It seems like just a few days ago we welcomed in the New Year, yet already we’re gearing up for Valentine’s Day hotel deals. 2012 will be over in a blink, so if you want to create fond memories to last the entire year, consider one of these five romantic getaways.

Milliken Creek Inn & Spa

Heart of Napa Authentic Trio at the Milliken Creek Inn & Spa, Napa Valley

Wine, chocolates, spa treatment—the holiday package from this 12-room luxury boutique property in Napa Valley has it all. Even better: it’s good weekends from Feb. 1 through July 31, 2012. The Milliken Creek package starts at $640 per night for two guests and includes a two-night stay, a five-hour luxury vehicle wine tour provided by Peralta Luxury Tours, gourmet boxed lunch and wine tasting at Crocker & Starr winery, cave tour and tasting at Keever Vineyards, barrel tasting at Fontanella Family Winery, 90-minute chocolate decadence couples spa treatment, and romantic turndown including rose petals, chocolate-covered strawberries and Champagne. Visit www.MillikenCreekInn.com or call 800-822-8418.

14 Days of Valentine’s at the Eventi Hotel, New York City

Can’t afford to splash “I love you” to your sweetheart on the monitor during a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden? Then this Valentine’s Day deal from Kimpton’s Eventi Hotel in New York City is just for you. In addition to a welcome bouquet of flowers and Champagne upon arrival, you’ll get a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries, dinner for two at Bar Basque or breakfast in bed, 14 percent off hotel spa treatments (trust me, they’re worth it—I stayed here the night before my wedding and had a fantastic facial and massage) and, here’s what you’ve been waiting for, a special Valentine’s Day message displayed on the HD-format LED screen located in the Big Screen Plaza next to the hotel. The package is available from Feb. 1 to 14, 2012, and rates start at $329 per night, depending on date and room type selected. Send monitor messages, up to 20 words, to info@bigscreenplaza.com by Feb. 1. Book online or call 866-996-8396 and mention the rate code LOVE.

Kimpton Hotels also is offering a Robe-mance special at participating hotels starting at $269 per night and includes two zebra- or leopard-print bathrobes (a $180 value) and a $25 food and beverage credit. Mention or enter ROBES in the rate-code box.

Pink Goes Green at the Shore Hotel, Santa Monica, California

Practical romantics will appreciate this beachside break from the eco-friendly Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, a newly built Silver LEED-registered property that uses local, sustainable, and recycled materials and products as much as possible. The Pink Goes Green package includes overnight accommodations, two bicycle rentals for use during your stay—ideal for morning or sunset rides along the beach, a bottle of organic Champagne or wine, a 60-minute couples massage at Tikkun Spa and a $50 credit to The Lobster Restaurant. Rates start at $469 per night. Call 310-458-1515 or visit www.shorehotel.com.

Hacienda San Angel

Sweetheart Serenade at the Hacienda San Angel, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Add the warmth of Mexico to your relationship with a trip to Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast and a stay at the luxury boutique hotel Hacienda San Angel. Its Sweetheart Serenade Valentine’s Day package includes a three-night stay in a junior suite, private terrace dinner for two, private mariachi serenade on the terrace or from the cobblestone streets below, one in-suite massage per person and daily breakfast. The package is priced at $1,620 and is available for stays throughout the month of February. Call 877-815-6594 or visit www.haciendasanangel.com.

Valentine’s Day Package at the Rome Cavalieri in Rome, Italy

What could be more romantic than spending Valentine’s Day in one of the most romantic cities in the world—Rome? The overnight holiday package at the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria hotel, includes a padlock, and the hotel encourages couples to lock it to the lamppost at the Ponte Milvio bridge and throw the key into the Tiber River as a sign of their love. Even if you don’t go for romantic rituals, the hotel’s Valentine’s Day package also includes a bottle of Champagne and in-room chocolates, breakfast buffet and a three-course dinner for two at L’Uliveto restaurant, one Caribbean Moments spa package which includes use of the hydro-massage, saunas, Turkish bath, two St. Barth Harmony massages, two scrubs, two papaya facial masks and two cocktails at the Grand Spa Café. Rates start at 680 euros. Visit www.romecavalieri.com for more details.

