This Water Villa at the Shangri-La Villingili in the Maldives is 70% off—if you book through Condé Nast Traveler's Maldives travel specialist.

Fellow Dealer Julia Bainbridge names the Maldives as her dream destination in her Jauntsetter of the week interview. Her dream stay? The Shangri-La Villingili, which opened last summer and is one of the top resorts in the Maldives—quite an honor in a place with no shortage of ultra-luxury resorts. It's on one of the largest islands in the archipelago (great for those looking for more space and activities than most resorts offer), and all accommodations are in individual "villas," the smallest measuring 1,400 square feet.

Lindsey Wallace, the Maldives travel specialist on our annual list of Condé Nast Traveler's top travel specialists, has negotiated some truly amazing special rates at this resort.  A pool villa (the lowest room category) will normally run you $1,336 per night (double occupancy, including taxes and service charges); Wallace can get you the same thing for $515...and a complimentary upgrade to a water villa if available, which he loves for their direct access to the gorgeous lagoon. Those over-water lodgings usually go for $1,776 per night, so his rate saves you over 70%. The best deal, though, is the rate he's negotiated for a "tree house villa"—these ultra-private, 2,350-square-foot hideaways ordinarily cost $3,096 per night, but just $598 through Wallace: a discount of over 80%.

What makes this deal even more impressive is that these special prices are offered during high season: February and March are the best months to visit the Maldives, Wallace says, because there's almost no rain and the seas are calm, making for great diving.  

Do note that to reach the resort you need to take a domestic flight from Malé and then a brief speedboat ride. Roundtrip transfers are $330 per person.

Dates: Good for stays February 1-10, and February 20 through March 26, 2010.

How to book: Contact Lindsey Wallace, the only person who can get you these special discounted rates—and check our our article on last year's dream trip winner for more examples of how Wallace can arrange a true "dream trip."

The Fairmont Newport Beach has plenty of romantic al fresco dining spots

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Travelers should really be on Twitter. In time for Valentine's Day, a handful of upscale hotel brands including Fairmont and RockResorts are offering Twitter-only discounted rooms and packages. Here's a short list:

Fairmont Newport Beach, California

• Save 45% on an amenity-packed weekend in a junior suite; you pay $446 including all taxes and fees for two nights instead of $803. Some of the perks we could do without (Twitter heart cookies?), but we find this one kind of funny: You get two plush bathrobes monogrammed with your own Twitter handles. Other perks include daily breakfast and parking, and a bottle of champagne (or wine or cider, if you'd rather have one of those).
  
• Follow: @FairmontNewport or @FairmontHotels. Send a direct message request for the Twitter-only booking code.
• Dates: Travel February 1 - March 31 and book up to six days before your arrival date, as long as the promotion is still available.

Arrabelle at Vail Square, Colorado

• Over Valentine's Day weekend (which this year also coincides with Presidents Day weekend), package prices are pretty high: You pay $2,295 (including taxes and fees) for a two-night stay in a superior room at this RockResort, one 80-minute couples massage, a tubing session at Adventure Ridge, breakfast daily at Tavern on the Square, and, of course, champagne. Still, you're saving about 30%, because outside of the package you'd pay $3,311 for the room and all these extras. Good thing, though, that you can book the package through March, when you'll pay $1,021 instead of $1,368, a savings of 25%.  
• Follow: Direct message @ArrabelleVail for the booking code.
• Dates: The package is valid through the rest of ski season—through April 17—and it is subject to availability.

Another RockResort is posting Twitter packages, too: The Landings St. Lucia (@LandingsStLucia) gives you six nights for 25% off. And at ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa, you can get three nights in an ocean-view room (with champagne chilling in it upon your arrival), a couples spa treatment in a private beach-side cabana, and dinner for two at the resort's restaurant for hundreds less than you would normally pay. This last one is pretty limited—the travel window is just February 12-15—but follow @BalHarbourFL for more information.

Given the unpredictable weather that we've been experiencing throughout the country, we should be forgiven for letting our minds wander to images of warm, sunny shores. Just in time, American Airlines Vacations has teamed up with the Barbados Tourism Authority to launch a Companion Flies Free offer that could make those images more than just wishful thinking. The promotion, which started on January 11, 2010, has recently been extended through February 12, 2010, and offers travelers one free, economy class companion ticket when two travelers fly together and book a minimum of four nights at a hotel in Barbados through AA Vacations from now through May 31, 2010.

The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, in Washington D.C., is a National Historic Landmark, and it's got a prime spot on the banks of the Potomac.

