Escape from Big Apple with The Madison Hotel, NJ

Facing up to traffic-clogged streets is one of the inescapable truths of New York vacations. Or is it? There's a new trend on to beat the bedlam and road rage - By putting up instead at decent New Jersey hotels. Thus, you can enjoy the dazzling array of things to do in New York by day and relax in the relative peace of the quiet NJ neighbourhoods in the late evenings and nights. Not to mention the fact that hotel rates in NJ are way cheaper than what you'd pay in NYC. And hotels in New Jersey are making the most of this by pushing NYC package deals offering free shuttle rides or transit tickets from NJ to exit and entry points in NYC.

Take for instance the Madison Hotel, located in Morristown, NJ. The hotel is offering a 'Big Apple Escape' package which includes deluxe accommodations for two, either Friday or Saturday night, a complimentary bottle of champagne upon arrival, free parking, complimentary continental Breakfast served in the lobby, $50 food and beverage credit towards dinner at Rod's Steak and Seafood Grille, and two roundtrip tickets on New Jersey Transit's Midtown Direct train to New York's Penn Station. rates from $189 (plus taxes).

Now if you were to try to get all this in NYC (and you can forget the free parking, which is a virtual impossibility for New York hotels near Times Square), you'd end up paying well over $350 per night.

The Madison is a family owned hotel, and has been for the last 57 years since 1951. In keeping with this individuality, the hotel offers a home away from home, with large and comfortable guest rooms with four poster beds, intricate and solid wooden furnishings, vanity mirrors, a work desk and cabinet, in addition to the usual modern gizmos and add-ons like high speed internet, first-run movies and a beverage center. Hotel amenities and facilities include an indoor swimming pool and a fully equipped fitness center.

Rod's Steak and Seafood Grille serves up fresh seafood, prime beef and has an award winning wine list. And the experience of dinner in a luxuriously refurbished turn of the century railway parlour car is not one to be missed.

What's not to like? Free parking, free breakfast, cheap and spacious well-appointed rooms, free transport to NYC and when you come back at night, you have free credits towards a royal dinner with a fine menu and excellent wine abroad a make-believe railway coach.

Info: One Convent Road Morristown NJ 07960 ; (800) 526-0729; www.themadisonhotel.com/

End of Summer Special from Clift Hotel San Francisco

If you're planning for San Francisco vacations in September, the Clift Hotel in Union Square is offering an 'End of Summer' special for the month of September 2008 with $50 off the best available rate and a complimentary one-level room upgrade. Use promo code LDP for online booking. rates from $305. Online booking and details about this and other specials at the Clift available here.

In addition to its prime location on Union Square (San Francisco hotels which are not in Union Square are treated like poor second cousins), the Clift also has nearly a century of history to flout. Not to mention the majestic soaring lobby and digital art exhibitions in the famous Redwood Room. Its more like a palace, actually. Which also likely explains why you're treated (and fleeced) like royalty.

Amenities and facilities at the Clift include a state-of-the-art Gym with a top-notch fitness center, 24 hour concierge services and valet parking, in-room massage and spa services, and in addition to the aforementioned Redwood Room, there's also Jeffrey Chodorow’s Asia de Cuba restaurant with Asian-Latin cuisine.

The guest rooms are equally luxurious and oversized, with King and Queen beds, down comforters, 400 thread Egyptian cotton sheets, branded bath amenities, cable television with multiple channels, video on demand and entertainment system, and an in-room safe, in addition to the usual basic travel necessities.

Info: 495 Geary Street San Francisco CA 94102; (415) 775-4700; www.clifthotel.com/

Hotel Menage Anaheim

In the middle of all the big chain and brand name Anaheim hotels on South Harbor Blvd sits the boutique Hotel Menage, which is decidely a change, at the very least, from the kitschy family friendliness of the whole zone. Situated a mile form the Anaheim Convention Center and just a block from Disneyland, the Menage bills itself as a cool place to hang out for the younger crowd, with a swanky restaurant and lounge and a hip pool which aims more for Vegas style heat with a party atmosphere and a poolside bar.

Even the rooms aim to be 'different' with 7 foot tall leather headboards and stunning decor which is not the norm in Anaheim. Loft style accommodations offer either a king bed and queen sleep-sofa, or two queen beds, leather wrapped headboards over seven feet high, midnight toned striped carpet, ambient lighting, cozy sitting area, stunning oversized custom desk, and a state-of-the-art 42" high-definition plasma television. Additional amenities include sunflower showerheads.

Amenities include complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access, imported coffees and teas, hair dryer, and iron & ironing board. Hotel facilities include the K'ya restaurant featuring Pacific Rim cuisine with sumptous seafood options on the menu. Then there's the Mist Pool Bar with tropical palms overlooking an exotic pool and cozy, private cabanas. The pool also offers a spectacular view of the nightly Fireworks extravaganza from Disneyland.

