Need a Fort Lauderdale fix? I ran across a deal today that appears to be quite a steal. Located in Pompano Beach, the Fairfield Palm-Aire Resort and Spa is offering one- and two-bedroom condo accommodations in its Fairways lodging starting at $70/night for five night stays. The cost for a two-night stay in a one-bedroom condo is $100/night, while the cost for three nights drops to $90, and so on. One-bedroom condos have whirlpool tubs in the master bedroom, sleeper sofas in the living areas, full kitchens, washer/dryers and balconies. Two-bedroom condos, which are $10 more per night, sleep six and offer an additional bedroom.

The resort itself has four swimming pools, access to five golf courses, a day spa, mini golf and plenty of other water sport activities.

The offer is good for travel through July 31, 2007.

Fairfield Fairways at Palm-Aire Resort Deal

Ask George: Are timeshares a rip off or do are they a good deal if you keep them long enough? We’re trying to decide whether to buy one in Orlando.

Answer: Timeshares can be a good value if you buy them “used” on the so-called secondary market, but not if you buy them directly from a developer. The rule of thumb is that the minute you walk out of the developer’s office your deed loses 50 percent of its value. Timeshares depreciate faster than new cars.

That’s because enticements such as “free” vacations and other marketing expenses, including advertising and hefty sales commissions, can amount to almost half the purchase price of the typical timeshare unit. “The one guy who buys has to pay for everyone else’s freebies,” says Bill Rogers, founder of the Timeshare Users Group . “The real bargains are in re-sales, but most people don’t know they even exist. It’s a matter of education.”

So it’s best to buy a timeshare from someone whose investment has already taken the depreciation hit.

Where do you find timeshare re-sales? One source is Seattle-based timeshare reseller Holiday Group < www.holidaygroup.com> at 800-930-9717, which gets much of its inventory from developers and financial institutions (read: foreclosures). Re-sales can also be found on auction sites such as Bidshares and ebay. Bidshares charges a flat fee if your bid wins; eBay charges the seller, and lets you search by area, type, week, number of bedrooms, and other criteria. You can see what others have paid for re-sales if you sign in as an eBay member and click on “completed listings.”

Re-sales can also be bought directly from owners at a fixed price, either by looking in the classifieds or on the TUG Web site, which also contains helpful reviews of various timeshare resorts around the country, a sales database showing what others have paid for timeshares, and a primer on buying, selling, and renting.

Once you buy a timeshare on the resale market, its real value may not be in vacationing there but in trading it for a stay at someone else’s timeshare by signing up with agencies that help owners swap weeks with each other, such as Resort Condominiums International (800-338-7777).

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Come June 1, visitors to Disney will no longer be allowed to smoke in rooms or outdoors on balconies and patios at any of the company’s 22 hotels, resorts and time-share properties. Smoking is already limited to designated areas within theme parks and public spaces. Hotels that are near Disney, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company will not affected by the ban.

Disney to Ban Smoking at all of its Hotels

The 166-room St. Regis Resort Fort Lauderdale has opened on Florida’s Gold Coast. Located on the beachfront promenade, the resort features a 5,000-bottle wine room with a separate cellar that can be reserved for private events. Each room and suite offers a view of either the Atlantic Ocean or the Intracoastal Waterway and features leather furnishings, 1940s-era black and white photographs on the walls, wi-fi, DVD players, second TVs in the bathrooms, silk robes, Pratesi linens and Remede bath amenities.

The property is offering several specials to celebrate its grand opening. With the Luxury Has a New Address package, guests will receive a complimentary upgrade to a higher room category, a Remede Complete Treatment Spa Gift and a $50 food and beverage credit. The Magic of Four package offers guests who stay three nights a fourth night for free.

Do you plan to visit the St. Regis Resort, Fort Lauderdale? When you get back, review it for us!

Hey, 10 percent isn’t a lot, but it’s more at the Breakers Palm Beach than at many resorts! Through December 17, 2007, the resort is offering 10 percent all rooms booked with the promotion code OCEAN to celebrate the $250 million the property has put into renovations over the last 15 years. You can also call 800-822-0800 to book.

The Breakers Palm Beach Ocean Promotion

Mobil Travel Guide has announced its picks for the best North American spas of 2007. Only two establishments won Mobil’s coveted five-star rating: Spa Montage at Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, CA and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental New York. But there were plenty of four-star winners:

Mobil Four-Star Award Winners

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont, Banff Springs, Banff, AB

The Sanctuary Spa at Sanctuary, Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley, AZ

Alvadora Spa at Royal Palms, Royal Palms Resort & Casitas, Phoenix, AZ

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale at Troon North, Scottsdale, AZ

The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician, Scottsdale, AZ

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont, Scottsdale Princess, Scottsdale, AZ

The Spa at Omni Tucson National, Tucson, AZ

Ancient Cedars Spa, Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, BC

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Whistler, BC

The Peninsula Spa, Beverly Hills, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA

The Beverly Hills Hotel Spa by La Prairie, Beverly Hills, CA

The Spa at Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, CA

Post Ranch Spa, Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, CA

The Bathhouse, Calistoga Ranch, Calistoga, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Aviara, Carlsbad, CA

The Spa at Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, CA

Spa Gaucin, St Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Half Moon Bay, Half Moon Bay, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA

