$59 Rooms At Golden Nugget Las Vegas

Rates from $59 per night with the 'Super Summer Room' offer at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas for stays before September 30 2008. $59 per night (Sunday - Thursday, taxes extra) and receive a $25 Food & Beverage Credit and 2-for-1 Tickets to 'Defending the Caveman'. Two night consecutive minimum stay required to receive Food & Beverage credit and 2-for-1 Tickets. Rates based on single or double occupancy. Call (800) 634-3454 for reservations or click here for more details and online booking.

If I write about everything this monster hotel & casino complex has, it'll take me more than a few pages. So here's the 'fast facts'. Three towers housing 1,907 guestrooms, including one and two bedroom suites, 27 luxury apartments in the Spa Suite Tower and six Penthouse Suites in the North Tower. 38,000 square feet of gaming area, which includes approximately 1,200 slot and video poker machines and 50 table games. A 600-seat showroom featuring headliner entertainers and nightly headline entertainment. More than 20,500 square feet of meeting and banquet facilities, including 13 meeting and banquet rooms. Outdoor pool with live sharks, Jacuzzi and private cabanas, complete spa, salon and fitness center, and full-service business center.

Dining facilities include the Carson Street Café (American), Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse, Lillie’s Noodle House (Asian), Grotto Italian Ristorante, The Buffet and a Starbucks. Shopping facilities include the Perfect Timing watch shop, Trend & Style for clothing and jewelry, and other assorted shops with essentials, newspapers, snacks and stuff.

As for the accomodations, standard rates for guest rooms are between $79 - $189 and the suites for between $175 - $750. The rooms for the super summer package are in the South Tower, and come with high speed internet, in-room movies, safe deposit boxes, hair dryers, iron & ironing boards, full sized desks and bathrobes. Bathrooms have marble flooring, and each room has a vanity area with lighted makeup mirror.

In case you feel the need to leave all this 'wonderfulness' behind and check out the things to do in Las Vegas, the hotel offers golf, tennis and sightseeing tours.

Info: Golden Nugget Hotel 129 E. Fremont Street Las Vegas NV 89101; (702) 385-7111; www.goldennugget.com/ ; Photos courtesy & copyrights Golden Nugget Hotels and Casinos

Best Western Anaheim Inn

Here's a question for you. Would you rather spend your money on the things to do in Anaheim, or spend it on tipping a snotty room-service guy and valet parking? I'm talking about booking in at a cheap Big Western, as opposed to upscale digs like the Hilton. And say what you will about them, Best Westerns are darn cheap, especially if you're talking about staying with family.

One of these cheapos is the Best Western Anaheim Inn, located a mile away from the Anaheim Convention Center. Plus, you get a $25 gas card if you stay for 3 consecutive nights (offer valid until Sept 30th 2008). As it is, a standard room for two costs about $113. Children under 18 can stay free. Take out the $25 gas card, and you get a room for a full family for around $88 per night. With free parking. That's near the Convention Center, one of the most heavily visited tourist areas in the world that we're talking about here.

And its not like we're talking about a dump. Amenities at the Anaheim Inn include a front desk which provides Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Tickets & CityPass for purchase, a restaurant & lounge next door, a heated pool, spa & sauna, same day dry cleaning & valet service, and guest laundry.

In-room amenities include a mini-refrigerator & microwave, kitchenettes available upon request, cable television with HBO, Disney Channel, ESPN, CNN & MTV, high speed wireless internet, coffeemaker with complimentary coffee & tea, hairdryer, and iron & ironing board.

You won't get ripped off, the location is good, and you'll get exactly what you paid for, which isn't shining brass and chandeliers, but comfortable and cleanliness and you have all the basic stuff you need for an overnight stay.

Info: 1630 S. Harbor Boulevard Anaheim CA 92802; (714) 774-1050; www.anaheiminn.com/

Ohana Hotels Stimulus Rebate Special at Waikiki

Ohana hotels is offering a stimulus rebate special at five of its hotels in Waikiki. $129 at the Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber, $119 at Ohana East, $109 at Ohana Waikiki West, $109 at Ohana Waikiki Malia, and $119 at the Ohana Honolulu Airport Hotel. Rates are per room, per night, based on double occupancy. Package valid until December 21, 2008. More details and online booking here.

From what I know, best of the lot is the Ohana East Hotel, located at the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Kaiulani Avenue, steps away from Waikiki Beach, International Market Place, and Kalakaua Avenue. Its just a minute from Lewers Street, and a short walk away from Kapiolani Park, Honolulu Zoo, and the Waikiki Aquarium. Even better, the Ohana stimulus package comes with free access to the Waikiki Trolley, meaning that you can easily poke around the things to do in Honolulu.

