Howl if you love waterparks! We’re thrilled to be giving away a stay at any Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark Resort, where every day is a pool day. With eleven locations in North America, a Great Wolf Lodge is never far away.

The prize is a one-night stay in a family suite for 4 people at the Great Wolf Lodge of the winner’s choice; one breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 people during their stay; two-day waterpark admission for 4 people; and a wolf pup plush.

A stay at Great Wolf Lodge translates to great value for families that love waterpark fun. The rate always includes unlimited access to the enormous indoor waterpark with waterslides, bodyslides, raft rides, lazy rivers, wave pools, climbing structures, and more. Best of all, you can use the waterpark from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave and, since attendance is limited to hotel guests, the lines never get crazy long.

But that’s not all. Families can also have fun playing the MagiQuest adventure game and enjoying nightly fireside Story Time. Great Wolf Lodge offers a weather-proof family vacation that will leave you all howling for more.

For a chance to win this family getaway, just head to our giveaway page. You can enter once a day through June 30, 2012. So come back again tomorrow!

It's baa-ack! The InterContinental Hotels Group is bringing back its popular Vacation Pay program, which pays travelers to stay the weekend  in its hotels this summer. If you spend a two-night weekend stay before Labor Day, at any of IHG properties, you'll be rewarded with a $75 prepaid credit card to use anyway you like. The only condition is that reservation has to be for two consecutive weekend nights — Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday — at the same hotel. Stays do not qualify if guests are paying special discounted or group rates.

You can use this promotion for up to four weekend stays, for a total of $300 in credit back. 

IHG hotels include many family-friendly chains: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

To get the card, register and print rebate forms at www.ihg.com/get75 starting May 14. The only caveat is that you won't get your pre-paid credit card immediately. Once your stay is completed, you have to mail in the rebate form along with your hotel receipt. Still, free money is free money.

Thinking about a  trip  to NYC or DC this summer?  While many business-traveler-friendly hotels give families big-city sticker shock, Affinia hotels in the Big Apple and Washington DC are offering a deal that seems tailor-made for families.

Starting at just $139 in DC and $179 in New York City, the deal offers  a fourth night free, and up to 5,500 reward points in the hotels’ rewards program (therein lies the sole catch: you have to join the Stash Rewards program, which it's free).

The hotel in Washington, DC is in the Capitol Hill area, and there are five options in the Big Apple,  including locations near Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza and Madison Square Garden. Many of the hotels offers suites with fully-equipped kitchens, too—a sure-fire way to save on the cities’ high restaurant bills.

When we checked June dates using the deal at the Affinia Manhattan, near Madison Square Garden, we found a starting rate that averaged out to $245 a night—almost $75 less than the regular rate of $319 a night—and a clean 25% savings. (Alternatively, you could opt for a non-refundable rate for $268 a night.)

Here's a  case, however, where it pays to tinker with different specials on the hotel site. When we looked at the standing Stay More Save More deal, our nightly rate went down $5 to $240 a night. And if we only stayed three nights, the nightly average went down to a more noticeable $219 a night.

To get the Stash Rewards deal, you must book by May 31 for travel through September 2.  You can book by calling reservations at 866/246-2203, or by booking online and using promotional code Stash5K. For the Stay More Save More deal, use promotion code SVMORE.

The Tides Inn has been welcoming guests for over 65 years to its private peninsula on Virginia's Chesapeake Bay.  This 106-room property has been voted the No. 1 resort in Virginia and a Top 10 hotel in the world for best value by Travel + Leisure readers.  Families will find plenty to do, with a heated outdoor swimming pool, tennis, croquet, golf, fishing and all kinds of watersports, from kayaks and canoes to paddleboats.  Many of the activities take advantage of the resort's Chesapeake Bay setting: crabbing, geocaching, wildlife water cruises—there's even a professional sailing school.

Through May 22, The Tides Inn is offering a $100 resort credit on two-night stays, with advertised nightly rates starting at $215. We price-checked stays for a family of two adults and two kids, and weren't able to find any double queen rooms—the category that makes the most sense for families—available on weekends through the end of May.  We did find them on some weeknights, so we looked at a Sunday-Tuesday stay and found a double queen room for a nightly rate of $225 (the same as the resort's best-available rate).  While the resort credit is good for spa services, dining, golf, and resort shopping, smart families would use it toward meals at the resort's restaurants to reduce their overall spend.

