Experience Mardi Gras like a New Orleans Native

Dauphine Orleans Hotel Parade Package Includes Rare Opportunity to Ride in Krewe of Orpheus

The Dauphine Orleans Hotel is a prime place to stay for French Quarter fun and excitement, and the 2010 Mardi Gras festival (February 12-17, 2010) is going to be one of the most exciting events all year. Ideally situated one block from Bourbon Street and four blocks from Canal Street’s parade route, guests of the hotel will enjoy convenient access to all New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities.

The hotel is offering a special six-day Krewe of Orpheus Parade Package that includes a unique opportunity to ride in one of the most famous and prestigious parades of Carnival season.

The Dauphine Orleans Hotel’s Krewe of Orpheus Parade Package, for arrival on February 12, 2010, includes:*

-Five (5) nights accommodation in a Premium Courtyard guestroom
-Two tickets to ride in Harry Connick, Jr.’s Krewe of Orpheus Parade (Monday, February 15, 2010)
-Parade Day lunch for two
-Complimentary throws and Krewe costume, to ride in and to keep
-Complimentary refreshments during the parade ride
-Two tickets to the Orpheuscapade after-party at the New Orleans Convention Center
-Complimentary valet parking during your stay
-Complimentary daily deluxe continental breakfast
-Complimentary welcome beverage in the historic May Baily’s Lounge

*Availability is limited. The 6 day/5 night package is $5,492.65 double occupancy, $3,530.65 single occupancy, all taxes included. Package must be fully pre-paid and is non-cancelable. Rules and liability waiver are required to ride in the parade.

To check availability or reserve the Krewe of Orpheus Parade Package at the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, please use promotion code MGP and visit www.dauphineorleans.com or call (800) 521-7111. The 6-day/5-night package may be reserved for arrival on February 12, 2010.

About the Dauphine Orleans Hotel
The Dauphine Orleans Hotel is located in the heart of the historic French Quarter at 415 Rue Dauphine, just steps from the bustle of Bourbon Street and antique shops on Royal Street. A multi-million dollar renovation of the 111-room hotel in June 2008 has created a new era of elegance in this 18th century landmark. Perfect for both business and leisure travelers, the Dauphine Orleans offers modern amenities such as wireless Internet, Tempur-Pedic™ bedding, fitness and exercise room, and a saltwater pool. For more information or to make a reservation, please call (800) 521-7111 or (504) 586-1800, or visit www.dauphineorleans.com.
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Hawaii Hotels Slash Prices Via '3rd Night Free'

/PRNewswire/ -- According to online retailer Travel Hawaii LLC (http://travel-hawaii.com/), Hawaii's hotels are slashing rates in a variety of ways in order to stimulate demand. Combined with record low airfares to Hawaii, the overall cost of a Hawaii vacation has tumbled dramatically.

"3rd Night Free is the new norm," said John Lindelow, owner of Travel Hawaii. "We track all the offers from Hawaii's hotels, and we now have 33 hotels offering 3rd Night Free. Combined with already discounted rates, this can make the cost of a hotel stay half of what it was a couple years ago at this time." The Outrigger Hotel chain, for example, is offering 3rd Night Free at 19 of its 23 Hawaii hotels and condo properties. All of the 3rd Night Free specials can be found on Travel Hawaii's special page at http://travel-hawaii.com/specials.html.

Some hotels have simply slashed their basic rates. The Sheraton Waikiki, for example, is selling Ocean Front rooms through Travel Hawaii for $206/night through mid-May. And the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach has City View rooms for $161/night for all of 2009.

Record low airfares round out the equation, with fares from the East Coast well under $500 to Honolulu round trip, and those from Los Angeles under $350.

"So two people traveling from the East Coast and staying a week in an Ocean Front room on Waikiki would pay around $2400 for airfare and hotel," said Lindelow, "which is pretty astounding since this is normally the busiest, and most expensive, time of the year for the Hawaii tourism industry."

