TourCrafters Offers Winter Week in Paris for $1139

Paris is marvelous to visit in winter: You won’t wait in line at the Louvre or Musée d’Orsay, you won’t suffer un-air-conditioned buses and restaurants, and prices are a lot lower.

To take advantage of the lower prices, TourCrafters is offering a land-only Classic Paris in Winter package until March 17 that starts at $1,139 and includes private airport transfers, six nights’ accommodation in a charming 3-star hotel, six breakfasts, one lunch, a sightseeing cruise on the Seine, a 5-day Paris Visite Pass, a 2-day Museum Pass, and a 1-day Hop On Hop Off sightseeing tour.

The Hop On Hop Off bus tour introduces the city’s major sights: the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Opera Garnier, Champs Elysées and Arc de Triomphe; and the Paris Visite Pass provides free public transportation so you can explore the rest of the city on your own. The Museum Pass gives free access to 60-some museums and monuments (including the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay).

One day there’s a cruise on the River Seine in a glass-covered boat, which provides the best views of the city (photographers, get ready!), followed by a typical French 3-course lunch in a riverside café-restaurant.

The $1,139 package includes a room in the charmingly-decorated boutique Hotel Relais Monceau in the fashionable 8^th arrondisement or the trendy modern Standard Design Hotel near the Place de la Bastille. But upgrades are available: The stylish 4-star Concorde Opera Hotel, near the Opera Garnier and the big department stores, costs $1,456, and the luxurious 5-star Hotel du Louvre, steps from the Louvre and Palais Royal, costs $1,668.

All prices are per person, double occupancy and are subject to availability. TourCrafters offers the best transatlantic air fares available at time of booking. For more information, visit http://www.tourcrafters.it/tour.lasso?ID=140.

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Winter Warm Up Rates at Orlando World Center Marriott for holidays through March

The Orlando World Center Marriott warms things up just in time for the holidays with Winter Escape Advance Purchase Rates from only $144 per room, per night now through March 31, 2012. It’s a wonderful world for families to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, while enjoying the best rates of the season.

The family friendly 200-acre playground will be decked out in holiday style with festive and themed events and activities throughout the resort. Cheers to holiday drinks and dining specials in the restaurants. Kids can participate in holiday crafts, or watch their favorite holiday movie classic, before making a splash at the tropical lagoon pool (Voted one of the World’s Coolest Hotel Pools by Forbes) with its 106-foot waterslide, cascading rock waterfalls and grotto, the resort’s hot spot for plenty of cool pool games. The world-class adventure continues with an indoor pool; secluded spa pool; two kid’s wading pools, and six whirlpool spas. Year-round daily poolside activities designed for kids range from face painting to scavenger hunts. They can even build their dream castle in the sand play area. Tennis, water volleyball, basketball, and arcade with pinball, air hockey and ping-pong round out a few of the popular activities. There is something for everyone.

Golf around the world on the 18-hole championship links of Hawk’s Landing Golf Club; take a golf lesson at the Bill Madonna Golf Academy at Hawk’s Landing Golf Club; schedule a soothing treatment at The Spa, or workout at the expansive fitness center.

Embark on a culinary excursion around the world with 10 incredible restaurants and lounges, including the award-winning Hawk’s Landing Steakhouse & Grille and Ristorante Tuscany. Guests can also tempt their palate with Mikado Japanese Steakhouse and Solaris, home to an expansive buffet breakfast, served daily. For those on the go, visit Mangrove Emporium, a full-service indoor food court or grab a Starbucks^® coffee.

The Orlando World Center Marriott is located only 1.5 miles from Walt Disney World^® and just minutes from SeaWorld^® Orlando, Discovery Cove^®, Aquatica™, and Universal Studios^® Orlando. For reservations, call 888-99-World and ask for rate code ADP, or visit www.marriottworldcenter.com.

