Looking for a tropical getaway with minimal hassle? Consider Puerto Rico: it's just about as exotic as you can get without a passport, and a great destination for families.  Kids can practice their Spanish (but English is also spoken), there are no hassles with currency conversion, and flights from the mainland US are plentiful. 

Hilton Hotels' Spring Escape promotion is available for trips between April 12 to June 30 at five participating properties in Puerto Rico, including the flagship El Conquistador Resort.  This sprawling mega-property, set on 500 acres overlooking the island's east coast, boasts 23 onsite restaurants and lounges, seven outdoor pools, a waterpark, casino, spa, kids' camp, and 100-acre private island. It has a great location close to El Yunque National Forest and just 31 miles from San Juan's airport.

The package includes a free night and a few other extras, with nightly rates starting at $199 in April, and $149 in May and June.  To find out if it is really a good deal for familes, we did the math on a four-night weekend getaway in early May.

• 4th night free (in early May, garden-view room rate is  $179)
• breakfast daily for two adults and two kids (worth, let's say, $15/per person x 4 people x 4 days = $240)
• $25 casino match bet coupon (worth $25)
• 20% discount on a spa treatment (worth, for example, $33 on a 80-minute massage)

The regular room rate is the same per night as the package rate, so the offer truly delivers a free night.  A family of four booking a four-day stay in May with this package would spend $537 ($179 per night x 4 nights - free night).  Purchased without the package, this same stay with room and breakfast would cost $956 ($179 x 4 nights + $240), or $419 more than the package total. We're not including the casino coupon or spa discount in the savings calculation, because those elements require you to spend money in order to save.

Deal or no deal?  This one is a doozy, delivering an impressive savings of 44% on lodging and breakfasts. And if you choose to spend in the casino or spa, you'll save a bit more.

The bad news comes in the fine print: There is a daily 14% resort fee and 11 % tax, applicable on the room rate and resort fee.

The resort is offering a Ski, Surf and Stay deal for this weekend—December 10-14—if you stay at its Morning Star Lodge. The deal includes two days’ access to the onsite 42,000-square-foot waterpark and a one-day lift ticket for each person staying in the room. The special actually lasts beyond this weekend, but only on select nights (Sunday, Wednesday or Thursday).

When we price-checked a weekend stay at the condo-style lodge, we found starting rates of $199 a night for a studio (featuring a kitchen and sofabed); those rates are the same for non-deal weekends, too. Free lift tickets for a family of four would normally cost $166 ($49 x 2 adults + $34 x 2 kids ages 7 to 17). Kids 6 and under always ski free.

Guests staying at the Lodge always get free admission to the waterpark, which includes a lazy river, simulated surf machine, kiddie pool and family-size raft slide called the Moose Sluice. Temperatures are kept at a nice and balmy 84 degrees. Back outside, Silver Mountain’s 1,600-acre ski area offers 73 trails  for skiing, snowboarding and tubing, and a childcare center for non-skiing little ones that charges an impressive $9 an hour.

When you book online, click on rooms marked for the Ski, Surf and Stay deal, or mention the offer when calling 866/345-2675. 

The Wilderness Territory Resort, located in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is the country's largest waterpark resort. This time of year, the action centers around the four indoor waterparks, which offer a combined 240,000 square feet of wet-and-wild fun. You'll find the largest-in-the-nation indoor wave pool; tube, funnel, and a family raft rides; and Cubby's Cove, a waterpark designed just for the younger crowd with spray and play features and smaller-scale slides. When it's finally time to get out of the water, there are dry attractions such as 3-D miniature golf and laser tag. 

This month the resort offers an array of fall-flavored events, from horse-drawn wagon rides to pumpkin decorating, plus Tombstone Town, a haunted hotel, livery and mirror maze that's a hit with older kids and parents. Autumn's lower temperatures mean that rates have fallen, too. The Wilderness Resort is promoting a Fall Special with rates ranging from $99 to $107 a night for a midweek stay through October 29. But here's the real deal: On weekends the nightly rate starts at either $109 or $140, depending on which October weekend you choose, and we spotted the same low rates throughout November.  When you consider that during peak season a night at this activity-packed hotel runs close to $300, these lower prices are a great value.

