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!

But what if you have your heart set on staying inside Grand Canyon National Park? As luck would have it, Xanterra, the company that operates lodges and dining facilities inside so many of our national parks (and it happens to run the Grand Canyon Railway) is offering a "Spring Breakaway to the Grand Canyon" package that includes lodging at either Maswik Lodge ($165 a night) or Yavapai Lodge East ($150 a night), free sightseeing tours, and other perks. This package includes:

• accommodations at either Yavapai Lodge East or Maswik Lodge North (end-of-March rates are $153 and $170 a night, respectively)
• Sunset or Hermits Rest motorcoach tour of South Rim ($20/adult for Sunset tour; $25/adult for Hermits Rest tour; always free for one child 16 and under per paying adult. Value of $40-$50/day) 
• breakfast for two adults at lodge cafeteria (estimated value of $12 x 2 adults = $24/day)
• discount of 10% to 20% on gift shop purchases
  

Both lodges enjoy stellar locations within a short walk of the canyon's rim, but Yavapai Lodge East seems like an especially convenient choice for families. Each room features a mini refrigerator and the lodge sits adjacent to a handy market plaza with a general store, bank, and post office.

Let's suppose a family of four wanted to book a two-night stay at Yavapai Lodge East and take the two-hour Hermits Rest sightseeing tour of the West Rim one day and the 90-minute Sunset tour of the South Rim on the second day. If booked independently, these elements of the trip would cost $306 for lodging ($153 x 2 nights) plus $90 for the tours ($25 x 2 adults + $20 x 2 adults), for a total of $396. Breakfast for four people will cost about $40 each morning, or $80 over two days—bringing the total for these components to $476.

Meanwhile, if the same family booked their two-day getaway with the Spring Breakaway package, they would spend $300 ($150 x 2 nights) for lodging and sightseeing tours. On top of that, we figure they'd also spend $32 on breakfast ($8/kid x 2 kids x 2 days). Comparing apples to apples, the package spend comes to $332.

Deal or no deal? This offer turns out to be a surprisingly good value. While there's virtually no savings on the hotel portion, the free sightseeing tours and adult breakfasts add up to a respectable 30% in savings for the overall getaway—but only if you take a sightseeing tour each day.

The Spring Breakaway is available from March 5 to 25. Book by phone by calling 888/297-2757 (303/297-2757 from outside US) or book online using promo code SPRING. Travelers should book their choice of motorcoach tour at the same time they book the package. 

The packages focus on stays at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams, Arizona, just east of Flagstaff. The 287-room hotel is next to the train depot and is a short walk from downtown Williams and Route 266; it also has an indoor pool, hot tub, and playground. The roundtrip train ride—using restored railroad cars, some dating back to the 1920s—takes about two hours each way, and gives you about four hours to explore at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim before heading back.  The Railway Express Plus packages are available for one or two nights, with or without meals. They include:

• One or two nights at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel (usually $109/night this time of year)
• Round trip for four on the Grand Canyon Railway ($70/adult x 2 + $40/child under 12 x 2 = $220)
• Optional: Breakfast and dinner buffets at the Grand Depot Café ($92/day)
  
• Entry to the Grand Canyon (usually $16 for four people)

The best deal of all, though is the one-night, no-meals version of this package, which comes to $219 for four. You're basically getting the hotel for free and a dollar shaved off the train tickets to boot—for a true 50% off your total. Note that if you add in the meals, you're paying exactly $92 more—what you'd pay anyway for meals, so there's no savings.

Deal or no deal? No matter which deal you choose, you're guaranteed at least 20% savings. If you want to ramp up to 50% savings, skip the buffets. The meal add-on is not discounted, so opting for the no-buffet version is the way to go. Bonus: You won't be tied to a single eatery, so you can eat where you like.

All versions of this package are good for travel through March 14. You can book online or by calling 800/843-8724 and asking for the Railway Express packages.  Note: There is a strict payment and cancellation policy. You pay in full when you book and can modify your reservation up until the day before you travel, though you may have to pay more if you change to a more expensive date. There is no refund if you cancel within 72 hours.

For most of March and part of April, the resort is tossing out the following spring-training deals:

• Spring Training Survival: One-night package starting at $219 a night, including a $25 resort credit, plus peanuts, bottled water and a hat or banner for the game
• L.A. Dodgers or Chicago White Sox Spring Training: Two-night packages start at $399, including two tickets (worth $56) to a Dodgers or White Sox game

Impressively, these deals hit home runs. When we tested the basic Spring Training package with several travel dates, the package rate compared favorably to a low regular rate of $269. Factor in the $25 resort credit that you’ll probably use for breakfast and the package delivers a 27% savings. Note that this package does not include game tickets.

For the two-night packages, the $399 price tag averages out to $200 a night, which is already significantly lower than the lowest regular rate of $269. Once you factor in the value of the free game tickets, you're looking at a 36% savings on the room plus two tickets. Granted, a family of four would still have to buy two more tickets.

One caveat: We noticed that the last few days of March and April were already booked up at the Wigwam, but the rest of the spring-training season still had a lot of availability at press time.

The packages are good for travel through April 15. If booking by phone, call 623/935-3811 and mention the Spring Training Specials. If booking online, use the following promo codes: 0310STSurvival for the basic Spring Training Package; 0310DodgersST for the Dodgers package; 0310WhiteSoxST for the White Sox package.

If you stay between February 14 and 19 and share the last name of any of our 44 presidents, you can get a room for just $99 a night. (If you need a refresher on those Presidential names—listen up, you Polks, Pierces and Fillmores—check out this White House list.) This is a nice boon for a huge swath of commonly-named folks—so heads up, all you Johnsons, Jacksons, Harrisons,  Tylers, Fords, and Wilsons.

But what if your driver's license says McCain, Kerry, or Willkie? These names—and any other non-Oval Office monikers—will still score a rate between $129 and $179 during the entire month of February. Even for a Dukakis, this is a solid deal, with savings ranging from 28 to 40% compared to starting rates in March ($179) and April ($224). February temperatures in this part of Texas are pretty mild, with typical highs in the 60s.

The 7,000-acre resort—set on the shores  of Lake LBJ, and offering four pools, a kids' club, three golf courses, water sports and even Andy Roddick junior-sized tennis courts—is an easy drive from the first Texan president’s memorial, the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park. (The ranch of No. 43, meanwhile, is a little further away, in Crawford.) Horseshoe Bay even has its own small private airport, if you want to land your own version of Air Force One.

Use promo code HOL when booking online or call 877/611-0112. Assuming you're lacking a Secret Service detail, be prepared to show ID upon check-in to prove you’re a Grant or a Garfield.

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.  

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!