If you're spending time in Los Angeles around the holidays, you know better than to expect any snow (or even daytime temps below 60). Around the beach town of Redondo Beach, however, you will find plenty of twinkle lights wrapped around the palm trees—and at least one enticing hotel deal. The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club is a 161-room waterfront hotel that has a
pool, firepits, and free bicycles to borrow. Then there's the fab location, with great access to the beach, pier and the sea lions of King Harbor.
Through the holiday season, The Portofino is offering a Play by the Sea/3rd Night Free package. The incentive is built on a sliding scale: Stay one night and you get 10% off, stay two nights and the savings goes up to 20%. Stay three nights and you get one free night plus a $25 credit at the on-site restaurant, Baleen.
Is this the best deal on the table? The Portofino has a few other offers, so we followed our recession travel rule no. 28 and compared the nightly rates for each option. For a late-December stay, here's what we found:
- Play by the Sea/3rd Night Free: The nightly rate is $199. When you factor in the free night, a three-night stay averages out at $132 a night.
- Advanced Purchase rate: A 30%-off non-refundable rate that's available when you book 21 days ahead. This nightly rate is $139—not quite as good as the Play by the Sea deal, of course, especially since you don't get the $25 dining credit.
- Skate & Stay package: The rate includes two tickets to Seaside Ice, a seasonal rink set up right by the beach. Rates start at $212 a night—not a great savings, since two adult skating tickets only go for $28 each. Even after subtracting $56 for two tickets, your daily net rate is still $184 a night.
Note that the Play by the Seal deal works out to only $7 less per night than the hotel's Advance Purchase rate. Also, the $25 dining credit is not per day, but a one-time bonus. When you spread the value of the $25 dining credit over three nights, the deal is only slightly better than the Advance Purchase rate.
The upshot: Don't add a third night to your stay just because it's advertised as free, since you definitely do pay for it. If you want to stay only one or two nights, book the Advance Purchase rate. If you would book three nights anyway, the Play by the Sea deal is good through January 10, 2010. Book online with promo code FALL09 or call 800/468-4292 and mention the deal.