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VAIL RESORTS’ TOP 10 LIST OF FREE AND EPIC DEALS THIS WINTER

 

Skate for free at Keystone. When you stay at Keystone and book through their central reservations system, you play for free thanks to the Adventure Passport program that gives lodging guests dozens of one-time vouchers for free activities and discounted items like a free yoga class, free snow biking mini-clinic, free ice skating admission and discounted wine tastings, sleigh rides and more © 2010/Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

There’s loads to do at Vail ski resorts that have nothing to do with strapping boards onto your feet and shushing down a mountain:

10. Free nature nights and programs. Think bears hibernate? Think again. Learn the difference between torpor and hibernation and get the dirt on local vegetation and other animals through Beaver Creek’s Ski with a Ranger program (valid lift ticket required), a guided nature program on snow, or Vail’s fireside Nature at Night. They’re free and perfect for the whole family. www.beavercreek.com or www.vail.com

9. Free guided tours. All of our resorts offer free mountain welcome tours for intermediate to advanced levels. Check with a friendly guest service team member or call a concierge to get the details on where and when to meet (or visit www.snow.com). Typically, the tours meet in the morning at the base of the mountain or on top of the mountain (depending on the resort) and last anywhere from an hour to two, during which time you’ll get an overview of the mountain, pick up a few tips from the locals and even learn a bit of history about our resorts and towns.

8. Free rides. You can’t beat the price or the convenience. Plus the free in-town (or in-resort) shuttle systems at Vail, Heavenly, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge have an added bonus – they’re also good for Mother Nature. Leave the car at home and let our drivers navigate our alpine villages, resorts and roads. www.snow.com

7. Rock for free! Between Vail Snow Daze, Vail Holidaze, CarniVail and Spring Back to Vail, there are plenty of opportunities to catch free headline acts, great contests like the Dummy Gelunde and World Pond Skimming Championships, parties, giveaways and more…and great lodging offers. http://www.vail.com. Check out Spring Massive or the Dew Tour concert. www.vvf.org or www.breckenridge.com

6. Free postcard + free postage at Beaver Creek. “Wish you were here” was never so easy, convenient or … so, free. On a daily basis, the top-rated Beaver Creek guest services team hand outs free collector resort postcards to visitors that they will then actually mail for you – for free. Yep, postage is free for you, too.

5. Yummy free freshly baked cookies at Beaver Creek. Every afternoon, it’s Cookie Time at Beaver Creek. Reward yourself after a great day on the slopes (or a great day in the spa or shopping or relaxing off the slopes) with a freshly baked, warm, chewy and gooey chocolate chip cookie served daily in the slopeside Beaver Creek Village by Cookie Time chefs (near the escalators!). http://www.beavercreek.com

4. Free ice skating, yoga, snowshoeing and kids puppet shows at Keystone. When you stay at Keystone and book through their central reservations system, you play for free thanks to the Adventure Passport program that gives lodging guests dozens of one-time vouchers for free activities and discounted items like a free yoga class, free snow biking mini-clinic, free ice skating admission and discounted wine tastings, sleigh rides and more.

3. Fly in Ski Free. Ski free the day you arrive at Vail and Beaver Creek when you fly direct into the Eagle Airport, located 30 minutes from the slopes. Simply take your boarding pass and Vail or Beaver Creek lodging confirmation to any Vail or Beaver Creek ticket window, and ski the same day with a complimentary lift ticket till the lifts close. Some restrictions apply. For more information visit www.flyvail.com

2. Free Holidays. Vail Resorts is giving travelers a free night of lodging on the season’s most popular holidays – Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day and Easter Sunday – in the Company’s managed ski resort condos and townhomes or the nine elegant RockResort properties in Vail, Aspen, Keystone, Beaver Creek, Santa Fe, St. Lucia and Jackson Hole. Book by October 31, 2010 and the package is restricted and the guest must stay five consecutive nights to receive the holiday night free. http://www.HolidaysOnUs.com

AND …one more EPIC deal for the ski season:

1. Vail Resorts also offers an array of season pass products that provide skiers and riders with the best value in the ski industry. At, $619 the Epic Pass provides unlimited, unrestricted access to six world-class resorts including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly – as well as at Arapahoe Basin and the new Epic 7-Pack is a seven-day, unrestricted ticket that skiers and snowboarders can use at any one of Vail Resorts’ five mountain resorts and Arapahoe Basin anytime during the season for a price of $469—which works out to be $67 per day. The Epic 7-pack differs from a seven-day lift ticket because it can be used any time during the season, from beginning to end. For more information, visit www.epicpass.com.

See: BEAVER CREEK: PENULTIMATE IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN SKIING

See: NIGHT & DAY IN HEAVENLY:
Your Inner Angel & Devil Both Get Time to Play At Resort that Straddles Nevada & California