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To Rescue Americans' Travel Budgets in 2009, Worldwide Hotel Inventory on Sale for $1/Night at LastMinuteTravel.com

/PRNewswire/ -- Despite the flood of downbeat economic news, Americans are given a big reason to stay positive in the New Year with an opportunity to book the vacation of a lifetime for the cost of a movie ticket. For fifteen minutes per day, five days in a row late January/early February 2009, LastMinuteTravel.com will sell the entire world for a dollar per night, including every room in its inventory of over 15,000 global hotel partners.

This weeklong hotel deal has been created to inform the public of a new Undercover booking style launching in late January - one that guarantees the site's best possible hotel rates with last-minute prices, in advance.

"This sale is very real," explains Uri Argov, President and CEO of Last Minute Travel. "Because we guarantee our hotel partners are paid for all inventory listed with us, we can invest a half-million dollars in room revenue to drive travelers to our improved site."

There is a small catch: The appointed days and hours won't be divulged in advance. The only way to find out is to visit www.LastMinuteTravel.com/WorldForADollar to register to receive clues, scavenger-hunt style, via email, starting today. To expedite the booking process on launch day itself, web users are encouraged to visit the site in advance to become familiar with its hotel inventory and page layouts.

In this Undercover hotel model, similar to Hotwire, the name of the hotel is kept secret during booking, revealed after making the reservation. What makes the site different from others is that travelers will be provided everything except the hotel's name and address, including star ratings, a description of the hotel itself, its rooms, services, local area, a complete checklist of amenities and a map highlighting a radius around the general hotel location.

The site will also now provide travelers with an interactive "Destinations" page, set to feature the details of more than 100 locales worldwide. Each travel destination will be packed with traveler reviews, general information, photos, as well as details on the area's top hotels, attractions, shopping and dining experiences.

For travelers who prefer to know more when booking with the benefit of paying less, the opaque veil is lifted when joining the behind-the-scenes Last Minute Travel Club (http://www.lmtclub.com/). As America's first travel price club, the site offers travelers up to 65 percent in savings for each hotel booking, whether three or 300 days in advance. During the sale, members of the travel club will be ahead of the game, receiving email clues before other registered users.

For more information about Last Minute Travel's upcoming sale, its new Undercover style or for a full list of terms and conditions, visit the "World for a Dollar" homepage at www.LastMinuteTravel.com.

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Inauguration Update: Hotel Rooms Still Available In Washington, DC Metro Area

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Contrary to widespread reports, hotel rooms are still available in and around Washington, DC during the Barack Obama inauguration through Destination DC, the official convention and tourism corporation for the nation's capital.

By simply making one phone call to Destination DC's toll-free number, 1-800-422-8644, travelers can connect with a local travel expert to learn which hotels still have availability during inauguration, where the hotels are located and what rates they may expect to pay.

Through regular communications with Washington, DC-area hotels and nearby tourism offices, Destination DC has located more than 1,400 hotel rooms within a 30-mile drive of DC that are available on the peak night of the inauguration period, January 19, plus hundreds of additional rooms located within 200 miles of the city.

Hotel rates range widely from $100 to more than $1,000 per night, so travelers can choose to be more frugal and plan on negotiating traffic into the city or to splurge on an in-town experience that makes it possible to reach festivities on foot. Rates start as low as $100 per night for bed & breakfasts and limited service hotels located within 60 miles of Washington, DC; hotel rooms available within the District range from $500 to more than $1,000 per night. Minimum stay restrictions may apply.

Local experts are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST at 1-800-422-8644. Travelers who call the toll-free number will also find a one-stop shop for travel advice, advance ticket sales for tours and attractions, insiders tips, free visitors guides and maps. Travelers can also check out Destination DC's official inauguration website, www.washington.org/inauguration, for information about balls and events, useful tips and itinerary suggestions for inauguration-goers.

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39% of Consumers Traveling for Thanksgiving

PRNewswire/ -- With the economy in distress it wouldn't be surprising if people chose to stay home for the holidays this year. Yet, a recent Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Hotwire.com(R), a leading travel discount site, found that Thanksgiving is a holiday that people won't skip.