The standard room rate at this hotel is around $204, so you save about $95 per night with the $119 stimulus package. Can't get a better deal in Waikiki, at this rate and from a touristy view point, unless someone gifted you a stay at the Hilton Hawaiaan Village.

Amenities at the Ohana East include three restaurants, an espresso cafe, room service, fitness room, swimming pool, high-speed Internet access, self-service laundry and a video arcade. The standard guest rooms, included in the stimulus package, are about 240 sq ft, with hair dryer,
in-room safe, iron & ironing board, refrigerator, coffee maker with complimentary coffee, shower and cable, pay-per-view movies and a nintendo for games. Cribs and rollaway beds available upon request (extra charges may apply).

That's pretty basic, but considering the kind of rates which other resorts and Honolulu hotels will make you pay, and considering the location of the Ohana East, this, like I said, is a pretty good deal. Point is, its a decent hotel, good location, cheap rates and service ain't that bad either.

Info: 150 Kaiulani Avenue Honolulu Hawaii 96815; (808) 922-5353; Website

Recommended Bed & Breakfast Inn's, Fort Lauderdale

As far as I'm concerned, a hotel is a place where you go to sleep and rest, when you're visiting a new place. So long as its decent, spacious and comortable, and all the amenities work, I don't really look for much else. I mean, you don't visit some place, and then spend all your time in the hotel room, unless you happen to be a nutty Hollywood star. Which is why I prefer a B&B to a hotel. On the minus side, since B&B Inns are usually mom & pop enterprises, there's no real guarantee of getting what you paid for, unlike a Kimpton Hotel, or a Hilton or Marriott, where the brand name ensures that you get exactly what you are promised.

As a compromise, what you can do is frequent B&B's which you know for sure are going to be at least as good as the offer, if not better than advertised. To make a long story short, here's a list of Bed & Breakfast Inns in Fort Lauderdale which are culled from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau's recommended list. You can rest assured that these are quality places, spend the money saved on shopping and things to do in Fort lauderdale, and thank me for afters.

Green Island Inn: 3300 NE 27th St., Fort Lauderdale 33308; (888) 505-8951, Contact - Michael Green

Pelican Place: 3221 NE 7th Place, Pompano Beach 33062; (954) 956-8999; www.4rentbythebeach.com/

Villa Venezia: 132 Isle of Venice Dr., Fort Lauderdale 33301; (954) 832-0981; www.villa-venezia.com/

Tropi Rock Resort: 2900 Belmar St., Fort Lauderdale 33304; (800) 987-9385; www.tropirock.com/

Sea Turtle Inn: 315 Roosevelt Street, Hollywood 33019; (954) 599-9199; www.hotels-rates.com/

Phoenix Beach House & Guest Apartments: 3609 NE 27th St., Fort Lauderdale 33308; (954) 733-7701; www.beachguesthouse.com/

Berkshire Beach Club Of Deerfield: 500 N. A1A Hwy., Deerfield Beach 33441; (888) 595-2382; www.pyramidresorts.com/

Sleepless in Hotel Vintage Park, Seattle

Thanks to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, there is, and always will be, a heavy fog of romance smothering Seattle, especially for couples hoping to hit third base or build a stronger relationship. And in the romantic heart of Seattle, directly across from the Seattle Public Library, sits the Vintage Park Hotel (a Kimpton Hotel), which bills itself as the place for romantic escapades, weddings and wine & dine getaway weekends. The downtown location offers a splendid way to begin an exploration of Washington's wine country and it also provides easy access to all the important attractions and things to do in Seattle.

Each room in this boutique hotel is dedicated to a local Washington State winery and vineyard. The Vintage Park astutely promotes a gaggle of romance specials which include free bottles of wine from local vineyards. For example, there's the Taste of Tuscany package which includes accommodations for two with a bottle of Washington wine delivered to your room at turndown, handpicked by the hotel's 'Grape Goddess', hosted evening wine hour from 5PM to 6PM in the hotel's lobby, complimentary overnight valet parking, morning newspaper and morning coffee service.

