Nabbing a free night at any hotel can be a great deal. Nabbing a free night at a luxury hotel is arguably better, because those per-night savings can run into the hundreds of dollars. Take the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, a bastion of understated luxury located on a quiet expanse of beach in one of Florida's toniest communities.

For stays through April 3, the resort is running a  Stay Longer,Third Night Free offer that translates to a 33% discount on a three-night stay. Since nightly rates for a moderate garden-view room start at $479, that’s no small savings. More good news: The offer is good for all room categories, so the higher you go, the more you save. A three-night stay in an ocean-view room with two double beds (normally $679 a night) will cost $1,358 instead of $2,037. If you're up for a splurge, this is a fantastic way to get it for less. Want even more good news? There is no limit to the number of free nights you can get. Book a six-night stay, and you'll get two nights free—still a 33% discount, with savings potentially reaching four digits.

The resort's 210 guest rooms boast private balconies and marble bathrooms. The pool is staffed by attendants at the ready with towels, lemon water, popsicles, chilled face cloths, Evian spritz and fresh-cut fruit.  There’s an 11,000-square-foot spa and tennis courts—not to mention a multilingual concierge who can arrange for you to go deep sea fishing, sailing, snorkeling or horseback riding on the beach. Does it sound like you'll be reaching into your wallet all day? Not true. Four Seasons offers an impressive line-up of complimentary services and activities, including a 24-hour fitness facility, yoga classes, full-day children’s program, and dining for kids ages 5 and under in The Ocean Bistro. For the duration of the third-night-free offer, the resort is hosting special “spring break” activities, including baseball-themed evenings with ballpark fare and baseball-related games and entertainment.  The sports theme continues on the weekends with supervised, family-friendly games on the beach such as flag football, ring toss and softball. 

With the Sandestin's “Spring to the Beach” promotion, you get a fourth night free when you pay for three. When we test-booked a four-night stay in April, we were pleased to see that the promo rates (starting at $96.75 a night) are identical to the resort's regular rates. (This is important, since resorts often jack up the nightly rate on a promotion to recoup some of the cost of the "free" night. Not the case here.) More good news: The deal delivers a 25% savings across the board, so you could also nab a two-bedroom beachfront condo for $232 a night (instead of $309) or a two-bedroom golfcourse townhome for $180 a night (instead of $239).

We test-booked this offer for a family of two adults and two kids between 3 and 9 years old on a late-April stay at the Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal. The package includes:

• Five nights in standard double (worth $174/night x 5 nights = $870)
• Four four-day base tickets to to the two Universal Orlando theme parks, valid for one park per day  ($134.99 x 2 adults + $117.99 x 2 kids = $506)
• CityWalk Party Pass ($11.99 x 4 people = $48)
• Scheduled shuttle transportation between hotel and Universal Orlando (always free to hotel guests)
• Early admission to Islands of Adventure theme park (normally available to guests at higher-priced on-site hotels)

If booking these components independently, a family of four would pay a total of $1424, or $356 per person. By comparison, the package price for this stay comes to $905, for a savings of $519 and a hefty 37% discount. It works out to just $226 per person, which actually beats the advertised starting price by $28 per person. 

Deal or no deal? Muggles, rejoice! This is a great deal for the hotel we tested. Note, however, that the amount you save will depend on your travel dates and the hotel you select.

Book by March 31. As usual, some blackout dates and other restrictions apply.

Area hotels are getting in on the birthday action, too. Chateau on the Lake Resort is a 301-room resort set on an Ozark mountaintop overlooking Table Rock Lake, just ten minutes from Branson’s attractions. The resort rolls out the red carpet for active families with tennis courts, nature trails, indoor and outdoor pools and a line-up of water recreation from jet skis and paddle boats to snorkeling and scuba.

With the resort's two-pronged “Spring Break March Madness” package, families can choose the deal that works best for them.  Looking for room to spread out? Pick the "Family Suite Deal," which gets you 25% off the nightly rate for a 518-square-foot, one-bedroom Ambassador Suite.  When we test-booked a late-March weekend, the nightly package rate for a lakeview suite was $224.25, which is indeed a 25% discount off the regular rate of $299 a night.  If you'd prefer to have two separate rooms, go for the "Family Plan," which gives you 50% off a second standard room when you book one room at the regular rate ($179 for the dates we checked). The Family Plan also translates to a 25% savings on your lodging total. 

Both options include nightly movies in the resort’s Sassafras Theatre, and kids 5 and under eat free from the kids' menu in the Atrium Café when accompanied by an adult. Both packages are available for stays from March 12 to April 4. Call 888/333-5253 to book. 

More good news: To get your attention, the hotel has put a very nice introductory offer on the table. Stay before April 30, and you can snag a nice 15% introductory discount plus a $50 daily resort credit that can be used toward any on-site activity, including dining, Camp Hyatt, and spa treatments.  When we test-booked a weekend stay in late February, the intro rate for a premium room with two queen beds came in at $305 a night, which is indeed 15% less than the regular rate of $359.  But the real sweetener here is that resort credit, which will cover the Hyatt’s $15-a-day resort fee and leave you with $35 to spend as you like. 

The Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau has put together a winter Whale Watching package that includes two nights of lodging at one of 20 participating hotels, tickets for a whale-watching cruise, plus admission to the Virginia Aquarium and tickets to a film at its IMAX theater. Prices start at $83 per person, but can go higher depending on which hotel you choose.  To find out if this package is a good deal for families, we crunched the numbers on a two-night March weekend stay for a family of two adults and two kids under 12 at the Courtyard by Marriott, one of the participating hotels.

