Sweet getaways for Valentine's Day

January 11, 2004|Real Deals, Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff

It's never too early to start thinking about your valentine. Nowadays sweethearts celebrate any time in February, and trips to faraway places require planning. So here is a sampling of romance-drenched getaways, complete with cutesy titles:

Three inns in northeast Connecticut -- an area known as the Quiet Corner -- are presenting Cupid's Weekend Serenade packages beginning at $250 per person for two nights, with the option of a third night at 25 percent savings. The establishments are Friendship Valley Inn in Brooklyn and Celebrations Inn and Tyrone Farm, both in Pomfret, and the offer includes daily breakfast, a multi-course dinner at Tyrone Farm Saturday night, with wine and live music, no matter which of the three inns you are staying in; a framed and matted 5 x 7 photo of the two of you; other sweetheart treats; and all taxes and tips.

Call Celebrations Inn, which is coordinating the packages, at 877-928-5492 or 860-928-5492 or visit www.celebrationsinn.com.

One statistic has it that 10 percent of the 2.3 million weddings in the United States each year involve couples who got engaged on Valentine's Day. If you're going to be one of them, Sandals Royal Caribbean resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is again offering its Test Drive Your Honeymoon experience on March 10. For $159 a person, including an Air Jamaica flight from Boston (or several other cities), couples receive planning advice by wedding specialists as they spend the day on a private island and join in a beach party that includes lunch and drinks. Sandals, of course, wants you to come back on your actual honeymoon, so if you book six days or more at one of the company's 11 Caribbean resorts, the $159 cost of the preview will be applied to your honeymoon booking. Other Test Drive dates will be April 28, June 2, Sept. 14, Oct. 12, and Nov. 9. And if you get engaged on a day other than Valentine's, you won't be turned away.

Call 800-SANDALS or visit www.sandals.com.

The International Inn in Hyannis has been luring lovers for years with its Cuddle & Bubble package, featuring an in-room Jacuzzi. Its Gala Valentine Sweethearts Package includes one, two, or three nights' lodging, one four-course dinner for two, a breakfast buffet daily, chocolates, champagne, a red rose, a spa gift bag, Cuddle & Bubble T-shirts and mugs, one pair of silk pajamas (to share, if you wish), a Valentine balloon, and a surprise gift. Rates are $251-$581 per person. .

Call 877-5-CUDDLES.