Bargains Over the Holidays

It's tough to find deals that extend through the Holiday Season: most resorts resist discounts during prime-time from Christmas to Jan. 1st, and dozens of great offers, in the Caribbean for instance, expire by Dec. 22.

Still we've found a few Holiday Season discounts: Club Med, the Big Apple, a Caribbean resort with waterpark, Sandestin resort in Florida...

Discounts Over the Holiday Season

• Apple Core Hotels: five hotels in Manhattan; bargain rates for the Holiday Season start at $149.99. Up to two kids under 13 can stay free in parents' room. only blackout day is New Year's Eve. And think of all that fun in NYC over the Holidays!

• Club Med: Two Days Free: This promotion started before Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas and Presidents' Day, up to Feb 14 2009; at family-friendly Club Med Sandpiper (an all-inclusive in Florida), Club Med Punta Cana, in the DR, Club Med Ixtapa Pacific and Club Med Cancun Yucatan in Mexico. Club Med Sandpiper also has a "Christmas Week Exclusive": pricey, but you can enjoy a nice reduction thanks to those two free days. For example, for 2 adults and one 15 yr. old, a $6078 price tag gets reduced to $4102.

• Christmas at Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa: $199 per person for a deluxe garden view room, a savings of 30% from regular nightly price. Rates are valid from December 21 to 31, 2008, based on double occupancy. This resort has a nice little waterpark, with lazy river and a couple of slides, and a large kids club and play area. (If you could travel earlier, you could get Family Frenzy rates from just $99, with additions thrown in such as free round of paintball for the whole family, AND kids under 18 stay free. But that deal ends December 20, 2008.)

• Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a giant property, with 2400 acres in northwest Florida and miles of white-sand beach. With “Christmas on the Coast” Packages, rates start at $119 for accommodations at The Village of Baytowne Wharf or The Grand Sandestin. Book early and get free golf and ice-skating. Valid through January 15, 2009, except for December 30-31, 2008. (See Sandestin site for deals.)

• Vermont: Wildflower Inn. "Home for the Holidays" package at this 570-acre getaway includes three nights accommodations, full breakfasts, afternoon refreshments, small Christmas tree to decorate in your room, family stocking filled with Christmas goodies, Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day dinner; prices start at $435/person, double occupancy; kids 4-11, $107; 3 and under, $33. Hot mulled cider and homemade cookies by the woodstove; 8) Activities include: ice skating, sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, on-property; skiing and other snowsports nearby.