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!

Today's guest post comes from Amy Whitley, a mom and writer whose blog, Pitstops for Kids, is all about great places to stop with kids on car trips.  She lives in Oregon and shares five of her favorite free things to do with kids in nearby Portland. 

Portland Saturday Market: Located under the Burnside Bridge (SW Ankeny and Naito Pkwy), the Portland Saturday (and Sunday) Market is the place to enjoy the (rare) sunshine, do some peoplewatching, and shop for local treasures in Portland. Open March 6 to December 24, the market showcases every sort of artisan and food vendor in a colorful, fun atmosphere. There's also a stage featuring live entertainment from local bands and performers.

Crown Point Vista House: Built in 1916, Vista House is an observatory and a historic tribute to Oregon's pioneers. Located minutes outside Portland along the Historic Columbia River Highway at the western entrance to the Columbia Gorge, it sits atop Crown Point, 733 feet above the river. (From I-84, take Exit 22 and drive east for three miles.) Kids love exploring the castle-like building, taking in the views (bring binoculars!), and imagining how the river and valleys below them would have looked to Oregon's early explorers and travelers. Open mid-March through October. If you have time, Multnomah Falls is only 8 miles further east, and well worth a visit.

Mt. Tabor Park: Kids love that this park sits on top of a volcano. Located on an extinct volcanic cinder cone (SE 60th and Salmon St), Mt. Tabor Park comprises of almost 200 acres of picnic areas, wooded trails, playgrounds, public art space, and sport courts. Its grassy open spaces and winding paths afford beautiful views of the city. Note: No motor vehicles are allowed in the park on Wednesdays.

Portland Art Museum (PAM): Though perhaps best known for its blockbuster temporary exhibitions, this museum also has a wonderful permanent collection of contemporary and modern art. Kids, it seems, especially love the collection of Native American artifacts. Children 17 and under can always visit for free, but adult admission normally costs $12. The museum is free for everyone on the fourth Friday of each month from 5pm to 8pm, and four Sundays a year for Museum Family Day.

More Oregon with kids:
Land of the Free: 5 fab freebies in Portland
Columbia River Gorgeous! 3 big Northwestern family vacations

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.

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.  

If you're hankering for a getaway over the Christmas break but you've had it with images of sleighs and snowmen, then consider heading to the desert. One Palm Springs hotel is offering  a great pre-New Year’s deal at a huge savings over the usual high-season winter prices.

The Riviera Resort & Spa is having a 50th Anniversary Celebration,  comemmorating its original debut in 1959. Today’s 406-room resort once played host to rat packers such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin and even Elvis himself. Like many great showbiz legends, the “Riv” got a big face lift recently, yet it still exudes a 1950’s-style sleekness and sense of fun.

Now is a great time to check it out. Until December 31, rates start at just $59 for midweek stays (Sunday through Thursday) for a room with one king bed and $118 ($59 more) for a junior suite (one king and one queen-size sleeper sofa). These are great deals, since rates normally start at $269 for the king room and $349 for the junior suite. You can also get mid-century themed deals such as a $59 prix-fixe dinner at its resaurant Circa 1959, or “set-and-style” hairdos in the salon. The only catch: Supposedly only 59 rooms (or about 1 out of 7) are available at this rate. But when we checked online, we easily found availability.

The resort has two pools, a hot tub, tennis courts and a basketball court available for free play. Its SpaTerre even offers spa treatments for both teens and under-12 kids, ranging from $20 to $110 for mani-pedis, facials and even sports massages.

Use the promotional code 1959AN when booking online or mention the 50th Anniversary Celebration when calling 866/588-8311. Rates don’t include taxes or resort fees and, as always, some blackout dates may apply. 

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!

Many folks assume that national parks close for the winter, hibernating with the bears. But California’s Sequoia National Park—known for its giant trees, close cousins of the famed Calfornia Redwoods—offers the combination of low-season bargain rates along with cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sledding near its main lodge. (Located in central California's Sierra Mountains, the park's only downside is that it’s a haul from any major city: six hours from Los Angeles and seven from the Bay Area.) Staying at its Wuksachi Lodge isn't roughing it, either; the 102-room Mission-style lodge is just 10 years old, and has an onsite restuarant and lounge. Rooms feature  TVs, data ports and mini fridges. On weekends, the lodge also offers free yoga classes.

Sequoia is offering a couple of family-friendly package to inspire you to pack your mittens. Its Winter Family Family Fun Package includes:

• lodging at the Wuksachi Lodge (room rates start at $99/night on winter weekends, compared to $285 in the summer)
• free snowshoe rentals for each adult staying in the room, per day of visit (usually a $18/person x 2 adults = $36/day value)
  
• one sled for the kids to keep (a round disc sled, probably worth about $15)

When we checked some weekend dates in January, we found package rates starting at $142 a night, which is only a few dollars cheaper than booking the elements independently.

A better value: The Sequoia Snowshoe Package, which includes free daily snowshoeing for four. After all, kids as young as 2 can quickly get the hang of snowshoeing, and this package starts at $151 a night  for the same January dates we checked. After you factor in the value of the free snowshoeing ($18/person x 4 people = $72 value), this package is about 13% cheaper than booking your room and snowshoe rentals separately. And remember, those winter room rates are a bargain in and of themselves.

The winter packages at Sequoia are valid for travel through April 1, 2010. If booking online, just click on the appropriate package after you enter your travel dates. If booking by phone, call 866/807-3598 and request the package of your choice.