Family travel deals | WeJustGotBack.com

Up to 50% off at Starwood Hotels

Katrina — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:36:00 -0700

The only thing that tops a chain-wide sale? How about a chain of chains sale? Starwood Hotels and Resorts—which includes brands such as Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis and W hotels—is offering up to 50% off at hundreds of its resorts around the world. The rates are striking: sometimes as low as $79 or even $59 a night, depending on location. For banner US destinations, we typically found nightly rates of $99 and up. Sometimes the price breaks are kind of slim—like a $159 rate at the Walt Disney Swan in Orlando (a Westin), where regular rates can start as low as $189, so the deal works out to a 16% savings. But at other properties the savings can be whopping. Take the Sheraton Hotel Gunter in San Antonio, across the street from the famed Riverwalk, where the deal's $99 rate is a steal compared to the $265 we found for regular rates during the spring.

Compare prices and dates at various properties carefully. Plenty of hotels have blackout dates. At some hotels, this deal is only available through January 18, while other hotels are keeping it on the table for stays as late as April 25.

To get this deal, you must book by November 10. Use the promo code LTNOVN when booking online, or mention the deal when calling 888/625-5144. Rates are pre-paid and non-refundable.

Deal or no deal? $80 special at AZ’s Wigwam Resort

Katrina — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:11:00 -0700

Looking for a classic desert getaway? The venerable Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa in the Phoenix area turns 80 this month, and is offering an 80th Anniversary special. First built as a retreat for Goodyear Tire and Rubber execs, the Wigwam opened one month after the stock market crash in 1929 (how’s that for a tough travel environment?). Back then, when you checked in, you were issued a room key and a horse to use during your stay. Today, the 331-room resort offers 54 holes of golf (the most in the region), two pools, tennis, and a spa. There’s no kids' club, but the hotel can set you up with family hikes, horseback riding, and cultural tours, and the resort is within a quick drive of the Wildlife World Zoo and Desert Botanical Gardens. If your family includes baseball fanatics, keep this place on your radar: It’s a haven for Spring Training players and fans.

The deal includes:

Room starting at $80 per adult, based on double occupancy; kids stay free (regular room rates from $159 a night)
$25 daily room credit to be used for dining, golf or spa
option to book golf for two for $80 (normally $98)
option to book a prix-fixe dinner for two at main restaurant for $80 (normally $85)

Deal or no deal? Drats! That $80 price sounded so good. But the difference between “per person” and “per room” can flatten a deal faster than a desert hare. This package is priced at “$80 per person,” while the regular rate is priced at "$159 per room," so your savings amounts a whole lotta zilch. On the upside: Even the regular rate is more than reasonable, and we do like that the $25 resort credit is available every day of your stay and that you can use it on dining.

The anniversary package is good through December 31. Call 623/935-3811 and use promo code "0980Anniversary" or ask for the 80th Anniversary package.

Save up to 50% at 'Tween Waters Inn, Captiva Island, FL

Jinny — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:05:00 -0700

Hoping to squeeze in a family getaway 'tween Thanksgiving and Christmas? Consider heading to ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort on Florida’s Captiva Island, situated 'tween the Gulf of Mexico and Pine Island Sound. The 13-acre resort boasts a spectacular setting and a raftload of family-friendly activities, from swimming, kayaking, and biking to golf and tennis. More good news: 'Tween Waters Inn has announced a Holidays Sale with rates discounted up to 50% for midweek stays (Sunday to Thursday) from November 29 to December 23. With the 50% discount, the price drops to $95 a night for a standard room or $145 for a one-bedroom suite. This deal would chop $380 off your bill if you stayed in a standard room, or as much as $580 if you opted for the suite.

Does a weekend work better for you? The discount drops to a still-significant 30% on Fridays and Saturdays. Need larger digs? Any day of the week, you can score a 30% discount on a two- or three-bedroom suite.

This rate is only available by phone. Call 800/223-5865 and request the “Holidays Sale” rate.

15% holiday discount at Ho-Ho-Homewood Suites

Katrina — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:36:00 -0700

Want to get closer to family during the holidays, without being stacked like logs in the guest room? Homewood Suites, a division of Hilton, is offering a Homewood for the Holidays deal that slices 15% off weekend rates from November 1 through January 30, 2010. In these days of deep discounts, 15% might not usually get our attention, but Homewood is also sweetening the pot with a giveaway: weekend guests are automatically entered for a chance to win a $1,000 Visa gift card.

