Want to be a hotelier for one night? The Curtis - a 330 room boutique hotel in Downtown Denver – has come up with an easy way to fill up the place for New Year’s Eve 2010. They’re auctioning off the entire hotel on eBay. 

Curtis Hotel, Denver - Won Night Only

For Won Night Only – the ultimate hotel package because for one night, New Year’s Eve 2010, the Curtis Hotel Denver becomes your personal party palace. 330 guest rooms at your disposal, plus the grand ballroom complete with live music, Champagne & caviar, not to mention your own private restaurant and a staff to help create unbelievable memories.

The eBay auction ends on Oct 11. As of now, there are 4 bids and the top bidder has agreed to pay $51,100.00, which doesn’t meet the hotel’s reserve price, but there’s still 4 days still to go. Want to take a guess about the hotel’s reserve price? We’ll let you know after the auction ends.

Winner and his 600 guests (only 2 people per room allowed) check in at 3pm on Dec 31, 2009 and check out at 2pm on Jan 1, 2010. And the hotel’s Rock Star suite is set aside for you and a guest. You also get a personal limo so you can explore Downtown Denver in style.

Food and drinks for everyone include cocktail reception & canapés, dinner, New Year’s Bash including an open bar, late night munchie bar and champagne brunch.

Photo courtesy The Curtis Hotel Denver

Info: 1405 Curtis Street Denver CO 80202; (303) 571-0300; www.thecurtis.com/

As hotel obsessives (yes, like me) know, the Ritz-Carlton is the gold standard for service. Executives and sales departments from other industries study them to learn how to treat their most valued clients. And guests of the Ritz-Carlton consistently rave about the attention to detail and care they enjoy while staying at the properties.

The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, CA

Seriously, it’s real. For a former job, we’d put our (ridiculously rich) Board of Directors up in the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton, on Nob Hill — they demanded to stay there. I’d go running up there to do whatever gofer stuff they needed, and even then, when I was a totally junior peon, every single staff person was the picture of friendly solicitousness. They greet you at the door with a smile, everything is ready for you in a nanosecond, and if you have to wait someone brings you chilled water. On a silver tray. It’s delightful.

Yes, special tuxedo chocolate strawberries. Note the silver tray!

Like so many wonderful things in life, you have to experience it to really understand it, and it can be a bit pricey — a luxury in the most traditional sense.

Before you sigh in wishful yearning, and decide you’ll never know, check this out: This summer the Ritz-Carlton is placing that luxury (a little more) within reach with special value packages.

Not a sale, not a discount, an added value package.

A room at the SF Ritz-Carlton. Check out the view!

I’m especially impressed by the “Peace of Mind” package, which is all about relaxing and creating memories, in gorgeous locations like San Francisco (of course!), Maui, Key Biscayne, the Virgin Islands, Europe and the Middle East. The package includes:

• deluxe room accommodations
• full American breakfast for two served in the restaurant (and their restaurants are always fabulous)
• daily internet access and local phone calls
• overnight parking
• Ritz Kids special activities program for two kids
• three nights for the price of two; five nights for the price of three; and a week for the price of only four nights

Did you see that last bullet? The one in bold? A week for the price of four nights? You can do this! Make your reservations now!

This package is only available through September 30, 2009 and the rate will depend on which location. Visit the “One Vacation” page of the Ritz-Carlton site to get all the details and check availability. Then prepare to experience the good life!

The Lemon Tree Inn, Naples, Florida

Father’s Day is this weekend — are you ready?

Admit it. You’re up late, just a couple of days before the big holiday, surfing the internet and bracing yourself to pay rush charges for some techy gadget. But that won’t show him how much you care.

You know what will? A fishing trip in the Everglades. In kayaks. And it’s much easier to arrange than you think!

The Lemon Tree Inn is offering a “Go Fish” package that will be like catnip — ahem, catfish — to anglers. It includes a five hour excursion into the heart of mangrove, manatee and alligator territory, plus two nights stay at the Inn, which is a charming property with 39 “tropical” style rooms in Naples, Florida.

Apparently kayak fishing is the newest “extreme” version of fishing, and expert fishing guide Captain Charles Wright from Everglades Kayak Fishing knows just where to look for speckled trout, tarpon and snook.

Btw, for the non-fishing-aficionados, those are fish.

When you’re not out fishing, you can lounge around the Lemon Tree Inn’s pool or gazebo, or take a quick two block stroll to the galleries, shops and restaurants on Fifth Avenue South.

Packages start at $530 for two people now through December 14, 2009, and go up to $660 from December 15, 2009 until April 14, 2010.

I don’t know about your dad, but my fly fisherman father would consider that a bargain. Now if I can just convince someone else to go with him … alligators, eek!