Save $400 by going to the beach … I wish it were always this easy!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Hilton’s trying to make it as easy as possible for you to soak up the sun this summer. Its new deal in Puerto Rico will set you up with a free fourth night if you pay for three. Even better: the three nights that will cost you only start at $139 each. All in, you’re saving up to $400 a trip. Resort credits are offered for golf, dining, spa treatments and other activities.

And, it keeps getting better. You could also pick up a bonus certificate for a free night down the road if you book by July 15, 2009.

The four participating hotels are solid: El San Juan Hotel & Casino, The Waldorf Astoria Collection; El Conquistador Resort & Spa, The Waldorf Astoria Collection; Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza and Caribe Hilton, San Juan. So, it’s not like you’re being given a low price at a low-end hotel. This is strictly top shelf.

The catch? The promotion’s only good through the end of September.

Storm the Bastille with Concorde Hotels

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Need an excuse to head out to Europe this summer? Concorde Hotels & Resorts is ready to feed your jones for travel. The Concorde Summer package – just in time for Bastille Day – puts 22 hotels from around the world at your fingertips, from the Hotel Lutetia in Paris to the super-upscale Hotel de la Paix on the shores of Lake Geneva. You can join the party for as little as $115 a night ($165 in some cases), which, I assure you, is so insane that I half-expected to see Crazy Eddy’s name listed somewhere on the press release.

As has become common with deals from up-market hotels, the low room rate isn’t all you get. Concorde is throwing in some great extras, including a daily buffet breakfast, access to double rooms and a second room at an additional 50 percent discount. Also, Condorde’s throwing in a surprise gift for each stay.

But, you have to take advantage of it this summer. The deal stretches from July 10, 2009 to September 13, 2009.

Venice is totally flooded. How about a cheap hotel and some boots?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

You kind of expect a visit to Venice will include some water. This uniquely Italian city, first settled by the Romans along a chain of islands on the Adriatic Sea, has always been inextricably tied to its watery origins. The city rose to prominence due to its wealthy seafaring merchants, and most iconic images of the town inevitably include a canal vista complete with gondolier, happily serenading lovestruck passengers.

Unfortunately, water-loving Venice is for once longing for some much needed dryness. The liquid-loving capital has been plagued for the past two weeks by unusually high tides, leaving many parts of the city like the famous Piazza San Marco submerged under as much as three feet of filthy water. Though the floods are beginning to recede, the municipality of Venice has been coping by erecting tall wooden platforms along heavily trafficked paths and many businesses and cafes are closed or have limited hours.

The city’s floods don’t seem to have dampened the spirits of its hotel owners, however. Ever the entrepreneurs, visitor packages have recently been announced offering special “flood discounts” as well as a free pair of rubber boots for tramping around in the muck. How’s that for hospitality? Room service and a pair of waders.

It’s an ingenious, albeit curious, solution to keep the city’s tourist lifeblood flowing during an obviously difficult time. Flooding is a fact of life in Venice – but the current waters warn of far-more grave issues for this historically aquatic metropolis. As the forces of global warming exacerbate the damage of rising water and cause further harm to the city’s businesses and architecture, Venice is facing some hard choices about the city’s sustainability and its tourist future.