Leap Year hotel deals: 29% off & other specials

Though it’s here every four years, Leap Day in 2008 is extra special for aficionados of any-excuse- to-create-a-long-weekend.

This year, Feb. 29 is a Friday, which won’t happen again until 2036. To further encourage you to treat yourself to a little holiday, some hotels have come up with promotions to honor the seemingly oddball extra day that’s thrown in to help keep our calendar in line with the larger scheme of things.

Some of the Kimpton hotels — 29 of them, in fact — are offering special deals for guests during the week surrounding Feb. 29. In Portland, Oregon, at Hotel Monaco, you can get 29% off your room on Feb. 29, or, if you happen to have been born on a Leap Day, pay just $29 (pre-tax) for your room.

Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco offers 29% off for three-night stays between Feb. 23 and March 2. In New York, the Muse New York and 70 Park Avenue present Leap Day babies with a package for $229 per night (pre-tax), which includes Champagne and a birthday cake celebration (it may not make up for having a birthday only once every four years, but it’s a start!). Here’s a roundup of a few other deals out there:

Leap couples: Closer to home, the Sheraton Universal in Universal City is offering a “Leap of Faith Package” this entire month to those celebrating a wedding anniversary on Feb. 29. For $279 per night (pre-tax), you get a room and all the usual mod-cons, with extras including in-room breakfast, chocolate or fruit along with a bottle of Champagne and a late checkout of 4 p.m. Use booking code “SIROMPKG.”

Jump on these Leap Day sales: A couple of hotels are offering discounts on bookings that you make on Feb. 29. On that Friday, reserve a $179 room (pre-tax) at the James Chicago for any holiday weekend in 2008, and get a continental breakfast and free room upgrade thrown in.

The Buckingham Hotel in Manhattan is holding a sale between 7 p.m. (EST) Thursday, Feb. 28, and 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29. Under this promo, you can book Friday-to-Monday stays from Feb. 29 to July 7 for as little as $169 per night (pre-tax). Use booking code “LEAP.”

Leap Day for free, in Florida: Those Fort Lauderdale-bound this month should note that 12 Superior Small Lodging hotels are offering guests who stay three nights surrounding Leap Day, between Feb. 26 and March 4, a stay on Feb. 29 for free — so it’s a stay of four nights for the cost of three.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: 70 Park Avenue by Kimpton Hotels]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 5:25 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under East Coast, Honeymoon, Spa & Romance, Last Minute, Luxury Travel, Pacific Northwest, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.