All guest rooms in the Vintage Park hotel offer complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access, on-demand pay-per-view movies, CNN and ESPN, hairdryers, irons and ironing boards, bathrobes, Aveda amenities, down pillows, sound-proof windows, mini-bar, 24-hour Room Service and concierge service, complimentary newspapers, overnight shoeshine, same-day laundry service, in-room exercise and yoga programs, and an essential travel items kit. The hotel is pet-friendly, and even offers a special pet package that comes complete with a pet survival kit, and a special bed for pets, food and water dish and a t-shirt, with dog walkers and dog-sitters available through the concierge.

Rates from $319 (try using Priceline or Hotwire to get cheaper rates). Hotel amenities include meeting facilities, a fitness center, and most important of all - Umbrellas, which is a prized possession to have in Seattle.

Info: 1100 Fifth Avenue Seattle WA 98101; (206) 624-8000; www.hotelvintagepark.com/

Green Hotels in San Francisco

So nowadays almost every hotel touts some kind of green aka eco-friendly initiative, or certification or some sort of affiliation with any one of dozens of green business groups. But at the end of the day, its a bit difficult to judge whether your stay at the hotel was actually different from any other hotel, as in more of a greener stay or not.

Point I'm trying to make is that it would be nice if you could say, with absolute certainity, that your stay was greener then the green goblin. San Francisco is one of the pioneer cities in this regard, and most things to do in San Francisco are bound to be environmentally correct, and there are a few hotels where you can walk in blind, do anything you want, or use any of their services and amenities, and still be able to say that you didn't fall off the green wagon.

One of those hotels happen to be the Orchard Garden hotel, LEED certified (which is very rare for a hotel), eco-friendly rooms, guestroom key card energy control system, in-room recycling system, chemical-free cleaning products, compact fluorescent light bulbs and a 100% tobacco-free environment. Nice location in Union Square, neat, luxurious and you can rest assured that everything you do and use is going to be eco-friendly. Info: 466 Bush Street San Francisco CA 94108; (415) 399-9807; www.theorchardgardenhotel.com/

Another hotel almost as green as the Orchard Garden is the Triton hotel, again in Union Square, featuring eco rooms with integrated practices such as a sophisticated waste recycling program, biodegradable cleaning products, recycled paper, and organic coffee. Hotel Triton's environmental efforts became the inspiration and blueprint for Kimpton Hotel's eco-program in 2005, which is now being implemented at all Kimpton Hotels nationwide. Info: 342 Grant Avenue at Bush Street San Francisco CA 94104; (415) 394-0500; www.hoteltriton.com/

Other San Francisco hotels which fall into the category of 'very green' include the Fairmont San Francisco and Hotel Palomar.

Weekend Special At Hilton Checkers Los Angeles

The Hilton Checkers Los Angeles is offering weekend specials with rates starting from $149 per night. That's around $100 less than the standard room rate. More details about the special here.

If being a part of the hot LA scene is on your list of things to do in Los Angeles, you might want to find anotehr place. Because the 12 story Hilton Checkers is a sort of a misfit amongst the other luxury Los Angeles hotels surrounding it, and has its own place in the history books (built in 1927) and a kind of understated charm and a feeling that this is not a place where you want to flaunt your wealth or status.

This European conservativeness is totally against what goes for conventional hotel wisdom in Los Angeles, as far as decor and big, splashy amenities and flamboyant lobbies and eclectic rooms are concerned. The Hilton Checkers steers clear of all these entrapments, and instead offers neutral toned walls, a wood-paneled library, a discrete rooftop pool with a sundeck and whirlpool and a great view of Downtown LA, and quiet corridors adorned with Asian antiques.

But what the Hilton Checkers does, it does unqualifiably well. The Checkers restaurant is a peaceful oasis highly favored by those in the know, with a menu featuring cuisine ranging from Contemporary American to stylish French, with the Checkers Lounge being heavily frequented by the regulars sipping martinis in an intimate setting.

The Checkers Spa is not just a spa attached to a hotel. Mostly, its the other way around. The Spa is so good, offering so many massages and treatments, with state-of-the-art equipment, that its actually an asset which pulls in a lot of clients who end up staying at the hotel, just to be able to attend spa sessions.

The 188 guest rooms are equally solid and furnished with elegance and attention to detail, like the fresh flowers in the bathroom, which by the way is outfitted with marble flooring, Neutrogena toileteries, a hairdryer and shower massager. Ergonomic leather chairs, flat screen television with free cable and pay-per-view movies, free high speed internet, complimentary coffee with a coffee-maker, iron & ironing board, CD player and a complimentary copy of USAToday await you in the rooms. Hotel amenities include valet parking ($23), 24 hour room service and concierge services.

Info: 535 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles CA 90071; (213) 624-0000; www.hiltoncheckers.com/