As always, there is some fine print: the offer is based on availability, and the resort credit can't be applied toward taxes or the daily $24 resort fee.  Book online or call 800/843-3746 and ask for the $100 resort credit offer. 

We’re delighted to be giving away a three-night getaway for a family of four at High Hampton Inn & Country Club, an historic, family-friendly resort in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains that is reminiscent of the great camps of the Adirondacks. Since 1922, the 1,400-acre inn has welcomed families who return year after year to enjoy an abundance of recreational choices, including golf, spa, tennis, hiking, and water activities on the 35-acre private lake. The prize consists of three nights in a two-room suite for a family of two adults and two children, all meals, a guided hike, two rounds of golf, and resort fees.

We're excited to be giving away a three-night getaway for a family of four at TradeWinds Island Resorts on the barrier island of St. Pete Beach, Florida. The prize includes four passes to Splash Island Water Park, one breakfast for the whole family at Bermudas Restaurant, and one dinner for four at Beef’s Restaurant.

There has never been a better time to visit TradeWinds Island Resorts, home to Florida’s ultimate beach theme park. Splash Island Water Park is a 15,750-square-foot aquatic playground with inflatable slides, floating trampolines, chill-out loungers and large island rafts.

With 360 days of sunshine a year, warm Gulf breezes, and award-winning beaches, you are virtually guaranteed idyllic conditions when you visit TradeWinds Island Resorts. Set on 20 lushly landscaped acres along a spectacular seven-mile stretch of beach, the resort offers a wide array of fun activities for the whole family. Take your pick of five heated pools, explore the grounds by paddleboat along a meandering river, or head to the white-sand beach to play at Splash Island Water Park. You can play tennis, have a round of mini golf, take in a dive-in movie, or simply kick back in a cabana or hammock and sip your umbrella drink. Then let the kids play at the supervised KONK Club while you enjoy a massage or a romantic dinner.

Accommodations are designed with families in mind. The winner will stay in a one-bedroom tropical-view suite, which features a bedroom with two double beds, a living area with a double sofabed, kitchen facilities, two televisions with premium channels, a CD player, and free wi-fi.

For a chance to win this family getaway, just head to our giveaway page. You can enter once a day through April 6, 2012. So come back again tomorrow!   

Family vacations can be expensive, but some destinations are trying to help out in meaningful ways. One such spot is Orlando's Villas of Grand Cypress, boasting a line-up of onsite action to keep everyone in the family happy. For starters, there's a 21-acre lake with boating, swimming and fishing, a 45-hole golf course and 9-hole pitch 'n putt course, two swimming pools, rock climbing wall, biking and nature trails, and kids' activities.

The resort's Family Funcation promotion, valid from April 8 through September 30, offers families a few ways to reduce the spend of a family vacation. The first: stay three nights, and you'll get a fourth night free.  When we price-checked some dates, we found that room rates were the same with and without the offer.  (That's important, because some resorts hike the promo rate to cover the cost of the free night -- not the case here.)  For a four-night stay in July, the nightly rate for a club suite double is $201. With the offer, the fourth night is subtracted from the bill, dropping the total from $804 to $603. That translates to a nightly rate of $150, and a straightforward savings of 25%. Score!

The real value, though, is in all the extras that come with the promo:  kids under 17 eat free at resort dining outlets, play golf free and can share a golf lesson with mom or dad for no additional charge.  So if you're planning on staying put on the resort for dining and golf, you could rack up some sizable savings. Normally, a round of golf costs $120 per person.  

The fine print: Dining and golfing are one child free per paying adult; resort fees and taxes are not included; and there are some blackout dates and restrictions. Book online or call 407/239-4700 and ask for the "Family Funcation" offer.

Ready to trade your snow shovel for a sand shovel? Enter for a chance to win a three-night getaway for a family of four at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, a 2,400-acre waterfront paradise on Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coast, an area recognized as one of the top destinations in the world by Frommer’s. The prize consists of lodging in a three-bedroom deluxe villa or condo, complimentary round of golf for four people, tennis and bike rentals.