The package includes:

• Two-night stay in a double room (worth $159/night x 2 nights = $318)
• Four tickets to two-hour whale-watching cruise (normally $28/adult x 2 + $24/child x 2  = $104)
• Four tickets to Virginia Aquarium (valued at $17/adult x 2 + $12/child x 2 = $58)
• Four tickets to IMAX film at the aquarium (worth $8.50/adult x 2 + $7.50/child x 2  = $32)

If you booked these elements on your own, you would pay $512 for a two-night stay at the Courtyard by Marriott in March.  The package price works out to $97 per person, so a family of four would pay $388. This translates to a savings of almost 25%. 

It's worth noting that there are plenty of variables with this offer and the savings is different for every property.  For example, at the Virginia Beach Hotel & Conference Center, the differential between the package and non-package prices works out to just 12%.  In addition, availability differs from hotel to hotel, so it pays to persevere to find a hotel with availability for your desired travel dates.  The promo indicates that breakfast is included at some properties, but that's the case only at hotels where a complimentary breakfast is always provided.

Deal or no deal? Grab your windbreakers and binoculars—it's a deal! Just keep in mind that the savings will vary depending on the property, so do the math and choose your hotel carefully.

The fine print: The promotion runs through March 12, with a minimum stay of two nights. The package must be booked and pre-paid at least three days before the stay, and there's a 72-hour cancellation policy. 

Kingsmill has just put a tempting Early Bird special on the table: Stay for a minimum of two nights before March 15 and you can save 30% off the resort’s best available rates. When we test-booked this offer on a two-night weekend stay in March for a family of two adults and two kids, we landed a nightly rate of $90 for a double room overlooking the resort.  That is, in fact, 30% less than the best available rate of $129 a night for the same room category and travel dates.

Since the discounts apply across all room categories, you save even more when you upgrade. For example, you could snag a two-bedroom suite for $181 a night, 30% less than the regular price of $259.

There are a limited number of rooms available for this deal, so you need book fast.  Call 800/832-5665 and mention promo code EB10. To book online, click the “Corp/Promo Rates” tab and enter the promo code.

Sometimes you have to wonder if marketing folks use a different dictionary.

Wyndham Hotels has a 4th Night Free deal on the table at nearly 50 properties in the US, Caribbean and Mexico, from hustle-and-bustle big city getaways to sun-soaked tropical spots.  We decided to check out this offer at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  This popular resort welcomes families with a kids' club, three freshwater pools, private beach, loads of water activities, and—a natural kid pleaser—daily iguana feedings.

We test-booked this offer for a February four-night stay for a family of two adults and two kids, and found a nightly rate of $485 for a limited-view double room. Once the fourth night is deducted at check-out, your lodging tab would come to $1,455 before the 8% occupancy tax and 10% resort fee. 

Don't get us wrong: Getting a free night and saving $485 on a four-night stay would be undeniably awesome. But there's one little hitch: You can book the exact same four-night stay for the exact same dates in February in the exact same room category for a lot less without this offer. The resort's best-available rate is $205 a night, or a staggering $280 less than the promo rate. Book the best-available rate, and your four-night stay will run $820 before taxes and fees—a whopping $635 less than you'd pay with the fourth-night-free offer.

In this case, freedom's just another word for jacking up the rate. Your defense, as always: Do the math.

By all means, if you and your calculator find a Wyndham property where the fourth night is indeed free, please let us know.

Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is a stunner of a four-season vacation destination, set on 2,000 acres in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania.  It began as a private game reserve in the 1960s, and today welcomes families with golf, skiing, hiking, swimming, tennis, horseback riding, and even a wildlife academy. The resort also has an impressive—and imaginative—line-up of kids activities, including a "Jackson Pollock Experience," where kids dress in protective coveralls and use everything from paintballs to brushes to create their own Pollock-inspired masterpieces. 

This winter, the resort is offering a Family Escape package that includes two nights accommodations, daily resort fees, and an eye-popping $400 amenity credit. As always, we priced out the components of the package to see if it really delivers a deal. Here's what the package includes:

• two-night stay in a lodge double room (normally $329/night x 2 nights = $658)
• resort fees (normally $15/day x 2 days = $30)
• $400 amenity credit 

We test-booked the package for a two-night February weekend stay for a family of four in a lodge double room. The total came to $990, which means the package rate was $495 a night. Importantly, the $400 amenity credit can be spent just about any way you like, even on meals (the only exclusions are lodging and in-room babysitting), which means that your ultimate spend doesn't have to go much higher than $990. 

If you booked the same two-night stay without the package, you’d pay $658 for the room plus $30 in resort fees. To compare apples to apples, we also need to add $400–the value of the amenity credit, which would most likely be spent on meals–for a grand total of $1,088.

Deal or no deal? This package will save you $98 over two days, which translates to a 9% savings.  It's better than nothing, but not what we'd consider an outstanding deal. In effect, the package price has been inflated to wipe out the lion's share of the amenity credit. On the upside, we like that you can spend the $400 amenity credit however you like, even on meals.

The lesson learned? The only way to get past smoke and mirrors is to always do the math.

The Family Escape package is available through April 29 and can be booked online or by calling 866/344-6957.