All said and done, a stay at the Menage is a totally different animal from the usual cookie-cutter hotels which offer cheap Anaheim vacations for the entire family. There's nothing cheap about any aspect of the Menage - except for the rates - starting from $119 per night for a Studio King capable of accomodating 4 people, with the Studio Loft King going at $129. Definitely recommended if you're a youngish group touring the attarctions and things to do in Anaheim and in the neighbourhood.

Info: 1221 South Harbor Blvd. Anaheim CA 92805; (888) 462-7275; www.hotelmenage.com/

Givin up the Gas Package from LAX Custom Hotel

I've been talking about the futility of hotels offering gas cards without free parking, and hotels situated in the middle of nowhere offering gas rebates to offset the extra driving distance. These are not real 'rebates'. They're just intended to fray extra costs. Then I bump into this special from the Custom Hotel, Los Angeles.

If you're talking Los Angeles vacations, this is what I call a 'complete' gas package - $25 gas rebate card, free valet parking, and best of all, the hotel is located just off LAX, which further reduces your transport costs. Rates from $139. These are all actually pluses which reduce costs over and above that you would pay at comparable Los Angeles hotels.

The hotel offering this Givin' up the Gas Package is the Custom, located high up on a hill on Lincoln Blvd, a short drive from Marina del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu, with easy access via the the 10, 405 and 105 freeways to all the important businesses and leisure things to do in Los Angeles.

Amenities at the hotel include espresso check-in, an on-the-go breakfast bar, Bistrotek restaurant, heated outdoor pool, stadium sundeck, Hopscotch pool bar and grill, poolside cabanas, fire pit and DJ lounge. The 250 guest rooms and suites spread over 12 floors are furnished with flat screen LCD televisions, stereos with iPod docking stations, minibars, complimentary high speed internet, Percale Italian linens and Egyptian cotton bath towels.

Info: 8639 Lincoln Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90045; (310) 645-0400; www.customhotel.com/

Louvre Atlanta High Museum Packages

The Atlanta CVB, along with select Atlanta hotels, is offering a Paris in Atlanta 'experience', with specials that include tickets for Louvre Atlanta and High Museum of Art. While packages offered by each hotel are unique, most of them are offering one night deluxe accomodations for two, two Louvre Atlanta High Museum tickets, complimentary buffet breakfast and complimentary hotel self parking.

Participating hotels include Mariott Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown, Ritz Carlton Hotels, Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, Regency Suites, and Wyndham Garden Hotel, among others. Full listing of all the hotels and packages offered can be seen here.

But Atlanta vacations are not all about the Civil Rights Movement, and there's lots of things to do in Atlanta in addition to paying homage to Dr. King. Take the soul food, for example. In addition to arguably having the best soul food restaurants, Atlanta also has a soul food museum. Then there's the 'Gone with the Wind' tours.

But still, all said and done, Atlanta was, is and always will be, about Dr. King. So unquestionably the best and most visitable place remains the Sweet Auburn District with The King Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church and Dr. King's boyhood home.

Artsy Packages at Hotel San Carlos, Phoenix

Who says Phoenix is all wild west and no art? Hotel San Carlos, located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, offers multiple packages for art lovers combining artsy Phoenix vacations with premium accomodations.

For starters there's the Ballet Arizona package, which includes accomodations with preferred seating at Ballet Arizona performance, bicycle rickshaw transportation to and from the Orpheum Theatre, and pre-show dinner at the hotel's 'Copper Door' restaurant. Rates from $149 for single and $179 for double occupancy. There's also a Phoenix Art Museum package and an Arizona Desert Botanical Gardens package. For more details and online booking, click here.

Not saying that this is the best that Phoenix hotels can come up with, in terms of mixing art and hospitality and all the things to do in Phoenix, but for a 'cultured' visitor (or an 'elitist snob', depends on your viewpoint, I suppose ...) from either Coast, its way better than simply being dumped in the middle of the burning desert and told to look out for yourself.

Anyway, the Hotel San Carlos has 121 guest rooms, including 12 suites, all equipped with coffee makers and complimentary gourmet coffee, cable television with 4 complimentary HBO channels, and iron & ironing boards. Each of the suites are named and themed to remind guests of Hollywood legends who frequented the hotel like Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant. And yes, the hotel does have a pretty long and rich history, having opened its doors in 1928. The Hotel San Carlos is a State Historic landmark and is the only operating historic boutique hotel in Phoenix.

Info: 202 N. Central Avenue Phoenix AZ 85004; (866) 253-4121; http://hotelsancarlos.com