Weekend stays at four swank Ritz-Carlton hotels in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York are going for over a third less if you book by January 23 (that's tomorrow!). This 72-hour sale went live on Wednesday, but we found that there's still good availability, believe it or not.

On second thought, believe it: In Boston, you can book a city-view room from February 19-21 (two nights) for $456, including all taxes and fees. Normal weekend rates for this room are $744, so you're saving 39%. D.C.'s Georgetown Ritz-Carlton is a little more expensive, but you're still saving: On those same dates, you can stay in a Large Premier Room for $662 total, including taxes and fees. We discovered a handful of other promotions going on at this property when we test-booked, but none was as good as this 72-hour discount. The best was $914 for the weekend, so you're saving 28% off that price—and much more of the normal rates. This just goes to show you shouldn't discount a limited time sale, even if it's been on offer for a while.

Dates: Book by 9 o'clock tomorrow morning for weekend stays through April 4, 2010.

How to book: You can reserve your rooms through the hotel's respective Web sites, using the promo code WNT: Ritz-Carlton Boston, Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C.

Cap Juluca's villa-style accommodations frame the white-sand beach fronting Maundays Bay on Anguilla

Great high-season deals from the Caribbean's top properties keep rolling in. Two weeks ago we told you about Two-Rooms-For-The-Price-Of-One special at Malliouhana, on Anguilla. The latest on this island ringed by white-sand beaches: Cap Juluca, on Maundays Bay, is offering a "One More Night" package—pay for three nights and get a fourth night free, or pay for five nights and get your sixth and seventh nights free. 

The deal applies to the lower room categories (Oceanfront Superior Rooms, Luxury
Rooms, and Junior Suites). This time of year a four-night stay in a Superior Room ordinarily costs $4,776 (including tax and service charges), or $1,194 per night. With this One More Night deal, the four nights cost $3,589, or $897 per night. That's a 25% savings.

We know the price tag still seems steep, but keep in mind that it's unusual to see a full resort of this caliber offering a good deal like this during high season. Cap Juluca is a perennial entry on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List for its five-star restaurants and mile-long white-sand beach.  And those prices seem a bit more reasonable when you consider all the complimentary amenities such as breakfast and afternoon tea, tennis clinics, all water activities...the list goes on.
 
Dates: For travel through the end of January, and March 1 through April 4.

How To book: Reserve online or call the hotel's reservations line at 888-858-5822 and ask for the "One More Night" package.

From now through Thursday, you can stay at the Standard Miami for 40% less than usual.  

If you're a follower of LuxuryLink's vacation auctions and Jetsetter's invitation-only flash sales at high-end hotels, resorts, and cruise lines, then you'll love the latest source of limited-time deep discounts.

Tablet Hotels, a consortium of upscale boutique properties and luxury resorts, has already  been offering periodic specials on its cool properties. Three weeks ago it started a new weekly Private Sale with dramatically reduced room rates for its members. The sale starts every Tuesday at 10AM EST and is live for two days only. (To become a member, you need to book through Tablet Hotels or be invited to try out Tablet Hotels. Send an email to invites@tablehotels.com and you'll receive an invitation via email with instructions on how to join. Be sure to include your first and last name in the request.)
  
So how deep are the discounts? This week's sale includes The Standard, Miami;
We test-booked a three-night stay February 21-24 and were able to get a  Dry (large) Room for $708.51 (including taxes). Normal rates are $1,013.61, so this represents a savings of 30%.

Other hotels offering similar discounts through this Thursday are the Relais Christine in Paris, France; The Hudson in New York City; The Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, California; and the Aleenta Resort & Spa in Phuket, Thailand.

Dates: Book by 5PM Thursday, January 21 for stays through April 19, 2010. Some blackout dates apply.

How to book: You must first be a member of Tablet Hotels in order to participate in the Private Sale (see above for instructions on how to join). Once you're a member you can book by going to Tablet Hotels' Private Sale Web site.

All rooms at Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotels come with equipped with a full kitchen and free Wi-Fi.

Over the past year Hyatt hotels has rolled out some big flash sale hotel deals at various price points, and the Chicago-based company is pushing another limited-time offer, slashing 30% off rates at 173 Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotels. Travelers must book no later than this coming Saturday (January 23, 2010) for stays from February 7 through April 5, 2010. Hyatt Place, a contemporary-style chain aimed at business travelers, has hotels throughout the country, concentrated in urban, suburban, and airport locations; while Hyatt Summerfield Suites are extended-stay hotels that come with a full kitchen and 24-hour in-house grocery markets (making them especially convenient for families). Both brands offer free breakfasts and free WiFi.