More on Indoor Waterpark Resorts:
Getting Value at an Indoor Waterpark Resort

More Halloween Fun:
Halloween at Theme Parks
Halloween at Zoos
Halloween at Family Resorts

• lodging starts at $249 a night for a garden-view room (compared to non-package “best available rate” of $199)   
• daily breakfast buffet (normally $25 x 2 adults + $12 x 2 kids ages 3-12 x 3 days = $222)
• admission for four to Coquí Water Park (normally $20 x 2 adults + $15 x 2 kids ages 3-12 = $70 for a family of four)
• airport transfers to and from airport for four (normally $37/person x 4 people x 2 trips = $296)

The Coquí Water Park Package is available year-round with a minimum three-night stay. Click the Coquí Park box on the reservations page if you book online, or call 888/543-1230. Note: Prices not include El Conquistador's flat 14% resort charge.

If you're interested, you need to book by September 25.  Better yet, book by September 19 and get one free child’s SpongeBob Squarepants character breakfast for every adult breakfast purchased. 

It may still be brrrrrisk and wintry in Milwaukee, but the Hilton Milwaukee City Center hotel is offering a family package that promises to thaw your chilled bones. The  Frosty Flick Promotion includes admission to Paradise Landing, the hotel's 20,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, which features four three-story waterslides and a special section for toddlers and preschoolers. Best of all, the temperature is always a downright balmy 84 degrees.

The package starts at $129 a night plus 14.60% ($19) in taxes and includes : 

• Your accommodations 
• Up to five passes to Paradise Landing, good from 2pm on your arrival day until noon the next day. Since day passes normally cost $18 per person, this element alone is worth $36 per person—or $180 for a family of five.
• One in-room movie 
• 25 game tokens for arcade inside Paradise Landing

Indoor waterpark resorts continue to make a huge splash all over the country, and Tennessee's Smoky Mountains is the latest destination to jump onboard the trend. Wilderness at the Smokies Resort, in Sevierville, Tennessee, is opening a brand new 60,000-square-foot Wild WaterDome Indoor Waterpark on December 19. To celebrate, the resort is offering a special grand opening rate at $150 below normal on reservations for December 19 and beyond. There is a two-night minimum and certain blackout dates apply.

Some of the highlights of the waterpark include a Surf Rider, wave pool, interactive play area with body slides and tipping bucket, and four-person thrill tube ride that shoots riders through a funnel.

Nickelodeon Family Suites, the joint venture between Nickelodeon and Holiday Inn, is a really fun place (see our review). Since the family magnet opened in Orlando in 2005, there's just been one way to enjoy the giant waterpark with 13 waterslides, Nick-themed entertainment, interactive shows, brand new "4-D Experience," and character-laden exploits: You had to get a room.

But now you and your kids can experience "the best day ever" without having to pay for a stay. For the first time, the Nick Hotel is opening up access during the off-season by allowing non-guests to buy one of two day passes:

• The Character Breakfast Day Pass begins with a character breakfast then gives you access to the resort, except for the waterpark. Available Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm. ($12.95-per-vehicle parking, plus $25.08/person 13 and up, $13.76/child 3-12; free for kids 2 and under)
  
• The All Access Day Pass gives you access to the entire resort, including the waterpark, but no breakfast. Available Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm. ($12.95-per-vehicle parking, plus $19.95/person 13 and up, $9.95/child 3-12; free for kids 2 and under)

Note that this promo is being tested, so the parameters could change. For now, note that day passes are available weekdays only, through November 21.

One downside is the potential for big crowds. According to a spokesperson, the hotel is going to gauge the response to the day passes before deciding whether to cap the number of non-guests allowed in per day. That's a bummer for paying guests, who up until now could look forward to short lines at the waterslides and other attractions since crowds were effectively limited by hotel capacity.

Silver Mountain Resort is a year-round resort in Kellogg, Idaho, located 70 miles east of Spokane and 30 miles east of Coeur d'Alene. In the winter, families can go skiing, snowboarding, and tubing, while popular summer activities include chairlift-assisted mountain biking and hiking and geocaching. But this summer, the big buzz has been all about the brand new, giant indoor waterpark where the temperature is always a balmy 84 degrees. Silver Rapids Waterpark has a lazy river, multi-activity pool, family raft ride, several single and double tube rides, dozens of interactive waterplay features, a gigantic tipping bucket, and a FlowRider surfing machine. From now through September 30, the End of Summer Sale offers a stay-and-play package starting at $149 a night for family of four. For each night at the Morning Star Lodge, you get two days of admission to the waterpark.