Homewood offers a lot for families to love. With 280 locations across the US, there’s a good chance of finding one near your in-laws. Plus, these suites come equipped with full kitchen, complimentary breakfasts, separate sleeping areas and on-site perks such as pools, grills, laundry rooms, and recreational options such as half basketball courts. The chain even offers free grocery delivery.

The discount is applied to the Best Available Rate and requires a two-night minimum between Thursday and Sunday. Check the "Homewood for the Holidays" box on the reservations web page or call 800/225-5466 and ask for the deal.

More on holiday travel:
No-Stress Thanksgiving Getaways
Holiday Travel with Kids
Family Getaways for Christmas

City sweetener: 3rd night free at Rosewood Hotels

Katrina — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:02:00 -0700

One of our favorite ways to live large for less is to snag a free night at a luxury hotel. After all, the higher the regular room rate, the more you save. Consider the upscale Rosewood Hotel chain's More Rosewood/3rd Night Free deal. Book a three-night stay in 2010 at any of its city hotels, which span from NYC to Santa Barbara, and you get your last night free.

How does the deal break down? At the Rosewood Sand Hill in the Bay area’s Menlo Park, California (featuring a heated pool, rolling gardens, intimate courtyards, and nearby horseback riding and cycling) regular rates start at $495 a night. This deal brings brings a three-night stay down to $990, or an average of $330 a night. Savings are also significant at New York’s Carlyle Hotel (where regular rates start at $595), the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbrara (starting at $800) the Mansion on Turtle Creek and the Crescent in Dallas (both start $550 a night) and the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe (from $335 a night).

The package is valid for stays between January 3 and May 30, 2010. Blackout dates vary, depending on the hotel. Use promo code MORE3 when booking online, or call 888/767-3966 and ask for the deal by name.

Two upscale Disney vacations for the price of one

Suzanne — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:40:00 -0700

Little more than a decade ago, taking a Disney vacation meant heading to a theme park in Orlando, Anaheim or Paris. But nowadays, the company that Walt built can show you the world. You can sail with Disney Cruise Line to Alaska, the Bahamas, Europe or even the Panama Canal. Or take a VIP-style guided tour of the American Southwest, Europe, China, or Costa Rica with Adventures by Disney, all-inclusive vacations known for delivering one-of-a-kind experiences such as zipling through a Costa Rican jungle, pizza-making at a family-owned farm in Italy, or going backstage at Disney's The Lion King in London.

Right now, families have an exceptional opportunity to snag two premium Disney vacations for the price of one. Book a tour to one of Adventures by Disney's most popular destinations and you'll receive a free three-night Disney Cruise to the Bahamas in an oceanview cabin. To take advantage of the offer, you need to book by January 15, 2010, and take your Adventures by Disney tour by October 2, 2010. You can take your cruise between January, 2010, and December 15, 2011.

More on Disney Cruise Line:
Disney 3-night Cruise to the Bahamas

Holiday savings at Orlando World Center Marriott

Jinny — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:25:00 -0700

Thinking about heading to Orlando for the holidays? Normally, visiting during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's means paying peak rates at area hotels. But that's not the case this year at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort, where some of the lowest rates of the year are on the table during those weeks. This sprawling resort has a lot to offer families looking for a holiday that's laden with fun, including six pools, a 106-foot waterslide, 10 restaurants, and a 200-acre playground that’s home to holiday-themed activities for kids including sidewalk chalk angels, craft-making and trivia games.

The hotel is offering sizable discounts off its regular room rates from November 22 to 29 and from December 10 to January 2, 2010. Nightly rates during those periods start at $104. By comparison, standard rooms are going for as high as $369 a night from November 30 to December 9.

The trick is wading through the promotional smorgasbord on the hotel’s web site. We did the math for a four-night stay:

4th night free deal (nightly rate of $139 x 3 nights + $0 for 4th night = $417)
Stay four nights, get 25% off (nightly rate of $104 x 4 nights = $416)
Escape Family Time package, which includes free meals for kids 12 and under (nightly room rate of $139 x 4 nights = $556 - value of the dining perk). We figure that the free kids meals would save a typical family of four as much as $280 on a four-night stay (figuring $10 for breakfast + $10 for lunch + $15 for dinner = $35 x 2 kids = $70/day).
Two-Room Package with a nightly rate of $189, which gives you one room with a king bed and a connecting room with two double beds

For a typical family of four with kids 12 and under, the Escape Family Time package will likely offer the biggest overall savings, thanks to the free kids' dining perk. Even if you spent most of every day at theme parks and ate only breakfast and dinner at the hotel, you would still save $50 a day on kids' meals, or $200 on a four-day stay.

