Daily Getaways Breakdown For June 1st: Omni Hotels & Resorts

In case you’re not familiar, Daily Getaways are daily deals sponsored by the US Travel Association.  Some are better than others, so you need to think about whether you can take full advantage of the offer before buying.

For the more popular offers, they will sell out quickly, which means being around right when they go on sale each day at 1:00 pm EDT.  Some offers will sell out in hours, some in minutes.  It’s also important to be patient.  If you click shortly after an offer becomes available and it shows sold out, keep trying.  Someone may have an offer in their shopping cart but change their mind or have their computer crash.  When that happens, their bad luck or change of heart can be your good fortune.

Finally, make sure you pay with an American Express card to save an additional 10%.  Any AMEX card will do.

Since my new daily newsletter format has my notification coming to subscribers between 7 and 10pm EDT, I’ll summarize today’s and tomorrow’s offer so you can plan ahead if reading in the evening.  Feel free to e-mail me or post questions in the comments section.  Good luck chasing the deals you’re looking for!

Monday, June 1st:  Omni Hotels & Resorts

The Omni deals are all somewhat different, with different lists of properties eligible for each.  All the prices I list below fold in the 10% discount you get for paying with an American Express card.

It’s also important to note that the T&C state that there are different blackout periods for each property. And, they don’t actually list any of the blackout periods.  You can assume things like New Years Eve are off limits at the major destinations, but not sure what else you can assume.  All nights also have to be redeemed by the end of 2014.  Buyer beware.

1 night (Friday or Saturday) for $238.50 at:

– Omni Berkshire Place (New York, NY)
– Omni Nashville Hotel
– Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort (Amelia Island, FL)
– Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa (Austin, TX)
– Omni Bedford Springs Resort (Bedford, PA)
– The Omni Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC)
– The Omni Homestead Resort (Hot Springs, VA)
– Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (San Diego/North County, CA)
– Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa (Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage, CA)
– Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia
– Omni Tucson National Resort

I picked a few random weekends for the Omni Berkshire in New York City and never found an advance purchase rate over $300.  Maybe some of the other properties sport higher rates but this one strikes me as mediocre given the blackout dates, etc.

 2 night stay (Friday or Saturday check-in) for $337.50 at:

– Omni Chicago Hotel
– Omni San Francisco Hotel
– Omni La Mansion del Rio (San Antonio)
– Omni Shoreham Hotel (Washington, D.C.)
– Omni San Diego Hotel
– Omni Parker House (Boston)
– Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza
– Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate
– Omni Mount Washington Resort (Bretton Woods, NH)
– Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort (Hilton Head, SC)

I used the Omni Mount Washington Resort as my target property here.  I stayed there 15-ish years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.  There was no Omni affiliation back then but it’s a beautiful, historic property.  Way back in 1944 a conference established the World Bank and IMF at the hotel.  Good news?  The property generally goes for $400+ a night.  Bad news?  It’s sold out more weekends than it’s not through the end of the year.

2 night stay (Friday or Saturday check-in) for $243 at:

– Omni Royal Crescent Hotel (New Orleans)
– Omni Hotel at CNN Center (Atlanta)
– Omni Interlocken Hotel (in the Denver/Boulder area)
– Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas(Dallas)
– Omni Dallas Hotel
– Omni Fort Worth Hotel
– Omni Houston Hotel (near the Galleria)
– Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
– Omni William Penn Hotel (Pittsburgh)
– Omni Providence Hotel
– Omni Richmond Hotel

These aren’t all topnotch properties but they can be pretty serviceable.  Omni Interlocken Hotel just North of Denver can make for a cheap alternative to downtown.  The Omni in Atlanta is located right downtown (although you may want to be in Buckhead depending on your purpose).  At any rate, I found a mixture of rates for these properties that ranged from a small discount to a $150 savings.  Not earth shattering.

2 night stay (Friday or Saturday check-in) for $162 at:

– Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark
– Omni Majestic Hotel (St. Louis)
– Omni Charlotte Hotel
– Omni Charlottesville Hotel
– Omni Houston Hotel at Westside
– Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale
– Omni Jacksonville Hotel
– Omni Severin Hotel (Indianapolis)
– Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West
– Omni Corpus Christi Hotel

These are all essentially value properties.  I don’t have any personal experience with these properties but they have mostly good reputations on Trip Advisor.  I scanned the rates for this group of properties and found a couple with rates under $100 a night (Omni Jacksonville at $89 a night) but there were plenty that were $150-$200 a night on the weekend.  So, you could definitely save a bunch of money for a 2-night stay if one of these cities is in your future.

Bottom Line It For Me, Ed

I was pleasantly surprised by some of these Omni deals.  I can’t vouch for a lot of the properties because I’ve only stayed at a couple.  That being said, if you’re not concerned with racking up stays with one chain, squeezing in a weekend at one of these properties would likely be a solid value.  Unannounced blackout dates and expiration at the end of 2014 introduce a risk element to be careful of.