Resorts And Lodges

This year Valentines Day coincides with half-term, so bargains will be thin on the ground. But to help smooth the path of true love, weve found some special ways to treat your beloved.

City of love – travel and stay overnight in Paris for just £99pp

Take the high road to the splendid isolation of the North West Highlands and Scotlands ancient land of Assynt. Dine on seafood at the Michelin-starred restaurant in the Hotel Assynt as you soak up views of the sea loch and mountains beyond.

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Regional carrier Pinnacle has made no secret of the existence of its financial issues, and in December announced the creation of a new restructuring program. But Pinnacle CEO Sean Menke, who joined the company this past May after leaving Frontier in 2010, provided an update on the situation in a letter to employees that was filed with the SEC on Friday.

Menke’s message is incredibly clear, writing that: “on the current path, our financial position will continue to worsen at an alarming rate; we need to act immediately,” and latter adding that “we may ultimately conclude the best way for us to achieve our goal is to use the court-supervised Chapter 11 process.”

Menke attributes Pinnacle’s current challenges to the airline: a longer than expected integration, issues with a new integrated seniority list that came as a result of a new pilot deal, and most interestingly, the nature of its agreements with mainline carriers. Pinnacle cu

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Winter has been a long time coming to New England this year.  To date, Boston has seen just 3 inches of snow and ski country is still getting excited every time the flakes fall.  The good news is that the chilly air has descended in earnest from Canada and the mountains are making snow every second they can.  Of course, it is a lot harder to motivate families to pack up and head North when there is no snow on the ground in their hometown.

If youve been delaying taking the teens and tweens for a ski getaway you are in luck, as the major New England resorts are offering a range of lodging discounts and packages, in the hopes of saving their seasons.   Some of our favorite ski areas in Vermont and New Hampshire are on the list of those trying to sweeten the deal.  If you can squeeze in a mid-weekend trip, or add an extra day to a long weekend, you may be in for some real savings.   Here are just a couple of the deals that have shown up in our mailbox in the last few days.  If you have a favorite mountain, now is the time to visit their web site and see what they have to offer.

• Sugarbush, in Warren VT has organized a series of mid-week and extra night free deals among the many lodging options located near the 4,000 plus foot mountain.  Ski and Stay packages start at $99 a person based on double occupancy with two days of skiing/riding and a three night stay, midweek.  The  luxury slopeside Clay Brook condos are offering a  lodging and lift ticket bundle starting at $189 per person, per night, based on quad occupancy (two adults and two youths ages 7-18) with two days of skiing/riding and a two night stay, midweek.  Today Sugarbush reported 107 trails open with base depths ranging from 14 to 30 inches.
• Smugglers Notch, a great family destination that offers ski-in/ski-out condos, great ski schools and lots of off slope activities is offering 10% discounts on most of their winter vacation packages. The ski instructors are top notch and the mountains supply a nice range of options.   Our teens had a great time there last winter break check out our series about all the great facilities and activities our teens enjoyed at Smuggs.   As of today they had 35 trails open with bases ranging from 16-30 inches.
• Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, NH reports they got 8 inches last night and are running 35 trails with depths of 14-26 inches.  North Conway, and the entire Mount Washington Valley area of New Hampshire, is one of our favorite four season New England getaway destinations.  Cranmore is right in town which means you have easy access to the shops and restaurants and a wide range of hotel options, including at least one with its own indoor water park!  In addition to skiing and snowboarding there is tubing, a mountain coaster and an adventure park to keep the teens busy.  Check out the Chamber of Commerce web site for discounts and last minute deals for North Conway and surrounding areas near Attitash and Wildcat Mountains.

Just cant get out of town but still want to get the teens and tweens skiing?  Central and western Massachusetts ski trails are open too with a little help from the recent cold snap.  Learn to ski deals are particularly abundant as listed on the Ski Massachusetts Deal page.  Mt Wachusett, Jiminy Peak, Nashoba and Berkshire East are all open for business.

Winter is a lot more fun when you get outside, and the mountains are waiting.  Hope you can find a good deal to take the teens and tweens skiing and snowboarding in New England soon.

 Tagged with: family travel, ski, snowboarding

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HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. — There are hi-rise condominiums, resorts and hotels all along this stretch of Florida’s mid-Atlantic coast. Hundreds of thousands of people — residents and vacationers — are here at any one time.

“It was all so different in the 1870s,” says Jim McCormick. “The population of this area was about 300 people. It was truly a wilderness, more primitive than the supposed ‘Wild West.’”

No one came here, not intentionally anyway.

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It’s never too early to start planning your next vacation in Europe, and if youre a fan of skiing or snowboarding, its hard to ignore the draw of the Alps. The Alps span across seven countries: Slovenia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein. The highest peak in the Alps is Mont Blanc. Located on the border of France and Italy, Mont Blanc peaks at 15,782 feet above sea level, higher than any mountain in the continental US. It is considered by some to be the highest peak in Europe, but this fact is debated based on the distribution of the mountain between Europe and Asia. T

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