Larger families in need some extra space should consider the two-room package, which lets them save $89 a night off the regular price of two rooms purchased a la carte (normally $139 x 2 rooms = $278).

As always, read the fine print as some of the rates require an advance purchase and are non-refundable.

Saw it on Travelzoo: Hotel steals in DC, Banff, Hilton Head

Jinny — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:30:00 -0700

We're all about using money-saving resources to help bring travel costs down. That's why we recommend signing up to receive the weekly Travelzoo Top 20 newsletter, which highlights exceptional deals on airfares, cruises, hotels, and entertainment. To demonstrate just how great the savings can be, we plucked these three family-friendly hotel deals from the current edition:

Save 57% off regular rates at the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington DC through January, 2010. This boutique hotel is located just five blocks from the US Capitol. Rooms usually run $199 a night, but this offer brings the rate down to just $85. The deal is available for Thursday-to-Sunday stays November to January, plus select midweek holiday dates.
Save 50% off peak rates at the luxurious Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta. The hotel is offering rooms at a reduced rate of $188 (CA$195) a night for minimum two-night stay, plus guests get their third night free. This works out to an average of only $125 a night.
Get a two-bedroom waterfront villa at Spinnaker Resorts in Hilton Head, South Carolina, for just $99 a night, plus free golf greens for four people (a $145 daily value) and several other perks, including discounted tennis and tennis lessons.

Note: Book-by and blackout dates vary with each offer. Travelzoo Top 20 deals sell out quickly, so act fast if you're interested.

3rd night free at California's 40 Joie de Vivre hotels

Katrina — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:01:00 -0700

A city getaway doesn’t have to mean a hotel where the business center is the lobby's main attraction. That's especially true if you’re thinking about visiting the San Francisco area, where the Joie de Vivre Hotels are offering a Third Night Free package. Book at least three nights for travel anytime between November 1 and June 15, 2010, and you'll get one night free. Regular rates range from $79 to $549 a night, depending on the hotel.

The 40 Joie de Vivre hotels—clustered mostly around San Francisco, but dotting the California Coast down as far as Orange County—have made a name for themselves with their quirky-but-chic boutique hotels. Think period pieces, wine in the lobby, and tech amenities seemingly geared to trendy business types.

But there are some great family-friendly finds, too. We particularly like the Hotel Del Sol (rates start at $129 a night) in San Francisco's Marina District, a sunny, revamped motel that offers a pool (and free beach balls and visors for kids), as well as free daily continental breakfast and afternoon cookies. Or, give the kids a colorfully urbane experience at Hotel Rex (starting at $169), filled with paintings and books that celebrate San Francisco’s rich cultural history; you’re also a block from the cable cars and the city‘s prime shopping zone. For a less citified vacation, there’s the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz (rates from $209), a beachfront hotel where every room has an ocean view, and there’s also a wading pool for little kids.

This deal is only available online. Use the promo code JOIE.

Save $1,234 at Four Seasons Punta Mita, Mexico

Jinny — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Looking for a luxurious fall getaway at a bargain price? Here's a reminder that one of the most stellar deals we've seen this year is still on the table. A few months ago, we told you about the One,Two,Three,Four promotion at the very swish Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, located in a 26-acre private peninsula community less than an hour from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. For every four nights you stay, you'll receive a whopping $1,234 resort credit that can be applied toward any charge you incur, including your room—which you don't see very often with deals like this.

Nightly rates for a garden-view casita start at $545 for stays through December 21. So while you'd normally pay at least $2,180 for a four-night stay in November, for example, you can apply the resort credit and chop your pricetag down to just $946. Wow! It's like getting three nights free and it brings the per-night rate down to just $236.50. Looking for a longer vacation? If you stay four more nights, you'll get another resort credit—so your eight-night stay would cost under $1,900. The deal is valid every day of the week. The blackout dates are November 19 to 27.