friday to Cyber Monday and offers 20% savings on selected tours. 12 days in Laos can be had for $999 per person, 8 days in Thailand is just $479, and 20 days in India is only $1099. Over 25 tours are discounted, and include locations in South and Central America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Prices don’t include airfare and are only valid on select departures in December, January, April and May.

Sonesta, a resort company that operates two properties on St. Maarten, is also offering 50% off for bookings made through Monday. The discount is valid for stays from December 18 to March 31. Stays over Christmas and New Year’s require a 5-night minimum, but at just $138 (down from the usual $275), the total price is much more affordable.

Book a stay at Hawaii’s Kona Village and get an $800 flight credit

Last week, while on Hawaii, I had the chance to wander over to Kona Village Resort and stroll through the grounds. I was pretty impressed by what I saw. While the resort is located right next to the Four Seasons, the feel (while still luxury) is totally different.

Rooms here are hale – thatched roof bungalows in various forms. In keeping with the barefoot, carefree style of the resort, the rooms don’t have tvs, radios, or even telephones. What they do offer is total seclusion, privacy and romance, as each bungalow has access to a beautiful black sand beach and its own hammock. Hotel staff communicates with guests via notes, and a coconut is used as a “do not disturb” symbol.

It’s the perfect spot for honeymooners to escape and relax, but they are also plenty of activities offered, like snorkeling, stand up paddle boarding, whale watching, surfing and SCUBA diving. Rates for the hale start at $410 per night for two people, including breakfast and selected water sports.

Right now, Garden, Superior, or Deluxe rooms, which run about $700-$900 per night, qualify for a special fare deal. Book five nights in the room and receive $800 in flight credits. The room rate includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. The fare credit is applied to the cost of the room.

Dive packages, romance packages, and family packages (book one hale and the second is 50% off) are also currently available.%Gallery-76818%

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Hawaiian airlines offers free flights to the mainland

Hawaii seems like a beautiful place to live – great coffee, awesome surf conditions, nearly perfect weather at all times. But, hundreds of miles out in the Pacific, I imagine it starts to feel a bit isolated, especially with the high cost of flights from the islands back to the mainland US. But for those Hawaiian islanders looking to get away to the rest of the US for a while, Hawaiian airlines, has a pretty great deal.

For every inter-island round trip flight you book on Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll get a discount on your flight from Hawaii to other destinations in the US. The discount starts at 10% (for one round trip flight) and goes all the way up to 100% (yep, a free flight!) after you’ve taken 10 round trip flights around the islands.

Inter-island flights began racking up points towards the discounts on August 3 and will continue through December 31, 2009. The discount can be applied towards flights booked for now through June 15, 2010.

The discount applies to flights to select cities in California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

Score deals to site of 2010 Olympics now

As excitement for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver builds, most people who haven’t planned ahead are looking for last minute accommodations for the event and finding rates to be quite pricey. During the Games, costs will be as high as the demand, but it seems that in the weeks leading up the event, there are plenty of deals to be had.

Right now though December 17, Whistler-Blackcomb, the official Alpine Skiing venue for the Games, is offering the third night free at many of its best resorts and hotels. The average nightly rate with the promotion works out to just $66 (CAD) for many properties in Whistler Village. Package deals that include two nights of lodging and two days of lift tickets start at $103 per person per night through December 21.

Travelzoo has put together a comprehensive list of the other discounts available in the area and the deals don’t stop at accommodations and skiing. Flights, shuttles, and activities like snowmobiling are also on sale.

The games run February 12-28, and chances are they’ll be even more discounts announced between now and then. So if you’ve got your heart set on a winter wonderland vacation in Vancouver but don’t have a fortune to spend, plan your visit just before the Olympics to take advantage of these great deals.