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!

Even without a package, spring is a great time to visit The Broadmoor, since rates are about 50% less than you'd encounter during the summer peak period. The Spring Break Getaway starts at $170 a night for a standard room, and includes free meals for kids and other discounts.

• Accommodations (usually $180/night this time of year)
  
• Kids under 10 eat free ($42/day x 2 kids = $84 value)
• 50% off adult admission to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (50% of $14.25/adult x 2 adults = $14.25 value)
• 15% off select retail
• Free “serenity shower” or tub soak at the spa when you spend at least $100 on other services ($35 if bought on its own, or $15 if you bought with another spa service)

Most of these perks amount to window dressing, since they come at a cost. To take advantage of the retail and spa discounts, for example, you'll need to spend quite a bit to save a little. After the 50% discount on adult zoo tickets, a family of four will spend $28.75 on admission and save $14.25.

The big savings comes from the free kids' meals. Items on the kids’ menu at the hotel's half-dozen particpating restaurants range from $8.50 to $21 per entree,  and the daily breakfast buffet for kids ages 4 to 10 is $12.

For a three-night stay booked without the package, a family of four would normally spend $540 on the room; $252 on kids' meals (if they ate every meal at the hotel); and $43 on zoo tickets (if they desired). The total comes to $835, before adding in adult meals, taxes, and so on.

If the same family booked a three-night stay with the package, their spend would come to $510 for the room and kids' meals plus $28.75 for zoo tickets. The total comes to $538.75, before adult meals and taxes. This translates to a hefty 35% in savings.

Deal or no deal?  This is a good deal from the get-go, since the package price beats the regular room rate by ten bucks. But it's those free kids' meals that really make this special a super deal.

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.

Lots of ski resorts promise free lift tickets for kids, but as we preach over and over, you always have to do the math to see if "free" really means free. Keystone Resort  in Colorado is offering a Kids Ski Free  package through April. Here’s how it works: Book a package that includes four weeknights of lodging in a two-bedroom condo and three-day adult lift tickets, and you'll get free lift tickets for kids 12 and under (one child per paying adult). The resort advertises that packages start at $229 a night, though that package rate goes up after February 11. When we test-booked the package for a late-January trip, here’s how it broke down:

• 4 nights lodging in a 2–bedroom condo at Evergreen Condos (normally $183/night x 4 nights = $732)
• 3-day lift tickets (for our dates, normally $231/adult x 2 + $111/child x 2= $684 for a family of four)

Deal or no deal? Alas, the kids aren't really skiing for free—the package just hikes up your lodging price to essentially cover the cost of the kids' lift tickets.  So forget the package. Your best bet would be to book a one-bedroom condo, which typically offer ample space for a family of four and a sofabed for the kids. For the dates we tested, one-bedroom condos ran $143 a night—which would bring your total spend for lodging and lift tickets to $1,256. That's 9% cheaper than booking the package, and 11% cheaper than booking a two-bedroom stay on your own.

No doubt about it, Keystone is laying on the kid-friendly fun this winter. The resort is hosting five different weeks of “Kidtopia,” during which you'll find a long list of activities (many free), such as “disco tubing,” glowstick ski parades down the mountain, live music, and sessions of arts and crafts. If you visit after February19, kids can explore the new Ultimate Snow Fort, which will feature a snow dragon, drawbridge, and lookout tower. And to sweeten the pot for any dates, Keystone will also toss in a free Adventure Passport, which gets you freebies or discounts on activities such as snowbiking, ice skating, sleigh rides, snowshoe tours and—especially nice for the parents—yoga classes and margarita, wine, or martini tastings.

The Kids Ski Free package is available now through April. Kidtopia dates are February 11-16 and 18-21, March 15-21, and April 1-6. Use the link when booking online, or mention Kids Ski Free when calling 888/222-9285.

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.

Hunting for a great deal on a ski trip? Colorado resort Steamboat Springs' 96-hour Free Night, Free Day sale ends tomorrow, Friday, January 15. Not only does the resort have a great reputation for kids’ ski programs—including five kids-only lifts and two magic-carpet lifts—but this deal put a nice dent in the price of a family trip.

Here’s how it works: Buy three nights at one of the resort’s lodging options (which includes many family-friendly condos) and you get one free night—a 25% savings. Next, buy two days’ worth of lift tickets and you'll get a free day for each paying adult—a 33% savings for two adults.  You can also score 20% off ski rentals, and the resort’s booking engine promises great airfares, too.

