Hotel Package Deals Give Travelers Plenty of Room for Enjoyment by Christine CubÈ Youíve seen the words in printóthose tempting deals. What traveler can turn down the posh amenities, spa treatments, guest rooms, free parking, luxurious meals or even that continental breakfast? Itís enough to make any visitor itch to dive right in. Thatís exactly what Washingtonís hotel marketers want you to think when youíre here. And itís also why they work so hard to come up with the packages that will make your stay in the nationís capital a memorable one. Some say that the art of coming up with a great hotel package lies in the ability to highlight what already makes a property special. Others argue that coming up with new package ideas likens to, well, a game of darts. Heather Freeman, a 25-year veteran of hotel marketing in the Washington area, said this yearís Valentineís Day, which fell on a Saturday, was a great example of how marketers can plan for and develop creative packages for their hotels. She began planning months in advance before coming up with different hotel packages for three of the properties in the Washington-based Classic Hospitality group. Her strategy: Capitalize on what the hotel already offers and come up with a deal that is realistic to do and that the hotel can do well repeatedly. ìInventing things and making pies in the sky doesnít help the hotel,î said Freeman, president of Florida-based Heather Freeman Media and Public Relations. ìBecause having jazz just on one weekend is not worth it. You have to utilize things that are available to your hotel.î One of her deals, which wound up in USA Today as one of Valentineís Day weekendís top hotel packages, was a My Jazzy Valentine Package for the 96-room Henley Park Hotel located at 926 Massachusetts Ave., NW. For $320 on Valentineís night and $99 each additional night, guests received complimentary Blue Tudor drinks from the hotelís Blue Bar, dinner for two in the hotel restaurant Coeur de Lion and live jazz through midnight at the bar. It also came with a welcome bottle of champagne and a keepsake jazz CD to take home. Freeman has also come up with other blockbuster deals, including one that capitalized on the huge draw of the International Spy Museum during winter 2002. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold Package offered guests staying in deluxe rooms at Classic Hospitalityís five Washington hotels a pair of VIP tickets to bypass the long entrance lines into the Spy Museum. It also came with a complimentary drink, the Mata Hari, which is a concoction of cranberry Finlandia vodka, Stoli orange, and cranberry and lime juices named after the alleged World War I spy who called herself Mata Hari (a Malay expression for the sun). When inventing original hotel deals, marketing strategists say thereís a lot to consider. This includes pinpointing the individual hotelís market segment and audience as well as its pricing points. And you canít be worrying about what the other hotels are doing. For example, hotel officials at the new Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C., on the Southwest Waterfront are tying in the hotelís grand opening to the National Cherry Blossom Festival this month. Hotel marketers said the plan was ingenious because the 400-room, Asian-themed hotel is opening during a time that celebrates the annual blossoming of 3,000 cherry trees donated to Washington by Tokyo in 1912. Barbara Bahny, director of public relations for the Willard InterContinental Washington, said that many of her hotelís deals are the product of effective teamwork among hotel staff. ìWe look for our places of need, like weekend and summer,î Bahny said, referring to input and ideas that come from the hotelís marketing, public relations, and food and beverage divisions as well as the general manager. ìWe keep ideas in the loop and we finesse things out.î It also helps to think outside the box. For example, the Willard is offering a special dinner package in conjunction with the performance season of the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center. The $140 pre-opera ìOperatunitiesî dinner for two at the Willard Room comes with an opera-themed three-course meal, a glass of wine, valet parking and round-trip transportation to the Kennedy Center via executive coach. Private limousine service can be arranged with 72-hour notice at an additional cost. Extensive work was put into the design of each dinner. Willard InterContinental executive chef Felix NuÒez, Willard Room chef de cuisine Denis Soriano and their team researched this seasonís operas with the help of a tutorial provided by the Washington Opera. The chefs then designed menus to reflect each operaís setting, story line and characters through culinary motifs. William Hanbury, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, DC Convention and Tourism Corp., which leads the charge in marketing the city as a premier convention, tourism and special events destination, said the marketplace requires hotels to offer incentives and package deals to travelers. ìYou have very, very sophisticated consumers who have become astute at surfing the net and finding the best packages,î Hanbury said. ìSo if youíre not incentive-izing visitors, you run the risk of not being able to capture them. You really have to have competitive pricing or it just doesnít gel for consumers. They just wonít buy your product because they can just do one more click and go somewhere else.î So whatís coming soon to a hotel near you? Hereís a sampling of some of Washingtonís diverse hotel deals: Incorporate a bit of romance into your getaway with the Romance in the Heart of Georgetown Package at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown. Starting July 21 through the end of the year, the $325 per night romantic deal comes with deluxe accommodations and rose petal turndown with champagne and breakfast for two in bed or breakfast at Fahrenheit Restaurant. The Grand Hyatt Washington is taking 20 percent off its regular weekend rates with the Hyatt Winter Weekend Getaways through April 11. Traveling with Fifi or Fido? The Washington Plazaís pet friendliness has been evident since last year when it began offering a package for travelers on the road with their pets. For $109 a night, the Here Kitty, Kitty Package includes standard accommodations with a deluxe king size bed or two double beds and a cozy cat bed with matching ìmeowî pillow. The package includes a bag of mouse-shaped catnip treats and a housekeeping sign to notify staff of kittyís presence. Litter boxes can be rented for $10 a night. The Washington Plaza also features a similar package for visitors and their canine companions. The Plaza Playhouse Package at the Washington Plaza welcomes families with a unique destination deal, offering a poolside refuge for kids of all ages complete with video games, a foosball table, arts and crafts, and board games. The deal begins May 30 and runs through Sept. 6 at a cost of $129 a night, which includes complimentary parking and a $20 coupon toward food purchases. In conjunction with a summer-long, regional tribute to honor the servicemen and women of World War II following the unveiling of the National World War II Memorial, the Willard InterContinental Washington is offering its Greatest Generation Package. The deal starts at $399 and features a second night or second room at a special rate of $19.45. The package also includes breakfast and a keepsake and is available from May 30 to Aug. 29. In addition, for Memorial Day weekend this year, the Willard is offering a special WWII Memorial Dedication Package, which is based on a two-night stay from May 28 to 29. The package includes breakfast, a gift certificate for a return weekend visit at a discounted rate of $150, a history tour and a keepsake. The cost per night starts at $479 for a standard room. The Hotel Monaco is featuring a Bed and Breakfast Package. Starting at $169 and based on availability, the hotel is offering deluxe accommodations for two, full American breakfast for two in its Poste restaurant and a complimentary wine hour. The Monacoís Monuments by Moonlight Package offers the same things as the above package but also includes a private evening tour of Washingtonís monuments, his and hers cashmere scarves, and a complimentary bottle of champagne and morning coffee service. The cost of the package starts at $419. The Hotel Washington, established in 1917, is commemorating its 87th birthday with a special room rate of $87 on select dates: April 5 to 8, to celebrate Passover, and May 7 to 10, to celebrate Motherís Day. Christine CubÈ is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va.