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Find a Tax Deduction at a Maine Inn

Where: 108 Summer Street [map], Kennebunk, ME, United States, 04043

"Nature hates calculators," Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, likely around tax time. If slaving away at 2007's taxes have shown you that you need to create more opportunities for deductions this year, might we suggest planning a weekend getaway to the Waldo Emerson Inn, a bed and breakfast believed to be one of the oldest houses in Kennebunk, Maine?

Book a stay in May, when the inn--and other members of the Maine Innkeepers Association--cut room rates in half to support "Hospitality for Habitat," a program that raises funds for Habitat for Humanity projects in Maine. In exchange for the discount, guests who stay between May 1-23 will be asked to write a $35 check to Habitat for Humanity, which you can write off come tax time next year. Everybody wins!

But there's more charm to staying here than a vacation that yields a tax deduction. The B&B maintains much of its original construction from 1753; plus Waldo Emerson, Ralph's great uncle, used to build clipper ships on the river behind the house. The colonial-style inn offers just four guest rooms, each anointed with handmade quilts, antiques, working fireplaces and private baths. May rates start at $95 per night.