Guess what? Next time you shoot a quick video of your hotel room and then send it into the vast expanses of the interwebs, you might score a free stay at that hotel! Also, next time you buy a lottery ticket you might win the lottery. But we digress.
According to USA Today, the video = free stay thing can happen:
Aaron Schwartz, an executive recruiter in Fairfax, Va., wanted a nice memento of his vacation in Aruba. Using his video camera, he filmed his stay at the Marriott Renaissance Ocean Suites last June -- shots of the beautiful beach, flamingos along the water. He uploaded the video to his MySpace page and YouTube.
He then received a call from the resort's general manager, who liked the video so much that he offered Schwartz a free seven-day stay."
So, turns out, hotels are watching your videos in an effort to monitor their online images (smart!) and even going as far as to reward amateur media-makers for helping their brands look pretty.
If one of your dreams happens to involve getting 10 percent off your stay at Hampton Hotels (and perhaps a chance to win a free bike, if you're really shooting for the stars), allow us to bring you the news that your dreams are coming true this summer:
Beginning with the Let the Dreams Begin Rate, which offers guests 10 percent off the best available rate of all weekend stays from June 5 through September 1, 2008 when they book through Hampton.com, Hampton will reward all HHonors members who book the rate with an additional 250 Hilton HHonors bonus points for any weekend stay from June 5 through September 1, 2008.
And since it's summer and the Olympics are coming (Hilton sponsors the USA Olympic team and Hampton sponsors USA cycling), Hampton's Olympic-themed Let the Dreams Begin site gives visitors chances to win a bunch of stuff, like a bike, a free weekend stay or a $5,000+ vacation package.
The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is still trying to keep the code-cracking fever alive.
Brown recently checked out of the Witchery Hotel in Edinburgh but not before leaving behind a cryptic code (93065) in permanent ink under one of the rugs in his £275-a-night Armoury Suite and leaving a riddle in the guest book.
Since the staff has no clue what either code means, the hotel's owner and the nearby Prestonfield Hotel's owner have teamed up to offer a luxury prize to whoever can solve it. Hint: the code is in reference to some of the paintings found in the Armoury Suite.
Now before you go ahead and call Dan Brown a "mondo douchebag" for leaving behind such impossible clues (in permanent ink, nonetheless!), the hotel's other famous guests have a history of leaving behind some mementos. Reportedly, Jack Nicholson drew a self-portrait in the guest book and Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons show drew some pics of Homer.
When we first heard of the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa's "Luxury Bed Set Drawing," we thought...who in their right might would take bedding from a hotel? Some of them may be uber-comfy, but that doesn't mean you trust the maid service enough to take the linens home...and then we read a little more about it.
To celebrate the hotel's recent accomplishment of receiving AAA'a Four Diamond Rating, they have announced a drawing for a complete (and yes, new) Sedona Rouge bed set, known as one of the most lavish and enjoyable features of the hotel. The bed set will include a Simmons King-size Super Plush Pillow Top Mattress with a goose down feather duvet and four premium pillows.
Guests of the hotel began entering to win in November with the lucky winner being announced on February 1, 2007.
While you may not always be able to escape to the Sedona Rouge for a custom spa treatment, the bedding may bring that rest and relaxation you are always looking for...right at home...so get booking.
Five Star Alliance is giving away a big time hotel room usually reserved for shenanigans of the politicos.
The giveaway prize is for a two-night stay at The Hay-Adams
in Washington DC, in a junior suite, valued at $2,400. Entry is free, and the winner will be picked in a random drawing.
Looks like you have to sign up for the newsletter in order to earn a shot at the free suite. But, hey, you gotta give a little to give a little sometimes.
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by Jenna
If one of your dreams happens to involve getting 10 percent off your stay at 
