The Inns and Spa at Mill Falls, New Hampshire Offer Two-For-One Specials Throughout January

The Inns and Spa at Mill Falls, a collection of six properties including four inns and two cottages located in Meredith, New Hampshire, on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, are offering a Two-for-One special throughout January, when guests can reserve two consecutive nights, Sunday – Friday (excluding 1/15 & 1/27) and only pay for one.

Guests also receive two $25 credits towards a full massage or facial at the Inns’ world-class Cascade Spa. The special also includes two-for-one breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees at participating restaurants per day, and a coupon book to 12 boutiques in the Mill Falls Market Place.

January also happens to be Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month in New Hampshire, and there’s plenty of skiing near Meredith. January 7-12 is Ski NH’s Learn to Ski & Snowboard Free Week, where first-time skiers and snowboarders receive a free learn to ski or snowboard lesson, free equipment rentals and a free beginner terrain lift ticket. Participants must register with Ski NH to download a Learn to Ski & Ride Free coupon then make a reservation with one of several participating resorts, including Waterville Valley and Gunstock Mountain Resort. Registration begins on January 2 and is first-come, first-served.

Full Moon Snowshoe Walks are offered every winter at Prescott Farm in Laconia – this year, on Wednesday, January 19^th from 7-8pm. Environmental educators will guide visitors on an hour-long walk along one of Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center trails, encouraging visitors to use their senses to explore the area in a different way. Participants will learn to identify several constellations in the night sky and discuss the habits of nocturnal animals.

After a day or evening of skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing, visitors may want to check out Deals After Dark at the Tanger Outlets in Tilton. Starting January 10^th through February 28^th, between 5 and 8pm, shoppers will be rewarded with deeper discounts.

Topping off a perfect day of skiing and shopping, Giuseppe’s Pizzeria & Ristorante’ is one of the Lakes Region’s most loved since 1989. Known for being “Very Musical, Very Italian & Very Good!” this full service restaurant offers nightly musical entertainment along with award-winning pizza, pasta, seafood, steak, chicken, vegetarian, gluten-free and more.

Gift certificates are available for lodging and the Cascade Spa (at church Landing). Pet friendly rooms and a wellness room are also available

The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls, 312 Daniel Webster Highway , Meredith, NH 03253    800-622-6455, http://millfalls.com/inns/index.htm.

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Loews Hotels Pampers Pets With New ‘Woofie Weekends’ Package

Loews Loves Pets wants four-legged guests to relax and rejuvenate with the “Woofie Weekends” package featuring the new Microdry Memory Foam Ultimate Luxury Pet Mat.

NEW YORK (February 14, 2011) –

Loews Loves Pets wants four-legged guests to relax and rejuvenate with the “Woofie Weekends” package featuring the new Microdry Memory Foam Ultimate Luxury Pet Mat. 

Available now through April 30, 2011, the “Woofie Weekends” pet package features a one-night stay for you and your BFF (Best Furry Friend), a “Wag Your Tail Delight” meal delivered to your room, $25 pet cleaning fee waived, and a luxurious Microdry memory foam mat for your pet to use during their stay and for you to take home.  This super-soft mat features a ½ inch of memory foam to provide contoured support and help retain body warmth for enhanced coziness.

Since the start of the Loews Loves Pets program 11 years ago, many VIPs (Very Important Pets) have made Loews Hotels their home away from home, enjoying the special treatment and privileges that are offered at all our properties.  As part of the program, each visiting VIP can travel in first-class comfort with gourmet room service, specialized bedding, a pet amenity and guest services designed to make pets and their owners feel right at home.

The “Woofie Weekends” package is subject to availability at all Loews Hotels in the U.S. and Canada with rates starting at $134.  For more information or to book, call 800-23-LOEWS or visit www.loewshotels.com.

