I had never thought of going here before and it never made it on my radar. Why? I am not sure, but seeing a Travel Zoo deal made me think this would be great for a possible anniversary trip.

They (Vintners Inn) had a deal for 2 nights in a King (upstairs) fireplace room for $445. Normally this place goes for anywhere from $275 a night and up. The deal included a $75 restaurant gift certificate for their onsite restaurant, 2 wine tours (turned out to be 3), 2 for 1 breakfast at their restaurant, a free half bottle of wine, and 2 for 1 cocktail at the bar. Basically, this all added up to at least $700 give or take if you booked separately.

We added on a third night at a different hotel using Priceline for $70 which worked perfect for last night before flying out.

My first tip is to fly into Santa Rosa airport (STS) directly. It may cost a little more, but it’s worth it! First of all it’s a super small
airport where you can literally pick up your bags and rent your car within about 10 steps of each other. Secondly, they offer a free check in of one box of wine upon flying out. Most of the flights are technically Horizon air which also offers a free glass of beer or wine on your flight. Finally, why deal with the traffic in San Fran or Oakland. You can still visit those places but having a
small airport was wonderful and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Santa Rosa is about an hour north of San Francisco and within 45 minutes of about 150 wineries


Santa Rosa not only is in wine country, but the ever growingNorthern California Beer country so this was perfect. With no shortage of breweries in the area we were able to visit Russian River brewer, Lagaunitas, Bear Republic, and Marin.

On top of that we were able to use two of the tour tastings vouchers from the hotel deal. I was really glad we chose the two we did which were Rodney Strong and Ferrari Carano. We were able to stop at a couple others along the way as well.

Rodney strong gave a top notch tour and enough samples to make you feel like you were at home! Ferrari Carano was just a
tasting but the grounds the winery is on are breathtaking with amazing views.We did a Groupon deal tasting as well, but that turned out to not be so great, but still not bad for what we paid.

Overall, it was a great stay and I would do it again in a second Santa Rosa gives you Great beer, wine, and scenery.





 

Many of you know Wally Park has become my favorite parking for many reasons, which I listed in previous article(CLICK HERE). Knowing I only had a few Groupons left(for the Valet lot) which I would use for my trip next week, we were gonna park at the Premier Garage for our trip this week. As I am walking though Costco I stumble upon a major score! Wally Park gift cards and what a deal it was. You get $100 (two $50 cards) for only $49.99.

Our Las Vegas timeshare is available for rent. Here are the details.

1 week for $580
(works out great if split with friends)

2 types of availability

May-July  Any week (sat-sat)
Any other time in 2013  must book 45 days out or sooner(based on availability)

Closest timeshare condo to the strip. Takes me about 8 minutes to walk to Flamingo, IP(The Quad), or Harrahs

2 bedroom Condo(has sofa bed in living room), full dining room, full kitchen with appliances. Firplace, flat screen TV's, etc.
Washer and dryer
Multiple pools on site
Free shuttle to multiple Vegas locations on site

Units vary, but I have attached pictures of the one we had in 2011


Check out the reviews on Trip Advisor for more pics and information. CLICK HERE

Get 10% off your bookings in March by using code 10OFFMARCH

Plus, don't forget, with Hotels.com... for every 10 nights, you get one free

I got an email from Mandalay Bay with a good deal if you like Suites.

Offer Valid at The Hotel, Vdara, or Signature.

For the Hotel, CLICK HERE
I saw some rates as low as $96 per night in April, $88 in May, $80 in June, and $68 in November For a suite thats not a bad deal.

For Vdara, CLICK HERE

For Signature, CLICK HERE

Allegiant air has some great rates if you don't mind flying out of Bellingham. I just pulled up a itinerary of April 8-17th for $515 including tax. It's about $15 more if you use credit card as they give discount for debit card.

Really it seems long for some but the outgoing flight arrives late at night(10:15) and the returning flight leaves really early(07:15) so you basically get 8 days if you look at it that way

Allegiant doesn't have as many flights but the price is right. Looks like they have flights going out on Wednesdays and Thursdays with returning flights on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Wondering how those rates stack up to the competition? Cheapest I can find from Seattle is $754 for April 10th-17th.

I have never flown Allegiant before but it seems worth looking at for your next trip. They fly out of some smaller cities. For us NW folks up here it's Bellingham, Spokane, and Eugene, OR.

I wouldn't expect to get the same service as a major airline, but if the price is #1 factor, they may be everyone if you are flexible.

Allegiant Air-CLICK HERE

I completed a write up on airport parking recently(click here if you missed it, PART 1 and PART 2). After two months of using airport parking quite a bit, I must say, I still prefer the valet lots and garages.
 
I have made Wally Park my preferred parking choice. Why you ask? I will admit, they aren't the cheapest, but sometime going cheap can backfire. I tried to book using some other sites but kept seeing issues or glitches that didn't appeal to me. Whether it wasn't their advertised rate being for real or issues with their website or just seeing how long it will get to the airport. I like being to the airport within 10 minutes from time of pulling in to drop off, not 25 or 30 minutes as advertised with places.

Other reasons? Their customer service is fantastic, they offer a wide variety of discounts opportunities (Frequent use, groupons, AAA, military, and Senior) as well as a frequent parking card. In addition, they are hands down one of the most social media friendly places I have used. They are right up there with Alaska Airlines as far as twitter use and being feedback friendly with quick responses.

This is one of my favorites!

A night at the Roosevelt Hotel in Seattle with a Restaurant credit of $40, all for $139.00

CLICK HERE

JUST CLICK ON THE LOGO AND GO LOAD UP ON SOME GIFT CERTIFICATES!