The Spa at Torrey Pines, Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Jolla, CA

The Spa at The Carneros Inn, Napa, CA

The Spa at the Island Hotel, Newport Beach, CA

Spa du Sureau, Chateau du Sureau, Oakhurst, CA

Spa Ojai, Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, Ojai, CA

The Spa at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Resorts, Pebble Beach, CA

Spa du Soleil, Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford, CA

Remede Spa, St. Regis San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

The Spa at CordeValle, The Lodge at CordeValle, San Martin, CA

Bacara Spa, Bacara Resort and Spa, Santa Barbara, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Bachelor Gulch, Avon, CO

The Spa at the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO

The Spa at the Brown Palace, Denver, CO

The Mayflower Spa, The Mayflower Inn, Washington, CT

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Washington DC

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort, Aventura, FL

Spa Palazzo at The Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Key Biscayne, Key Biscayne, FL

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee, FL

SpaTerre at Little Palm Island, Little Torch Key, FL

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Miami

The Spa at The Setai, Miami Beach, FL

The Ritz Carlton Spa, Naples, Naples, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Orlando, Grande Lakes, Orlando, FL

The Spa at The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Members Spa Club, Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, Sarasota, FL

The Ritz Carlton Spa, South Beach, South Beach, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge Spa, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, GA

Spa at Sea Island, The Cloister, Sea Island, GA

Spa Halekulani, Halekulani, Honolulu, HI

Spa Suites at The Kahala Hotel and Resort, Honolulu, HI

Hualalai Sports Club and Spa, Four Seasons, Resort Hualalai, Ka’upulehu-Kona, HI

The Spa at Manele Bay, Four Seasons Resort Lanai, Lanai, HI

Spa Grande at The Grand Wailea Resort, Wailea, Maui, HI

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Wailea, Maui, HI

The Peninsula Spa, Peninsula Chicago, Chicago, IL

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, Chicago, IL

The White Barn Inn Spa, White Barn Inn, Kennebunkport, ME

The Spa at Pinehurst, The Carolina at Pinehurst, Pinehurst, NC

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Lake Las Vegas, Henderson, NV

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Spa Bellagio at Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Four Seasons, Hotel Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Emerson Place, Mount Tremper, NY

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel New York, New York, NY

The Peninsula Spa, New York, The Peninsula New York, New York, NY

Stillwater Spa, Park Hyatt Toronto, Toronto, ON

Woodlands Spa at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA

Spa at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, Kiawah, SC

The Spa and Salon at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Irving, TX

Trellis, The Spa at The Houstonian, Houston, TX

The Watermark Spa, Watermark Hotel & Spa, San Antonio, TX

The Spa at Stein Eriksen Lodge, Park City, UT

The Greenbrier Spa, White Sulpher Springs, WV

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, Teton Village, WY

Clearly, finding a top-rated spa is easier when you’re in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Florida or somewhere involving snow.

Mobil Travel Guide’s Best of the Best Spas 2007

Starwood’s $210 million Resort at Singer Island is now open on Florida’s Gold Coast. The 239 suites on the property start at 800-square-feet and feature all the usual amenities, along with perks like full kitchens, balconies, wi-fi, washer/dryer combos and marble bathrooms. An indoor/outdoor spa, kids club, oceanfront dining and souped-up poolside cabanas are among the property’s highlights. Through Sept. 30, 2007, room rates start at $215/night, with breakfast for two included. A two-night minimum stay is required to get that rate.

Over here at TravelPost.com, we love travel advice generated for travelers by travelers. While we’re all about hotel reviews, our pals at VirtualTourist are flush with travel guides, advice, tips and deals posted by real travelers. The site’s community of 850,000+ members from around the globe have posted 1.5 million reviews of shops, lodging options, restaurants and attractions in both popular and off-the-beaten path destinations. The reviews are well written and often include photographs taken during members’ travels. It’s a great resource to bookmark, whether you’re looking for the a city’s hot clubs or laid-back coffee shops.

To get to know the site, check out these VirtualTourist Travel Guides to popular destinations in Europe and the United States:

Paris Travel Guide

London Travel Guide

New York Travel Guide

San Francisco Travel Guide

Las Vegas Travel Guide

Orlando Travel Guide

Los Angeles Travel Guide

Prague Travel Guide

Rome Travel Guide

Oh yeah, you think you’re an expert on Disney and Orlando’s many other fab attractions? But, quick, can you tell us what time each day can you see Shamu at Sea World? Or when to catch EPCOT’s Illuminations Light Show? What about the amount of time you’ll need to tour the NASA Kennedy Space Center?

Instead of hunting around through lots of individual web sites or toting around paper brochures, you can get all of this info, including opening and closing times and visitor info for 14 of Orlando’s top attractions with our brand new Definitive Guide to Orlando Attraction Hours and Event Times. This easy-to-navigate quick reference guide has everything you need to hit up Orlando’s top tourist spots - there’s even a cool chart that maps out everything for you.

We like it, and we’re pretty darn sure you will, too. Here’s that chart we were talking about:

While many guests at the Royal Palm South Beach Hotel head to the beach behind the hotel to shack up for the day in their own private cabanas, the sand ‘n surf averse will find this unusual diversion by the resort pool.