About Loews Hotels

Headquartered in New York City, Loews Hotels owns and/or operates 18 hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada, including the newest 414-room Loews Atlanta Hotel opened April 1, 2010.  Located in major city centers and resort destinations from coast to coast, the Loews portfolio features one-of-a-kind properties that go beyond Four Diamond standards to delight guests with a supremely comfortable, uniquely local and vibrant travel experience.  Loews boasts some of the industry’s most innovative and successful travel programs, including Loews Loves Kids for families and Loews Loves Pets for discerning animals on the road.  For reservations or more information on Loews Hotels, call 1-800-23-LOEWS or check www.loewshotels.com. 

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Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach is Perfect Getaway

Picture postcard perfect place: the Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach © 2010 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

If ever you wanted a place to get away from it all, to an oasis of simple pleasures, visually pleasing, perfectly relaxing, laid-back, the Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast is the place.

It’s 1950s retro done with a hip flare. Kitschy and clever, and aesthetically marvelous – it’s amazing what design can do to create an atmosphere. Shapes, lights, colors – a chandelier is made from rope and sailors’ knots; painted skateboards and buggie boards provide the decoration, vintage lamps, 1950s photos of beach, a giant photo of waves breaking on the surf covers the entire wall..There is whimsy and humor which makes you smile a lot.

The Postcard Inn on St Pete Beach is 1950s retro combined with modern flare with a feel-good result © 2010 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Postcard Inn occupies prime beachfront in St. Pete Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast – you can walk for miles along the beach, or float in the warm, green waters of the Gulf, very likely a dolphin or two not too far away.

In addition to the Olympic-sized swimming pool (heated if necessary), there is a kiddie pool, two well-outfitted fitness rooms, a pool table and a ping-pong table, arcade room, beach volleyball court, and central garden areas where you can lounge in Adirondack-style chairs under the trees as music emanates from speakers.

The Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach is designed for relaxation © 2010 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

There is WiFi throughout; the rooms have flat-screen TVs; the rooms have views of pool, or Gulf, or garden.

You can go for a swim in the Olympic-size pool in the morning or take a walk or a dip in the Gulf, before hopping on a trolley-style bus, to ride into downtown St. Petersburg in air-conditioned comfort, to enjoy the plethora of cultural and heritage attractions, including the Dali Museum, the newly opened Chihuly Collection, the Holocaust Museum, the Fine Arts Museum to list but a few (all linked with a charming system of trolley buses, the downtown ones offer a narrated commentary), then return to the Inn in time to linger on the sand beach, float in the warm Gulf waters (perhaps to see a pod of dolphins swim by, or pelicans diving for fish).

The trolley also goes to south to Passe-a-Grille, an absolutely charming beach village with the prettiest parcel of beach on the island, and north into Clearwater, hitting all the other beaches along the way.

For more ambitious exploring, you can visit Fort DeSoto or go kayaking at Weedon Preserve (rent from Sweetwaters Kayaks, 727-570-4844; www.sweetwaterkayaks.com).

In the evening, you might cross the street to the Cockney Rebel Pub where there is karaoke Friday-Sunday.

The Postcard Inn (the former Travelodge that was the first motel here in 1958)  is as casual as a motel, as swank as a boutique hotel, with the charm and personal attention of an inn – including a marvelous continental breakfast.

It also offers the Wildwood BBQ – a casual restaurant that brings BBQ to new culinary heights, specializing in multiple regional variations including Memphis-style, Carolina-style, St. Louis-style spare and baby-back ribs, dry-rubbed or wet, plus the most sensational nachos and skillet cornbread, as well as fish-of-the-day, burgers, sandwiches and salads, presided over by NYC’s Executive Pitmaster “Big” Lou DElrose. The bar is known for its Pina Coladas, Rum Runners and selection of Bourbon.

There is also a Beach Bar where there is live music, a snack shack, and a banquet room accommodating up to 150 people, as well as catered beach functions for as many as 750.

The restaurants and the inn, itself, is managed by BR Guest, which has more than a dozen restaurants in New York City (Blue Fin, Ruby Foos), plus two in Las Vegas, but this is its first in Florida.

