Travel Agents To Clients: With Tax Time Behind Us, Firm Up Vacation Plans Now
by Maria Lisella /
With tax season behind us, it's the perfect time to book clients in posh properties offering deals in the shoulder and high seasons. Starting on Tax Day, April 18, hotels from Benchmark to Starwood to Wyndham are offering deals that cover travel through summer and into early fall.
Starwood
The newly renovated W Seattle is offering guests a “Fuel Your Weekend” experience for Friday and Saturday arrivals that includes a complimentary room upgrade, complimentary house-made juices, house-made cocktails and a $50 pre-paid gift card to kick off guests’ Seattle experience.
After its debut on April 10, Four Points in Juneau, Alaska, is offering its first guests double Starpoints per stay. Double Starpoints will be offered to the first guests through May 31, 2017. Additionally, the Four Points “Pay Your Birth Year” promo applies; guests pay a rate equal to their birth year when staying two or three nights. (For example, if a guest is born in 1970, they will pay $70 after the first night.) “Pay Your Birth Year” offer is ongoing.
Benchmark and Gemstone
California: The Chaminade Resort & Spa, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property overlooking scenic Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz, is offering 10 days of $99 guest room rates. Book by April 28 to get the “1099 EZ Savings” offer for a well-deserved April celebration. Linwood's Bar & Grill at Chaminade Resort & Spa offers Tax Day Food & Drink specials through April 28: Take $10.40 off lunch or dinner in Linwood’s Bar & Grill on checks of $50 or more; the restaurant will waive the corkage fee when dining during tax week (valued at $22). And the 1040 Specialty Cocktail is only $10.40.
Set on the shores of South Lake Tahoe, the Forest Suites Resort at Heavenly Village, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property, is an all-suite hotel offering a Spring Sale – reserve two nights and get one free, through June 15, 2017.
Villas of Grand Cypress, a Four Star, Four Diamond Gemstone Collection property in Orlando, launches its Fore/15 offer this 2017 tax season. Guests checking into the luxe golf destination resort will enjoy savings of 25% off the best available rate, daily 18-hole play on Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses, daily breakfast per person, golf cart and club storage, unlimited use of the driving range and golf club rental. The 1,500-acre property, located adjacent to Walt Disney World, offers expansive multi-bedroom villas and spacious club suites, as well as in-room spa treatments.
The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando, the newest resort in the Benchmark Resorts & Hotels group, offers two packages to help taxpayers this season: Florida/Georgia Residents can save up to 20% with no resort fee (an additional $20 savings). Opened in March 2017, The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando is a family resort with large one, two and three bedroom residential-style suites in a natural setting three miles from Disney’s Western Way entrance.
Located between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, the Beachwalk Resort on Hallandale Beach is providing a 1099 Tax Relief Sale, with rates as low as $109 for its luxury guestrooms, valid for travel all summer.
Hawaii: Turtle Bay Resort, on the fabled North Shore of Oahu, offers a unique opportunity to explore the breathtaking North Shore: guests booking four nights receive a $400 credit to use for golf, horseback riding, spa treatments or dining.
Illinois: Guests at Eaglewood Resort & Spa, in the Chicago suburb of Itasca, can take a tax break with room rates starting at $139 in luxurious golf view rooms. Choose one (or all) of the following enhancements for $10.99 each (plus tax): Breakfast Buffet, Cheese Pizza in Kegler’s Lanes & Pizzeria, One Hour of Cosmic Bowling, Two House Draft Beers. 8
Massachusetts: Copley Square Hotel in the heart of the Back Bay, is offering its “File This & Save” promotion, featuring 10.40% off stays June to September, which come complete with complimentary amenities and experiences: AM Power Hour featuring bottled water, granola bars, jogging maps and crisp towels, Wi-Fi, Freshly brewed tea and coffee service each morning, and an engaging Copley Cocktail Hour to kick off your evening.
Tennessee: Southern hospitality can take the edge off Tax Day, and The Chattanoogan Hotel is offering a Tax Relief Package that includes a couple’s massage at The Spa at The Chattanoogan and lunch for two (with mimosas) on the Spa Terrace. It is available through June 30, based on a two-night stay starting at $289 per night.
Vermont: The Essex, Vermont’s spectacular Culinary Resort & Spa, offers a Tax Day Relief Special with 20% off the entire stay, at rates starting as low as $119. In addition, the resort will waive its $20 resort fee, Sunday through Thursday, through June. Taxpayers who book for April will also receive a 30% savings off Spa Services.
Vermont’s legendary Topnotch Resort Spa offers a Relax Without Tax program good through June 1, 2017. Topnotch Resort will pay the Vermont sales tax on room rates, spa treatments, tennis lessons, dining and more. Reduced room rates start at $149. Summer activities include horseback riding, tennis, fly fishing, mountain biking and discovering the history of the area. Call (888) 622-3648 or use the booking link.
Caribbean
Head for the Four Diamond-rated Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort on Curacao. Tax breaks include savings of 40% off nightly rates plus daily breakfast. Book by April 23 and travel by December 21, 2017, to enjoy accommodations with views of the Caribbean Sea. Amenities include guided hiking tours, diving, championship golf, an intimate spa with indoor/outdoor treatment rooms, multiple restaurant options, three swimming pools, and a white-sandy beach bordered by a crystal-clear swimming