According to the survey, 39 percent of consumers will be traveling this Thanksgiving, which while seemingly low, is the same as those who opted to travel last year. And, similar to last year, of those consumers who will be traveling this holiday, 74 percent will travel shorter distances of 200 miles or less for the holiday.

"In an economic downturn, one might expect consumers to be more hesitant to travel even during the holidays," said Clem Bason, vice-president and travel expert at Hotwire. "However, our data shows that despite the tightening of purses, travel is inevitable this time of year and consumers should know that there are still great deals to be had on sites like Hotwire(R) if they are interested in hotel rooms, car rentals or even airfare."

As business travelers vacate for the Thanksgiving holiday, the number of empty hotel rooms increases. Hotwire has special relationships with major hotel suppliers to help them fill these hotel rooms that would otherwise go unsold, which means deep discounts for holiday travelers looking to take advantage of these great rates and stay in a hotel as opposed to a packed holiday house.

"This is a time when people look out for, not only their own bank accounts, but those of family and friends," said Clem Bason. "Thirty-five percent of the survey respondents are willing to spend up to $100 on a hotel room to help family or friends or avoid staying in a packed house. By booking unsold rooms on Hotwire, they will have a lot of great deals to choose from."

For example on Hotwire, a four-star hotel room in Downtown Los Angeles over Thanksgiving will run just $89 a night.* But, that's not only over the Thanksgiving holiday. Throughout the year, Hotwire delivers deals you can't find on other travel sites by helping hotels fill rooms that would otherwise sit empty.

Clem Bason has the following suggestions to help consumers save money this Thanksgiving and winter holiday season:

-- Go opaque: Sites that offer unsold inventory, like Hotwire, provide deep discounts to consumers because they help top travel providers fill empty airline seats, hotel rooms and extra car rentals.

-- Sign-up for travel alerts: Flight prices can vary from day-to-day. By signing up for travel alert services such as TripWatcher (http://www.hotwire.com/trip-watcher/index.jsp), consumers can make sure that they get the biggest bang for their buck.

-- Rent a car: With gas prices going down and extremely cheap car rental prices, consumers have a chance to save big and avoid putting wear and tear on their own cars by renting a car. By booking through Hotwire, consumers can rent a car from just $13.95 a day.

*Based on a Hotwire search conducted on November 13, 2008.

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There’s a New Hotel Lobby in Town, and It’s Drawing Quite a Crowd

There’s a new hotel lobby in town, and it’s drawing quite a crowd. The new Sheraton Link lobby is the first of its kind in Texas and one of less than a handful in the U.S. It is the centerpiece of a multi-million renovation of the Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

“Lobbies used to be a major social gathering place 50 years ago, but evolved into a sterile environment, primarily for check-in,” said Robert Kisker, hotel general manager. “Guests simply went to their rooms, and only returned to the lobby when they passed through it on their way somewhere else or to check out of the hotel. Today’s travelers want to have more interaction. The new design is a sea change and refashions the lobby into an appealing destination for guests, providing comfortable spaces that promote socialization and networking. We have gone from perhaps one or two people sitting in the lobby to 20 to 30, and it is pretty much continuous throughout the day, with several hundred people using the area each day.”

The Sheraton’s new lobby space provides guests with a sense of belonging, warmth and community. At the heart of the lobby re-design is the “Link @ Sheraton,” a signature lobby-based communications hub that enables guests to stay connected and fully productive while traveling and away from their offices. The Link @ Sheraton is a unique environment that meets the needs of Sheraton’s core guests by enabling them to work, relax and remain connected to family and friends during their travels. It provides a total online experience, including free Wi-Fi and Internet-enabled computer stations, which allow guests to e-mail, search the Web, research local attractions and even print up boarding passes. Guests also have access to televisions, daily newspapers, and food and beverage offerings.

Adding to the social aspect of the new lobby design, a communal table at the lobby’s center allows several groups of guests to work independently of one another within the same space, with game tables and oversized chairs that encourage interaction or rest and relaxation. Guests also are surrounded by a distinctive ambiance created through new sensory elements, including a clean, “open air” scent, music, lighting and botanical designs.