Photos: Milliken Creek Inn & Spa, Hacienda San Angel

Four days after the cruiseliner Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized off the coast of an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, authorities are still searching the wreckage and have yet to arrive at a final casualty count. As of Monday night, 29 people were still missing and at least six were dead.

The Costa Concordia, docked during one of its early years at sea.

The details of how the accident occurred and how the evacuation was handled by crew are also still being investigated. And the impact on the cruise industry and on Carnival Corporation, which owns Costa Cruises, is also undetermined. Carnival says that its insurance deductible on damage to the ship will cost $30 million, and its personal injury liability insurance carries a $10 million deductible. The company estimates that the loss of use of the Concordia for at least several months will set Carnival back $85 million to $95 million.

Many early reports in U.S. media painted a picture of an emergency poorly managed by the vessel’s staff. For example, take this line from a CNN story: “Some crew members helped passengers and then jumped overboard, passengers said; remaining crew members seemed helpless to handle the melee.” In public statements, Costa has commended the reaction of its crew, but has harsher criticism for the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who it blames for deviating from the prescribed course and causing the accident.

Unfortunately for cruise operators and travel agents, the accident occurred early during “wave season,” the peak cruise-booking period, which runs from January through March. This has ratcheted up speculation that the tragedy could cause a softening in the cruise market this year. And TravelAgentCentral.com points out that April will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which will also put cruising in the news for negative reasons.

As for the possible effect on the industry, here are some thoughts from experts:

“It’s hard to see the industry not experiencing at least a small short-term slowdown from this,” Florida-based Simon Duvall of SimonCruises.com tells USA Today. “The images and stories coming out of Italy are shocking even to those of us who love cruising and consider it safe, so to a first-timer or someone who is nervous about it, [this] very well might be a deal breaker.” — USA Today

Some investors may switch holdings into Royal Caribbean after the Concordia incident, according to Tim Ramskill, an analyst at Credit Suisse in London. “If the industry already didn’t face enough challenges—fuel price volatility, capacity absorption and weakness in the European economy—this unfortunate event will reverberate on the group,” he said. — Bloomberg BusinessWeek

[Brian] Robertson, [certified travel consultant and owner, Robertson International Travel Consultants], said the accident will not negatively impact his ability to sell cruises either short-term or long-term, or to change the way his agency sells: “People have a very short memory when it comes to this type of accident,” he believes. — TravelAgentCentral.com

As the story of the tragedy of the Costa Concordia continues to unravel, one good source of information is Cruise News Daily’s Cruiseblogger, which is adding updates to one continuously updated post, Costa Concordia Evacuated.

Photo: Aah-Yeah (flickr, CC2.0)

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The newly released Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI), covering the first six months of 2011, shows a 3 percent global price increase and continued gradual recovery of the industry despite natural disasters and political upheavals in the first half of the year, and ongoing economic and employment stagnation in the United States.

Rates, however, are still below their pre-recession peak in mid-2007, so there remain some good deals and value for travelers.

“Despite the gradual upward trend in hotel prices compared to recent bargain basement rates, there are still plenty of great deals for consumers,” said Victor Owens, vice president of marketing North America for hotels.com, in a statement. “Sales are popping up constantly, especially last-minute sales on desirable locations. There are plenty of cities that still have reduced average hotel rates. Even popular tourist destinations offer deals during the off-peak season.”

The HPI surveys hotel prices in major city destinations across the world and is based on bookings made on hotels.com, with prices shown as those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) for the period being reviewed. This report compares prices paid in 2010 with prices paid in 2011.

