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Roundup: A look at tourist-starved Rosarito Beach; American Airlines, Southwest spring sales starting at $37 each way; new Hilton Denizen Hotels

On a recent day, about 450 of the Rosarito Beach Hotel's 500 rooms were empty--and no one was taking advantage of the hotel's pool.

Good morning, travelers.

Mexico | Los Angeles Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds goes to Rosarito Beach to see how the drug war has affected Baja’s tourist-starved beach town. He finds a few tourists have taken the U.S. State Department’s Feb. 20 Mexico travel alert with a grain of salt and talks to travelers about why they are there. Read: Rosarito Beach regulars won’t stay away, despite Mexico’s drug war. Photo gallery: Tourism on the wane in Rosarito, Mexico.

Airfare sales | American Airlines and American Eagle have a national spring sale on for off-peak travel. Purchase tickets by March 16 for travel through May 20, 2009. A 14-day advance purchase is required. Sample fares include Los Angeles (LAX) to Monterey (MRY) for $37, Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, D.C. (IAD), for $97, and Los Angeles (LAX) to Orlando (MCO) for $107 — each way, pre-tax.

Southwest is also having a spring sale. Book your tickets by March 16 with a 10-day advance purchase for travel March 24 through June 24, 2009. Caveat: Sale flights are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Web-only “Wanna Get Away” fares are starting at $39 each way, pre-tax. I found flights between Burbank (BUR) and Las Vegas (LAS) starting at $39. Weekend flights between Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) started at $49 each way, pre-tax.

Hotel News | Hilton Hotels has plans for opening a luxe boutique hotel chain. The global Denizen Hotels line will have personality-themed hotels in popular international locations such as Abu Dhabi, Austin, Beverly Hills, Buenos Aires, Cancun, Hollywood, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Las Vegas, London, Los Cabos, Miami, Montreal, Mumbai, New York City, Panama City and Washington, DC. HotelChatter is following the launch and tells more about their idea for lifestyle-branded hotels.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Photo: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 8:49 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Airline travel, Baja California, Deals, Good Morning, Hotels, Luxury Travel, Mexico, News, Tips & Advice. 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.