Stay In Seattle And Save A Bundle

The Emerald City is once again offering its Super Saver Program with up to 50 percent off regular hotel room rates.

The package has grown to include 36 downtown hotels, ranging from luxurious five-star spots to cozy budget inns. Rates range from $55 to $155 per room. Guests who reserve the package after Jan. 1, 2000, also receive a “Passport to Savings” coupon book containing discounts of up to 50 percent on Seattle attractions, shopping and dining.

The hotel package, which began Nov. 12, is valid through March 31.

Visitors must make their reservations directly through the hotel or by calling the Super Saver reservation desk, which is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and Sundays. The magic number is (800) 535-7071.

If you want to stay at the Sheraton so you can visit the Ginger Village (see next item), a room would cost $129, down from $250, for a savings of $121. Not bad.

The highest rate of the 36 hotels is at the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel with a room rate of $155. It represents the biggest savings “Off the Rack Rate,” with a reduction of $200. The lowest rate is the Travelodge by the Space Needle, which goes for $55.

For more information, call the above reservation number or visit the Internet site: www.seattlesupersaver.com with its interactive hotel map.

While in Seattle

Seattle architects and chefs are combining talents to build Gingerbread Village in the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers.

The ever-changing annual village has been proclaimed “cool” by visitors from previous years.

Last year’s village included a scene from “The Night Before Christmas” and a 6-foot gingerbread dragon with more than 10,000 pieces of candy.

Eight teams of architects and chefs will build the houses of gingerbread, which will be on display in the Sheraton lobby through Dec. 26.

The architects design each structure and submit their plans to the Sheraton chefs, who construct the houses with the help of members from the architecture firms.

Gingerbread Village is a fund-raiser for the Seattle chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Some 100,000 visitors visited the village last year, and over the years the benefit has raised more than $78,500 for the diabetes foundation.

There’s no charge to view the village, and, like Spokane’s Festival of Trees, the houses are auctioned off to the highest bidders.

The Sheraton’s address is 1400 Sixth Ave. in downtown Seattle.

Happy (pricey) New Year

If you haven’t yet firmed up plans on how to ring in the New Year, Century and Millennium, consider the “Millennium Celebration” at McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside Restaurant in Seattle, which promises to “ring in the year 2000 with a bang.” (The bang might be the sound of you falling to the floor when you read the price.)

The four-course dinner, live music and spectacular view of the Space Needle Fireworks at midnight, with a champagne toast costs $250 per person. Beverages and gratuity are extra! (And they “borrow” the Space Needle’s fireworks.)

I read and reread the press release to see if the 250-bucks-a-person covered a room. But no, it’s just dinner. It must be a spectacular meal.

Call (206) 270-8815 to reserve a table at the restaurant, 1200 Westlake Ave. North, on Lake Union’s southern shore.

If you go, give us a call when you return and let us know what was on the menu.