Higher Costs for U.S. Travelers

The weak U.S. dollar means overseas travel is even more costly for Americans, particularly for European destinations, where U.S. travelers paid 11 percent more for hotel rooms in the first half of 2011 than they did in 2010. They also paid a 5 percent increase for rooms in North America, a 4 percent increase in the Caribbean, but just a 1 percent rise in Asia.

In the 10 most expensive international cities, rates rose 22 percent on average, with U.S. travelers paying $350 per night and up for rooms in destinations as diverse as Vieques, Puerto Rico, and Monte Carlo, Monaco. French Polynesia’s Bora Bora topped the list, with daily rates averaging $800.

New York once again is the most expensive city for travelers in the United States, with an average rate of $190.46, up 5 percent from $181.66 in 2010, followed by Honolulu, up 13 percent, Boston and Miami, up 7 percent each, and New Orleans, up 12 percent from 2010.

International Destination Trends

When it comes to where Americans are traveling, little has changed. Europe remains the international spot most frequented by U.S. travelers, with London, Paris and Rome the three most popular destinations. Our neighbors to the north, Toronto and Vancouver, are fourth and fifth, respectively. European cities grabbed 10 more of the top spots, with Madrid, Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice each moving up in popularity.

The fastest growing cities for U.S. travelers are in Asia, with Beijing, Bangkok and Seoul rising from 12 to 16 spots each, and the first two, along with Hong Kong and Shanghai, ranking in the top 20.

For full HPI results, visit www.hotel-price-index.com.

Image: Hotels.com HPI Survey

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Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno and Cinecitta Entertainment made an announcement Wednesday that work was to begin next year on Cinecitta World - a movie theme park which aims to replicate the success of Universal Studios Hollywood.

Cinecitta World

The first section of the park will be opened in 2011, with the full park slated for completion by 2014.

Cinecitta World, which comes with a price tag of $800 million, is to be created on 400 acres in a location south of Rome, at Castel Romano, and has set an ambitious target of attracting 4 million annual visitors.

The theme park will prominently feature attractions and rides based on classics filmed at Cinecitta Studios, such as Ben-Hur and Federico Fellini’s films. 

According to Emanuel Gout, President & CEO of Cinecitta World, the first section of the park, an area of about 25 hectares, will feature high-tech attractions, roller coasters, with real and virtual spaces dedicated to aquatic shows and special effects in movies.

Cinecitta Entertainment is aiming to turn it into the biggest theme park zone in Europe, with plans for a ‘Village’ with resort hotels, shops and restaurants. There’s going to be a Cinecittà World 2, and then a Cinecittà Nature - an huge ecological reserve where walking tours will combine with visits to film sets, since the area is frequently used as a backdrop for films.

The concept and creative side of the park is in the hands of Italian production designer Dante Ferretti – who has won Academy Awards for The Aviator and Sweeney Todd. Ferretti has designed seven of Martin Scorsese’s last eight movies.

The project has been ‘in the works’ for a long time now. The idea was first established in 1997, with the privatization of Cinecitta. In 2004, the plan was for an investment of 275 million euros, with a target of 2.5 million visitors. By March 2009, it had changed to 300 million euros, and now – the final figure is 500 million euros, with 4 million annual visitors.

Apparently the plan finally was set into motion after gaining the support of Gianni Alemanno – the Mayor of Rome. Mayor Alemanno explained his support (in Italian – translated) - ”The phenomenon of the theme parks has spread worldwide. But Italy and especially Rome has remained incredibly backward. It will become a synergy: who comes to visit the parks will stop to see the Roman Forum or the Colosseum and vice versa.”

A company – Cinecittà Parks, has been set up to operate the park, with an 80% ownership by Cinecittà Entertainment, and 20% by Generali Properties.

Cinecittà means ‘cinema city’ in Italian and it’s pronounced chee-nay chee-TAH. The studio has churned out more than 3000 productions, including recent productions like The Passion of The Christ, Gangs of New York, HBO’S Rome, The Life Aquatic, Miracle at St Anna and Dino de Laurentiis’ Decameron.