Seattle Gets Cheaper With Super Savers
When the holiday season approaches, Seattle’s best hotel deals can’t be far behind.
Now in its 10th year, the Seattle Super Saver Package offers up to half off regular room rates at participating downtown hotels.
Discounts also are available at a variety of shops, restaurants and attractions. The bargains begin Nov. 12 and continue through March 31.
This year, 38 hotels have signed up, ranging from a luxury five-star property to budget inns. The greatest savings can be had at one of Seattle’s best hotels, the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, which has knocked $205 off its rack rate. The Super Saver rate there is $170.
The Seattle Inn has posted the lowest rate, at $57.
Other participating properties and their Super Saver rates include the Alexis Hotel ($135), Best Western Pioneer Square Hotel ($89), Comfort Suites Downtown ($69), Hotel Edgewater ($129) and the Inn at Queen Anne ($69).
For the first time, bookings can be made online at www.seattlesupersaver.org. The Web site also has information on each hotel and a city map locating the properties.
Reservations can also be made by calling (800) 535-7071. Packages can only be reserved either through the Web site or the Super Saver phone line - not by contacting a hotel directly.
Big Mountain ski deal
If you’re looking ahead to skiing and snowboarding, Grouse Mountain Lodge and Kandahar Lodge are offering an early season deal for Big Mountain: Stay at either of the lodges from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21 and get free lift tickets.
Grouse Mountain, outside Whitefish and modeled after the vintage hotels in nearby Glacier National Park, offers a free shuttle to the slopes and downtown. Nightly rates per couple start at $102, with the two free lift tickets.
Kandahar, a European-style lodge, sits on Big Mountain’s slopes. Rates begin at $140 per couple per night, again with two lift tickets.
Extra people in each room also get free admission to Big Mountain, for extra cost, of course.
To make a reservation, call (877) 457-1850 and mention the “free ski” promotion.
To check out both lodges, owned by Montana’s Finest Resorts, look on the Web at www.montanasfinest.com.
By the way, Nov. 23, the starting date of this promotion, is also the scheduled opening day for Big Mountain.
Free long-distance calls
If you can bear listening to some ads over the phone, you can earn free long-distance calls. That’s an attractive offer for travelers, but is open to everyone.
Here’s how it works: For every 10- to 15-second advertisement you hear, you get two free minutes of long-distance calling within the United States. You do not have to change your long-distance carrier, either.
Simply sign up on the Web at www.callfreeway.com. The site includes details on the offer.
Hiding money
I never would have thought of this, but it’s sneaky good: If you want to hide money in your hotel room, unhook the shower rod and put rolled-up bills inside.
That’s one of the tips in the book “Hiding Your Money” by Jerome Schneider and Allison Hope Weiner (Prima Publishing, $30). It’s subtitled “Everything You Need to Know About Keeping Your Money and Valuables Safe from Predators and Greedy Creditors.”
That’s a good clue that this book isn’t about travel tips, but there are some good ones in chapter four. Here are some:
Shoulder pads in a suit or coat can be replaced with cash. But make sure you don’t look like a Seahawks linebacker when you put the coat on.
Sew money into the lining of hats, coats, dresses and other items. But don’t do it if your coat is an expensive leather bomber jacket that will attract a crook anyway.
If it’s summer, sew cash into socks and pants.
Wear a pouch around your neck. Or get a money belt.
Schneider finds hotel rooms insecure places since so many people can gain access. He recommends packing a Swiss Army knife, a small tube of glue, a roll of tape, a box of push-pins and a small pocket-clip screwdriver, which will come in handy if you need to unscrew a shower rod bracket. Or to remove an outlet cover so you can put some cash there.
Other good places for money: taped behind artwork or dresser drawers; in ceiling light fixtures; above acoustic ceiling tiles; and inside chair cushions. Or inside an overstuffed chair: tip the chair over, peel back some of the fabric cover, stow valuables and use the pushpins to reattach the fabric.
Regional events
Beaux Arts Societe Holiday Sale, Nov. 4-12, Boise. More than 340 national and regional artists offer their work at this annual benefit for the Boise Art Museum. Info: (208) 345-8330. Web: www.boiseartmuseum.org.
Bigfork Elves Decorate for Christmas, Nov. 18, Bigfork, Mont. Elves gather at the Bigfork Inn, then scatter around the village to decorate. Costumes and sleigh rides. Info: (406) 837-5888.