Set on 20 lushly landscaped acres along a spectacular seven-mile stretch of beach, the resort offers a wide array of fun activities for the whole family. Take your pick of five heated pools, explore the grounds by paddleboat along a meandering river, or head to the white-sand beach for water sports and a ride down a giant inflatable waterslide. You can play tennis, have a round of mini golf, take in a dive-in movie, or simply kick back in a cabana or hammock and sip your umbrella drink. Then let the kids play at the supervised KONK Club while you enjoy a massage or a romantic dinner.

For a chance to win a beach escape at TradeWinds Island Grand Resort for your family, just fill out the form on the giveaway page. You can enter once a day through March 16, 2010. Good luck!

Need a rental car for Presidents' Day weekend—or any other weekend through May?  Enterprise Rent-A-Car is running a 50%-Off Special for weekend rentals through May 21. The deal applies to three- to five-day rentals and on cars ranging from economy to full size—though alas, no super-kid-friendly SUVs or minivans. The only real drawback we see is that the deal doesn’t apply to any airport locations.

When we checked in San Diego, the deal was available at most area locations, including tourist-friendly Old Town. And it's hard to argue with the savings. For the upcoming Presidents' Day weekend, a full-size car was going for a regular rate of $43 a day at one of San Diego’s downtown locations, but only $20 a day in Old Town, a short trolley ride away.

To book the deal, start on the specials page, punch in your city and dates, and look for the orange “special” button next to participating locations. The discount is good through May 21, and doesn’t apply to charges such as taxes or the damage waiver.

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.

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.

Named one of the “Best Resorts for Family Reunions” by TravelandLeisure.com, Skytop Lodge is a destination resort offering something for every member of the family. For a chance to win a winter escape at Skytop Lodge for your family, just fill out the form on the giveaway page. You can enter once a day through February 15, 2010. Good luck!

This winter is turning out to be a great time for a weekend getaway, thanks to big sales at two of the largest hotel chains. Last week we posted about Hilton's mega January sale, which offers winter weekend savings of up to 33% across its chains. 

Now Marriott has stepped up to the plate with a  Global Rate Break promo that lets you save 20% on weekend rates stay at many of its hotels—and claims to up the ante to a 40% discount at a few resorts. The deal applies to various Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Fairfield, SpringHill, Residence Inn, and TownPlace Suites hotels all over the world. 

We checked rates at several properties and found that, indeed, the deal typically delivers a 20% price cut. At Desert Springs, the JW Marriott in the Palm Springs area with requisite pool, lawn games and kids club, we found rates of $327 a night for a room with two beds and a balcony—down from the desert’s high season rate of $409. In Hawaii, the deal offered up the Kauai Marriott  for just $194 a night, down from $240.

But don’t get your hopes too high on the 40%-off lure that's said to be available at select resorts in the Caribbean, Latin America and Hawaii. When we test-booked a stay at a handful of properties for a February weekend getaway, we couldn’t find any availability at the 40%-off rate.  More commonly, we found that this deal led to a 20% discount.

The sale applies to weekend stays (Thursday to Sunday), and some hotels require a two-night minimum. You must book by January 22 and complete your stay by March 21. Use promo code F5X when booking online.

While the Mondrian Scottsdale's uber-contemporary vibe might not automatically seem kid-friendly, its all-white lobby with the imaginary baobab tree reaching to the ceiling is actually the kind of thing kids like and remember. Plus, it’s hard to argue with a nice pool (and, for older kids, the free wi-fi). Meanwhile,  the hotel is close to Scottsdale’s Civic Center Mall, which often plays host to festivals and has a swan-filled lagoon, a spray-area for kids, and a nice amphiteater.

When we checked some nights in early February, the deal offered up a rate of $157 a night for a garden-view room with two double beds—indeed, a tidy 25% less than the regular rate of $210. The free wi-fi would otherwise cost  $10 a day, adding value of $20 more for a two-night stay.

The deal is good for travel through March 31 and does not include taxes, service charges, or resort fees. As usual, blackout dates may apply. Use promo code SPCONN when booking  online, or mention it when booking by phone at 800/697 1791.

This sale delivers tons of weekend destination options for traveling families. Want a city break? Consider Hilton properties in San Diego (the Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa is just one mile from SeaWorld), Boston’s super-convenient Back Bay neighborhood, or the family-friendly Doubletree Guest Suites in Washington DC. 

Hoping to escape the cold? At the Hilton Longboat Key Beachfront Resort, the January Sale offers nightly rates starting at $288 for a double room on February weekend.  By comparison, the resort's best available bed-and-breakfast rate for that stay is $429 per night—which does indeed translate to 33% off your bill.

You must book before January 31, but you can travel anytime before December 26. As always, there are some blackout dates and other restrictions. The sale rates are pre-payable and non-refundable, so you should be confident of your travel dates before booking.  

'Tis the season for snagging luxury. We recently posted about a 3rd-night-free deal at New York City's posh Carlyle Hotel. Now the Carlyle has joined 14 other celebrated hotels in Manhattan in a luxury-for-less promotion.  The Signature Collection Third Night deal is straightforward: Stay for two consecutive nights between January 4 and February 28, 2010, and receive a third night free. As a bonus, Saks Fifth Avenue is kicking in a "VIP Shopping Experience," including a personal-shopping session and free coffee and dessert at the store's cafe.  Participating hotels include The New York Palace, Mandarin Oriental New York, The St. Regis New York, and The Pierre.

With nightly rates at these hotels starting well north of $500, getting one free night means significant savings. At the Palace, for example, a Friday night stay starts at $726, and your three-night stay would cost $1,452 instead of $2,178.  Note: At some properties, the deal is restricted to certain room categories.