News & Politics

This Week’s Travel Deals

We've got deals from around the area and around the world. Read on for some great travel bargains.

Rock…Scissors…Paper—Upgrade!
Kimpton Hotels has a plethora of hotels in the D.C. Metro area from the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria to the Hotel Palomar in Arlington. It’s now one of our favorites because it really knows how to have fun! Kimpton is your Summer Playground through September 7 and is offering amusing ways to stay. Take the Lucky Upgrade Challenge: Upon check-in, you get to challenge the front desk to a game of roshambo, better known as Rock…Paper…Scissors. If you win, free upgrade. If that’s not your game, hula-hooping for 20 seconds will also trigger an upgrade (upon availability, of course).

Family Fun at The Homestead
Four hours due south of DC, The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA, is a great getaway for families. Now, the hotel is offering its Family Fun Package, which includes room accommodations, 50 percent off all outdoor activities, 50 percent off KidsClub admission and children 12 and under eat breakfast and dinner for free. Rates start at $245.
Father’s Day at Trump Chicago
Ties are nice but how about really treating dad on Father’s Day. The Trump International Hotel Chicago is featuring a lineup that includes a brunch at its signature Sixteen restaurant, mini-golf, an opportunity to be fitted for a custom-made suit and complimentary mini-grooming services for him at The Spa at Trump. Brunch is $60 per person and, afterwards, why not a round of golf? The hotel will have a nine-hole mini golf course set up in the Grand Foyer. To make it a truly memorable day, indulge dad with a custom-tailor consultation. Pops can discuss his personal style and fabric preferences with Nicholas Joseph of Nicholas Joseph Custom Tailors at Sixteen. Suits by Nicholas Joseph typically sell for $675, but dad will receive a special price starting at $500.

The Jefferson Makes Comeback  
Four blocks north of the White House on 16th and M, The Jefferson has sat idle for two years while going through a massive all-encompassing renovation. In August, the 99-room hotel, whose legacy stretches back to the Coolidge administration, will reopen to the public. As a welcome gift, the hotel The Jefferson will offer an opening special rate through October 3, starting at $300 for a weekend night in a classic guestroom (20 percent savings off of The Jefferson’s best available rate).

Free Nights at The Dolder Grand
The Dolder Grand in Zurich, which has played host to such luminaries as Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, closed its doors four years ago and set out on a $380 million renovation. It reopened last April and has been turning heads ever since with its mod-meets-old Norman Foster design. Still celebrating, the hotel is enticing guests by offering two great values: three nights for the price of two or four nights for the price of three. Rates begin around $995 and the two deals are valid until October 2009.

Look, Penguins!
There’s marching with the penguins, and now there’s cruising with the penguins. General Tours World Traveler is offering a 14-day cruise and tour featuring 10 nights aboard the MV Ushuaia—a small ship with just 84 guests and a crew of 38. The ship was designed and built for Antarctic research by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

The cruise and tour begins with two nights in Buenos Aires at the Sofitel Hotel, including daily breakfast and sightseeing with a private car, driver and guide. After an included flight to Ushuaia, you will stay at the Cauquenes Hotel and check out Tierra del Fuego National Park with a personal guide before boarding the MV Ushuaia for the 10-night voyage. Rates start at $6,589 per person and the company offers 10 departures from November 2009 through March 2010.

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