The Postcard Inn is a partnership between BR Guest and Starwood Capital Group (we hear they are talking about another Postcard Inn in Key West, Las Vegas or California).

Rates are affordable: $99 in the summer, $189 at the height of tourist season.

For all the right reasons – charm, services, amenities, affordability/value, location – the Postcard Inn on the Beach is  becoming a wedding destination, and is superb family reunion place (they even accommodate pets, 50 lbs. or less, for a $50 pet fee per stay).

Locals can take advantage of its “staycation” deals – special discounts for Florida residents, and a day rate (half the regular rate), enabling you to rent a room up until 5 pm., to use while you are at the beach and enjoying the hotel’s amenities.

In another nice touch, there are vintage-looking postcards which they are happy to post for you.

Here’s mine:

Dear Family: The Postcard Inn is picture-postcard perfect. Wish you were here.

Postcard Inn on the Beach, 6300 Gulf Blvd, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706, 727-367-2711 main line, 800-237-8918 reservations, 727-369-4950 Wildwood, www.postcardinn.com.

See more of our coverage at www.travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

–Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate

Pet Care Resort Opens at Walt Disney World

Pet lovers visiting Walt Disney World Resort can now plan to board the family pet in fun, luxurious new accommodations. Reservations are being accepted for pet boarding stays beginning Aug. 27, 2010, for the new Best Friends Pet Care Resort.

The one-of-a-kind resort comprises more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, including 17,000 square feet of air-conditioned indoor space, 10,000 square feet of covered outdoor runs and play areas, and an expansive private dog park exclusively for the use of pet resort clients and their dogs.

The facility will accommodate up to 270 dogs and 30 cats for both daytime and overnight boarding. A wide selection of suite choices for dogs includes air-conditioned indoor rooms, 48-square-foot indoor-outdoor suites, and four expansive VIP (very important pet) suites with television, raised bedding and private outdoor yards.
Feline guests will spend their visit in the separate “Kitty City” pavilion – away from the dogs – in two- and four-room condos.  All suites and condos are designed to provide comfort and privacy and will be cleaned daily with hospital-grade disinfectants.

The pet resort is operated by Best Friends Pet Care (www.bestfriendspetcare.com).

“Best Friends has long been the industry leader for boarding, and this will be our crown jewel. We’ve taken the ‘best of breed’ in every category to create the perfect environment for pets,” said Dennis Dolan, president and CEO of Best Friends Pet Care. “Our goal is to ensure that pets staying with us have a fun, action-packed vacation – just like their families vacationing at Walt Disney World.”

The resort’s exclusive dog park features a fenced walking trail bordering the natural wetlands around the park. Inside the trail, guests can choose from a variety of different play areas, including a 3,300-square-foot area covered in artificial turf, a 4,500-square-foot area with shade trees and a 1,300-square-foot “canines only” water park. There are several large areas for owners to sit, relax and watch their dogs play.   The entire park is secured from outsiders and is illuminated for use after dark.

Other features of the resort include: a grooming salon, which will provide go-home-fresh baths and haircuts for pets; two 1,100-square-foot “camp rooms” for play group and doggy day camp, each opening onto an outdoor play-yard; and a special facility for the boarding of “pocket pets,” such as hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits and ferrets.

Pet parents can choose from a wide range of a la carte activities for pet guests from one-on-one playtimes and social playgroup with other doggy guests, to cuddle time and bedtime stories with staff. Additional amenities and upgrades include Ice Cream Treats, Bottled Water and Premium/Orthopedic Bedding.

Feline guests can also enjoy private playtimes, activity toys in their suites and treats such as Cookies and Milk or Tuna on a Ritz.

The pet resort is located across from Disney’s Port Orleans Resort at 2510 Bonnet Creek Parkway in Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830.  Pricing and other details are available at wdw.bestfriendspetcare.com or by calling 877/4-WDW-PETS.

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