When you tote up the cost of wi-fi and parking and a gazillion other items that guests are forced to pay for in a hotel, the final tab looks very different from the “best available rate.”

But that’s not the way the money goes at six hotels in the Big Easy that are part of the New Orleans Hotel Collection. This bunch is offering guests everything they need at a single price, in a summer travel promo called POP (Pay one Price).

Bourbon Orleans Hotel

The participating hotels include:

1. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

2. Dauphine Orleans Hotel

3. St. Louis Hotel

4. Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans

5. Hotel Le Marais

6. Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport

The promo includes free valet parking, free continental breakfast, free wireless internet, free shopping coupons (valued at $250), and free in-room bottled water and coffee. And you get a free welcome drink on arrival.

With some very nice and historic hotels located mostly in the French Quarter, rates starting from $99, and no extras or hidden fees, it looks like a pretty good deal.

The Bourbon Orleans Hotel is a historic French Quarter hotel near St. Louis Cathedral, and they have suites that offer balconies overlooking Bourbon Street. The Dauphine, also historic and in the French Quarter, offers a palm-filled courtyard and private saltwater pools.

If anything, the St. Louis Hotel located half a block from the jazz clubs and nightlife of Bourbon Street, has an even more lush and tropical courtyard, and the award-winning Louis XVI Restaurant.

If historic French buildings and decor is not your thing, then Hotel Le Marais is a newish hotel in the French Quarter which has a trendy bar and a thing for purple, like the high-tech airport pod hotels or the Virgin America planes.

Whatever the choice, if you want to POP over to one of these hotels in New Orleans for the summer, then call (855) 798-6642 and mention the promo code POP. Or book online here.

Photo – New Orleans Hotel Collection

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As 34.9 million travelers hit the road for Memorial Day, the biggest concern is the price of filling the tank. To help ease the pain at the pump, many hotels, hotel groups and booking agents are offering free gas cards.

Pumping gas

Hotels.com: The summer giftaway promotion offers three tiers of rewards. Travelers who stay 1 night can save upto 30% while those who stay 2 nights get a $25 gas card (use promo code ROADTRIP). Stay 3 nights and you get an Amazon Kindle e-reader (promo code BOOKWORM). More details here.

IHG: IHG is offering a ‘Vacation Pay’ promotion, where U.S. travelers get a $75 prepaid card for staying two consecutive weekend nights at any of IHG’s 4,400 hotels worldwide. The card can be used for gas and other things too. Promotion valid until Aug 31, 2011. More details here.

Marriott: California road-trippers can get a $25 gas card free for booking a stay at any of the participating hotels in California, including in San Francisco, San Diego, La Jolla and Bakersfield. The promotion is valid until Sept 6, 2011. Use promo code TRS for online booking.

Marriott also has a free gas card offer for those who want to head north across the border to Canada. The ‘Cars Eat Free’ package offers a $25 CAD gas card for each weekend night’s stay. Most of the participating hotels also provide free parking, so your car also gets to ‘stay free.’ Use promo code TRS and the promotion is valid until Aug 19, 2011.

On top of these offers from hotel groups, there are hundreds more from individual hotels. For example, the Hyatt Regency Long Island in New York State is offering a gas card package that includes overnight accommodations, a $25 gas card per stay, free breakfast and complimentary parking and internet.

The Four Seasons Hotel Boston is offering a ‘Fueled up’ package with a $50 gas card. The Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Panama City Beach, Fla. is offering $100 to $50 gas cards, depending on the length of stay.

It would be impossible to list all such offers here, but it’s a good bet that most cities will have at least a couple or more hotels offering free gas cards in addition to the hotel group offers mentioned above.

Photo by FutureAtlas (via flickr)

Related posts:
Mansfield, Ohio is giving away $50 gas cards
Memorial Day Weekend Hotel Deals
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If you haven’t made plans for the Memorial Day Weekend, now would be a good time to start thinking about it. You have more of both motive and means this year, considering that Osama is no longer with us and neither is the recession.

Graves at Arlington, Memorial Day

Here’s a few places where you can get some pretty sweet Memorial Day Weekend hotel deals.

Orlando – The Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek is offering Memorial Day Weekend rates starting at $159 per night and the Waldorf Astoria has a $199 per night package.

The kicker is that for every two nights booked with either of them, you will receive a free Walt Disney World one-day one-park ticket.