When we punched in some early-February dates, the savings added up quickly. Lodging at Storm Meadows at Christie Base condos, for example, runs $205 a night for a one- bedroom, one-bath unit with full kitchen, fireplace and balcony (and a location less than 400 yards from the slopes). When you factor in the free night, it worked out to $656, including taxes, for a four-night stay. The free day of lift tickets for two adults shaves off $200, or 23% of your lift ticket spend, bringing your total down to $688 ($346 x 2 adults + $342 x 2 kids). Combine lodging and lift tickets and a four-day trip comes to $1,457 with tax, down from about $1,800—for an overall savings of about 20%.

But wait, there's more. The biggest score comes when you add in airfare, thanks to Steamboat's ongoing "kids fly free" offer. When we test-booked four roundtrip air tickets from LAX using the Steamboat engine, our total came to $844 for a family of four ($422 x 2 adults + 2 free kids). When we test-booked the same flights on Orbitz, our price came to $1,440. In this case, booking flights through Steamboat delivered a whopping 40% in savings.

This package is available for travel through March 11. You can book this deal online using the deal’s link, or call 877/783-2628 and mention the "Free Night, Free Day" deal.

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.  

Set on a butte just outside the town of Jackson, the 1,000-acre Spring Creek Ranch has an elegantly rustic vibe and stellar views of the Teton Mountains. It also affords great access to all the winter sports available in Jackson Hole this time of year, such as skiing, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, ice skating, dogsledding, and a unique add-on: a four-hour Wildife safari where you’ll have opportunities to see bison, moose, elk and antelope up close. The resort's condos feature full kitchens, fireplaces, a patio or balcony and Internet access.

During the entire month of January, Spring Creek Ranch is running a "Double Your Pleasure" special that seems tailor-made for the family of four. When you book five nights in a two-bedroom condo plus three days of lift tickets, the resort kicks in a slew of buy-two-get-two extras and some completely free bonuses.

The base components include:

• Five-night stay in a two-bedroom condo ($415/night in January x 5 nights = $2,075)
• Three days of lift tickets ($290/day for a family of four x 3 days = $870)

Buy-two-get-two components include:

• Four airline tickets to Jackson Hole for the price of two (limit of $500/ticket, so worth up to $1,000)
• Four dinner entrées for price of two at The Granary on-site restaurant (worth $17 x 2 entrées = $34)
• Four 60-minute Rocky Mountain Relaxation massages for price of two (regularly $60 x 2 = $120)
• Four 4-hour wildlife safaris for price of two (normally $115/adult and $85/child, so two free tickets worth $200)
  

• Breakfast for four daily at The Granary restaurant (worth $50/day x 5 days = $250) 
• Shuttle service to and from town and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
 (always free)

Deal or no deal? This package delivers both added value and added fun with a combination of full-price, half-price, and free elements. If you booked all the package's components independently, you would pay $5,903 (assuming your airfare cost $500/person). The package comes in at $4,299, or 27% off the non-package price.

The full-price elements of the package (lodging and lift tickets) come to $2,945. The lion's share of the savings comes from the buy-two-get-two elements. The catch here is that you have to spend to save, so consider those components as wiggle room. If, for example, you forego the massages, you could lower your final bill by another $120. Likewise, if you can find airfares for less than $500, you'll lower your final bill by the difference.

This offer is available between January 3  and January  31, 2010. It is only available by phone. Call 888/838-6606 and ask for the “Spring Creek Ranch Double Your Pleasure Package.”

We know how much our readers love our fabulous giveaways, and our latest prize is a doozy. One lucky family will  win a four-night stay at the one and only Nickelodeon Suites Resort in Orlando, Florida (see our review), where families are guaranteed the slime of their lives.

The Nick Hotel features two water parks with heated pools, 13 slides and flumes, interactive water towers, poolside games and activities, private cabanas, and daily poolside shows featuring Nick’s famous green slime. Guests can experience the high energy of nightly shows in the million-dollar Studio Nick, get a temporary tattoo at the Kid’s Spa, catch a film at the 4-D Experience theater, play video games in the arcade, enjoy arts and crafts in the Nick Workshop, and attend themed parties. The resort also features The Mall, with its two restaurants, food court, convenience store and souvenir shop. Kids can meet favorite Nickelodeon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer at the daily character breakfast in Nicktoons Café.

For a chance to win a getaway at the Nick Hotel for your family, just fill out the form on the giveaway page. You can enter once a day through January 11, 2010. Good luck!