For Cyber Monday, Hotel Deals With an American Accent, It’s usually the promise of sun and sand during the cold winter months that wins the favor of Cyber Monday shoppers looking for a cheap getaway. But this year historic hotels across the country might give Caribbean beachfronts a run for their money with the promise of picturesque settings, luxury renovations and solid savings.
In 1882, the New York financier Henry Villard began construction of his palatial Madison Avenue residence, the Villard Mansion, now known as the New York Palace. The addition of a tower by the next owner, the Archdiocese of New York, eventually resulted in a series of luxurious corner suites that the hotel is offering at a discount of 50 percent for stays between Jan. 1 and March 31. (Book between Black Friday, Nov. 28, and Cyber Monday, Dec. 1, by selecting the “50% Off at 50th and Madison” package: newyorkpalace.com/towers.)
Since the early 19th century, the southern end of Mackinac Island in Michigan has served as a Protestant mission, the base of evangelical ministries, a college for statesmanship and even as a temporary residence for Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour as they filmed “Somewhere in Time.” Their soundstage, the mission and other original buildings have since become the vast Mission Point Resort, an 18-acre property with its own art and history museum, which is offering 20 percent off rooms on select dates in May and June, along with complimentary half-day bike rentals and a round of golf. (Book on Dec. 1 at missionpoint.com.)
Hotel El Convento, a more than 350-year-old Carmelite convent in Old San Juan and a charter member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America, is offering a 25 percent discount on its restored Spanish Colonial rooms and suites for limited dates in January. Though it may be counterintuitive, reservations should be made by calling the front desk at 800-468-2779 on Dec. 1 (elconvento.com).
A mammoth federal-style mansion designed by the New York architect, Percy Griffin, the Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, N.Y., sits on the southern shoreline of Lake Otsego. Another member of the Historic Hotels of America, the Otesaga is offering 25 percent off bookings from April 22 to May 31 and Sept. 6 to Nov. 24, 2015 (otesaga.com).
Once a diminished whaling town, Nantucket, Mass., salvaged its future by transforming itself into a vacation destination for New England’s elite. The Nantucket Resort & Hotel helped usher in the new era when it opened in the summer of 1891 and aims to keep it alive and well this winter by offering its recently renovated villas and suites at 30 percent off between Dec. 14 and May 21 (thenantuckethotel.com).
Wigwam, a resort near Phoenix, recently completed a $16 million nip and tuck, just in time to celebrate its 85th birthday on Nov. 28. Another Historic Hotels of America member, the more than 400-acre property includes seven restaurants and bars and a championship golf course. Rooms are 50 percent off between Nov. 28 and Jan. 12 when booked between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 (wigwamarizona.com).
For those who still prefer the sun and sand, one of the best deals of the season comes from the first new hotel to be built in Key West’s Old Town in almost two decades. Beginning at 9 a.m. Dec. 1, the Marker Waterfront Resort, which opens Dec. 12, is offering 20 rooms for $20 to the first 20 guests to book (one night and one room per reservation). Once those are gone, the sale continues for the next 20 hours with rooms at $200 a night for stays on select dates in January, May and August to December 2015 (themarkerkeywest.com).
And for those who truly relish the pressure-cooker competition that comes with post-Thanksgiving sale shopping, several hotels are going meta with a “power hour” of even deeper discounts.
Triumph Hotels, comprising six boutique properties in New York, will add an extra 20 percent to its 30 percent discount on rooms and suites at any location if booked between 4 and 5 p.m. on Dec. 1 (valid for travel from Dec. 2 to March 31; triumphhotels.com). And from 11 a.m. to noon, the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., will do the same for stays between Dec. 4 and March 31 (charleshotel.com).