Through January 31, this Cityside guestroom at the Sè San Diego can be yours for just $112 a night.

San Diego is one of the country's sunniest cities (with well more than 250 bright days a year). But did you know that most of those sunny days appear during the winter months?

If that's not enough to pack your bags to combat the winter blues, then perhaps today's Deal of the Day will do the trick: The one-year-old Sè San Diego hotel is offering two nights for the price of one through the month of January. And the sheer affordability of the rooms—which start at a mere $112 per night with the promotion— is hard to beat for a luxurious downtown hotel such as this one.    

This 184-room high-rise is next to the House of Blues in the always-happening Gaslamp district, and some of its highlights include the sexy Asian- and sea-inspired design (a massive bronze front door, a grand staircase framed by faux sand dollars, lamps covered in gray stingray), well-appointed rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, and an haute surf-and-turf menu at Suite & Tender, helmed by James Beard award-winning chef Christopher Lee. 

Alas, the Two Nights For One offer is already sold out for the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr., Day weekend, but for the other days remaining in January the rates are enticingly low. For example on the nights of January 27-28, we found a Cityside guestroom with King Bed typically costs $459.28 for two nights (taxes included). With the Two Nights For One offer, that same room is yours for $224.02 (taxes included)—a 51% savings!

What's happening this month in San Diego this month, you ask? Check out the San Diego Travel Blog for goings-on around town.


Dates: The offer is good for stays through January 31, 2010.

How to book: Go online, click on the Stay Two Nights for the Price of One link (and use promo code 241), or call the hotel's reservations line at 619-515-3000. 

Condé Nast Traveler approved: The Sè San Diego was a 2009 Hot List hotel.

You can sleep in a Small Queen Room at the Ace Hotel in New York City for just $152 a night.

New York City's new Ace Hotel has been getting plenty of buzz for offering a cool retro atmosphere at affordable prices (for lower midtown Manhattan at least) since it opened its doors last spring. And now you can stay for even less with a deal we heard of via Travelzoo. 

A test booking for early February showed Small Rooms (that's the name of next-to-lowest room category) going for a best available rate of $255 per night, including tax -- but entering Travelzoo's special promotion code (given below) dropped the rate to $152 per night.  While this doesn't add up to the 50% off that Travelzoo mentions, a 40% discount still isn't  shabby. We recommend that for just $45 more you upgrade to a Medium Room with a SMEG refrigerator, working turn table, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a bit more lounging space.

A bonus: The hotel's restaurant, The Breslin, is a hot new gastropub from the culinary minds behind the Spotted Pig, which started the gastropub trend in New York City several years ago.  And as the recent New York Times review pointed out, The Breslin doesn't take reservations, so most patrons have to cool their heels at the bar for hours before snagging a table. Hotel guests, however, can skip the line and get on a priority list.

Dates: Book by January 21 for travel through April 30, 2010.

To Book: Book through the hotel's reservations page -- where it asks for a corporate/promotion code, enter ACEZOO -- or call the hotel's reservation line at 212-679-2222 and mention the same code.

The theatrical Philippe Starck-designed lobby at the Sanderson, in London's West End. 

As far as I'm concerned, there's never a bad time to be in London, so when a good hotel deal crosses my desk, I entertain the idea of escaping for a theater- and shopping-filled long weekend across the Pond. The latest tempting deal comes courtesy of the groovy Morgans Hotel Group, whose dozen lively and hip hotels are mostly situated stateside. The new London Calling promotion at its two West End hotels, the Sanderson and St Martins Lane, not only knocks 25% off the best available rate, but throws in free daily breakfast for two and offers a 10AM early check-in and 2PM late check-out.

I test-booked a three-night stay February 5-8, and was able to get Standard category room for £568.41 (or $923, including taxes and fees), at both the Sanderson and St Martins Lane. Without the promotion the best available rate comes £757.88 (or $1,230, including taxes and fees) at each hotels—a savings of 25%. And that doesn't yet count the free breakfast for two daily: At both St Martins Lane's Asia de Cuba restaurant and the Sanderson's Suka restaurant, a hot breakfast for two adds up to £52.90 ($86). Availability is still pretty good for the duration of the promotion, through March 31, although Valentine's Day weekend has higher rates.

Dates: The offer is good for stays through March 31, 2010. There are no blackout dates, although the Best Available Rate does change according to the date.

How to book:  Make your reservations online or call 800-606-6090 and use the promo code PKLC25.

Condé Nast Traveler approved: The Sanderson Hotel was a Hot List hotel in 2001 and the St Martins Lane was a Hot List hotel in 2000.