Saving Money On Upcoming Carlson' Mattress Run

Club Carlson currently has the best Quarter 1 Promotion.

Its a simply promotion: Stay 2 Nights earn 15,000 Gold Points bonus Points or earn 30,000 bonus Gold Points by staying 3 Nights.

You can register for the promotion here.

After the promotion came out, I booked a two night stay for $140.36.

Last night, I got an email saying that Club Carlson is having a last minute sale:

Book by Friday January 16th and save 15% on 2 night stays and 25% on 3 night stays in January. I checked the promotion out on the nights for my mattress run and saved $8.

Not to shabby...if you have stays at Club Carlson coming up on January, might want to check to see if you can save some money.
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Hotel Review: Austin Country Inn and Suites

After a great night at the Hyatt Regency, my sister and I moved on for two nights at the Country Inn and Suites. The hotel is located north of downtown Austin in the St. John neighborhood. My sister was thinking about working at a school near the hotel and I though it important that we spend time in the neighborhood.

We booked the trip very last minute. The hotel is a category 3, costing 28,000 Gold Points a night. However, one of the unique benefits of having the Club Carlson Visa Card is that you get the last night free on award nights. Therefore, 28,000 points got us 2 free nights at the Country Inn and Suites. Due to our late booking, the cost for one night was $150; costing us $300 for the stay. Trying to keep the cost low for the trip, I spent my points which were earned by applying for the Club Carlson card. The Cash + Points offer was not available when we booked, but that would have been the option I would have chosen.











The lobby has a homey feel to it:

The check-in was a breeze. They did not recognize my Gold status, they did not thank me stay nor did they ask for a credit card. She just hand us keys and sent us on our way.

The hotel is old and had a funky smell. I could not pin point what it was, but both my sister and I both noticed it.

We were given a room on the third floor at the end of the hallway. This is where the real fun began as we found a surprise in our room. And no it was not a welcome gift or at least I hope it was not a welcome gift!

As you can see, at 62 seconds in, I find ants. Lots and lots of ants in the room. Some of them dead, others limping around and others trying to get out.

We quickly walked back downstairs to the front desk to ask for another room. The front desk attendant was  very apologetic and "upgraded" us to a Queen Suite. The only real difference was a couch. I don't now if a having a couch automatically makes a room a suite, but I'll go with it.



The hotel had a very small gym.

And an outdoor pool. It was very nice to jump in the pool after spending all day in the Texas sun.

The hotel serves breakfast every morning. I did not try it, but my sister did. She said it was average, but adequate.

As I stated here, one of the weirdest things we encountered was the spinning shower head.


               

Cool to look at, but not very practical.

One last compliant was the wireless internet was slow. Almost AOL dial-up slow.

The hotel would not be a place I would stay at again. However, the hotel served it purpose as being close to the school, she wanted to work at. We spent time and got a real feel of the neighborhood especially at night.

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10,000 Gold Points for 2-Night Club Carlson Stay

 

Mommy Points has the latest on the newly announced Club Carlson stay promotion. From May 13 - June 21 you can earn 10,000 points if you have a two (2), or more, night consecutive stay. You can register here.

In my opinion Club Carlson points are very valuable and they are very easy to earn, so this is something that you should consider looking into and checking to see if it would be mattress run worthy or if it would fit into exsisting hotel needs.

Looking at the Washington, D.C. area I found that the Country Inn and Suites was available this Friday-Sunday for an average of $96.75 per night. So depending on your Club Carlson status that could net you a different amount of points:

Red Members:
1,000 pts for booking online
3,870 pts on the room rate at 20x per dollar spent
10,000 pts for the promotion
Total: 14,870 for $212.85 spent after taxes and fees

Silver Members:
2,000 pts for booking online
3,870 pts for the room rate at 20x per dollar spent
10,000 pts for the promotion
967.50 pts for the 25% bonus as a Silver Member
Total: 16, 837.5 for $212.85 spent after taxes and fees

Gold Members (Status Level for Club Carlson Visa Holders):
2,000 pts for booking online
3,870 pts for the room rate at 20x per dollar spent
1,935 pts for the 50% bonus as a Gold Member
10,000 pts for the promotion
Total: 17, 805 for $212.95 spent after taxes and fees

Concierge Members:
3,000 pts for booking online
3,870 pts for the room rate at 20x per dollar spent
2,902.5 pts for the 75% bonus as a Concierge Member
10,000 pts for the promotion
Total: 19,772.5 for $212.95 spent after taxes and fees

If you are a Club Carlson Visa (link taken directly from Club Carlson website) cardholder and you use your Visa to pay for the night you will also receive 10x per dollar spent. 

Club Carlson has a great award chart and some wonderful hotels all around the world. So this promotion could put you well on your way to a free night for a future stay. 
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