The AAA four diamond Hilton Orlando has a $139 Memorial Day Weekend package for its facebook fans. The “Making Memories on Memorial Day” package includes deluxe accommodations as well as breakfast and dinner for two daily.

Guests who mention they are Facebook fans at check-in will receive extras like a s’mores kit for use at the outside fire pits, free in-room movie with a bucket of popcorn and liter of soda or a drink voucher for use at a hotel bar.

Las Vegas – Start here, and you’ll find some great Sin City hotel deals for between May 27-30, starting from $24.50. If you’re not in the mood to scrape the bottom of the barrel, there are nice (and new) hotels offering rates well below $100 for the dates in question, including Caesars Palace, Stratosphere, Rumor and Circus Circus.

New York – The Mandarin Oriental New York has an “Extra Fun Day Away” package with a complimentary night after a two-night stay this Memorial Day weekend.

Note that New York also has a well attended Fleet Week (May 25 – June 1) to contend with, and discounted hotel rooms will be hard to come by. But you can save a lot of big bucks here on NYC hotel deals for the Memorial Day Weekend.

Also, the Omni Berkshire Place in New York has a Memorial Day package with 30% off on regular rates. Actually, Omni Hotels & Resorts is offering 30% off on all their hotels and resorts. Well, not exactly… it’s 10 percent off on a one night stay, 20 percent off on a two night stay and 30 percent off on a three night stay.

Travel Ticker – Oahu hotels near Waikiki Beach from $65; Vegas hotels on the strip from $55. Cancun hotels are on offer from $119; Seattle from $129 and Los Angeles from $139.

Expedia – Memorial Day special rates, with Vegas starting from $45 and Orlando from $25. Even if you want to splurge on a better hotel in Orlando, that won’t cost you more than $120 or so.

Hotels.com – 30% off Memorial Day sale, with New York hotels from $132, Chicago starting from $65 and San Antonio from $71.

Photo – public domain (source)

Related posts:-
Summer Deals from Luxury Hotels
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Memorial Day Parades in the United States

Sure you can get lucky sometimes, but most people won’t be spending their summer vacations in the lap of luxury without having to pay through the nose for it.

Unless… you can find solid deals from luxury hotels that offer 5-star luxury and comfort at a 4-star or lower price tag. Here’s a few samples.

LHW luxury hotels

LHW: The ‘Save the Date Sweet Dreams’ offer includes steep discounts at luxury properties all over the world that are part of the Leading Hotels of the World Group.

You can get 15-20% off on the best available rate at luxury hotels like the Taj Campton Place in San Francisco; Setai South Beach in Miami Beach and the Fairmont Turnberry Isle in Miami; Hôtel Plaza Athénée in New York; and the The Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honolulu.

The only catch is that you need to book early. More details here.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of New York: The Ritz properties in NYC are offering a ‘Summer in the Park’ deal which includes a 2-night stay and add-ons like free full day bike rentals, a picnic and a private gondola ride or a a tour of Manhattan by sail. More details here.

Waldorf Astoria: “Best of Waldorf Astoria” summer promotion includes a complimentary daily breakfast for children 18 and under and a daily resort credit at any one of the brand’s 24 hotels across the globe, including the original and legendary legendary Waldorf=Astoria New York and the new Waldorf Astoria in Orlando.

The offer is valid for stays booked between 5/1/2011 and 9/5/2011 and completed between 5/27/2011 and 10/2/2011. Use promo code PBBWS1 or call and ask for the “Best of Waldorf Astoria” promotion.

Starwood Resorts: This is for SPG members only, but it’s worth a mention since there are so many millions of them and you can always sign up. From now until July 31, registered SPG members who stay three times at any of the more than 1000 Starwood hotels or resorts worldwide will earn one free resort night award.

The stay can be redeemed at over 200 resorts including stunning resorts like the St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kaua’i and the Equinox Golf Resort & Spa in Vermont. More details here.

Ravella at Lake Las Vegas: This was until recently a Ritz which has reopened under new management, and it’s still a luxury hotel. To make it even more attractive, they’re offering a 50% summer escape discount with free breakfast for two adults and two children included.

So what you’re getting is a brand new luxury hotel stay that’s on paper a 4-star property with a 2-star price tag. Offer valid until September 30, 2011. More details here.

Photos courtesy LHW