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Historic Hotels Offering a "Fall Back in Time" Promotion

Where: United States

We do love that extra hour every fall - though some whine and moan about it getting dark early, it's an extra hour of sleep, and earlier dark means earlier cocktail hour--what's not to like?

We have even more to be pumped about this year. Historic Hotels of America wants us to take advantage of the extra hour with their "Fall Back in Time" promotions from October 1 through November 30. These hotel deals are centered around the year that the historic hotels were founded.

We're particularly fond of the Hotel El Convento's special. Founded in 1888, this Old San Juan delight is offering bottles of wine at any of their restaurants for $18.88. And though, to be honest, we may not normally jump at a chance to visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we're awfully tempted to make a trip just to enjoy The Ambassador Hotel's martinis, priced at their original 1928 price of 20 cents. Not a martini drinker? Try a sidecar for 30 cents. Just be sure you don't tip like it's 1928.

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History Buffs Have 211 Hotels Worth Checking Into

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel in Georgia

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has put forth its newest oldest hotels list. Each of the 211 hotels listed in the 2008 directory offers travelers the ambiance of ol' fashioned charm, unique accommodations, and world-class amenities.

Notable among the historic properties listed are the Strater Hotel in Durango, Co, where, in the quiet sanctuary of his room, prolific author Louis L'Amour has penned many a novel (he preferred rooms 222 and 223). The Big Easy's Hotel Maison de Ville, made the list as this is where Tennesee Williams wrote the final act of A Streetcar Named Desire.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel in Jekyll Island, Ga. was where the first transcontinental telephone call placed by AT&T president Theodore Vail happened on January 25, 1915 and Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire's ski country was named in honor of President George Washington and later played host to a bunch of celebrities, including Babe Ruth, whose golf locker is on display at the hotel's golf resort.

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Taking a Trip or Two Down Memory Lane

With all these capsule hotels and roadside hotel boxes opening up, will people ever stay in a grand hotel with beautiful architecture and meaningful history again? We hope so. So that's why we checked out some of the hotels that belong to the Historic Hotels of America. And man, there are some old hotels out there. Just don't expect flat-screen TVs in the rooms.

· The Warwick Hotel: This hotel was built in 1927 for $5 million by William Randolph Hearst as a residential hotel with private apartments for his Hollywood friends. Cary Grant ended up staying there for 12 years and now the top floor suite is named after him.

· Holbrooke Hotel: This "hotel" in Grass Valley, aka Gold Rush Country, California is more noted for its still-operating saloon which since 1857 has hosted four U.S. presidents. Today rooms have private baths and cable television.

· Park Hyatt Philadelphia: We're a fan of Park Hyatts so if we were to return to Philly, we'd set up camp here. The hotel takes up eight floors of the landmark Bellevue building which since its opening in 1904 has been host to many Philly-society events. A real historic artifact? In the Grand Ballroom there are crystal chandeliers and lighting designed by Thomas Edison.

· The Park Central Hotel:
The Park Central is an art-deco classic with a "lavender, blue and mint green exterior and portal windows." Built in 1937 it re-opened as a hotel 20 years ago and retained much of its original architecture and original period furnishings. Plus it has cheaper rates than some of the newer South Beach hotels.