If business or pleasure beckons you to our nation’s capital, consider taking the kids along and getting the National Zoo’s Panda Package, which combines a welcome kit from the zoo with hotel deals at ten properties around the city. At check-in at the hotel you’ll be greeted with your welcome kit, which includes:

• a plush panda stuffed toy
• a zoo map
• a Giant Panda fact sheet
• a kids’ Giant Panda activity booklet
• a postcard
• an issue of ZooGoer magazine
• a Giant Panda video album CD
• an area dining guide

A portion of your hotel rate will go to the zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Fund. Of the 10 participating properties, we recommend the following (be sure to check out each one’s individual Panda Package, as some hotels have added extra features like zoo tickets):

• Beacon Hotel and Corporate Quarters (opt for the Corporate Quarters rooms, which are larger and have kitchens)
• Hyatt Regency Bethesda
• Omni Shoreham Hotel
  
• Hotel Rouge
• Fairmont Washington D.C.
• Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Hotel Rouge lobby, copyright Kimpton Hotels

From Juliana at HotelChatter: we’ve learned that several Texan Omni properties will now feature kids’ suites. These come brightly decorated with beanbags, twin beds (for the kids, that is) and an assortment of toys and “kid” stuff. Select properties in Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio will feature the new digs , and you can also find suites at their L.A, San Francisco and San Diego posts, which debuted similar family accommodations in 2005 .

You can learn more about the Texas suites (which are available starting tomorrow) from Juliana here and from Omni Hotels here. (HotelChatter includes a snapshot.) Omni Hotels already have a kids program that offers suitcases of games and books to be used during the stay and a welcome goodie bag with “cool stuff” like bracelets, kaleidoscopes and kazoos.

copyright Omni Hotels

Trying to make last minute Memorial Day plans? Good – then it’s not just us. We kept thinking “Gee, we should do something for Memorial Day”, but somehow the thought never translated into action. Now here it is, just 3 weekends away – and we have no plans. Which is, to us, absolutely unacceptable. So, as usual, we started looking to see what could possibly still be out there for people like us, and here’s a sampling of what we found:

Hawaii
The LA Times recommends trips to Oahu for Angelenos: needless to say, the beach is always a big draw for children. The Sheraton Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian (also a Sheraton property) are offering reduced rates for Memorial Day weekend: $239 for a double that’s normally $380 at the Surfrider, and $269 for a double at the Royal Hawaiian, down from $445. The Keiki Aloha Program is available to guests of both hotels, where kids 5-12 are treated to a daily itinerary of fun. (While the Times recommends booking via Expedia to get deeper discounts for booking air and hotel together, we’ve found that this is not always the case. Do your homework to be sure of getting the best rates overall.)

Sheraton Moana Surfrider, copyright Starwood Hotels (more…)