Travelzoo has extended his Groupon-like Local Deals voucher program from restaurants and museum tours to upscale resorts in North America and Europe.
The Getaways deals usually include a night or two at a relatively high-end hotel or resort within a two-hour drive or short flight from subscribers' homes and include a fine-dining experience or resort credit plus other extras, Travelzoo says.
As with the other Local Deals, the flash sales are available for a set duration. You purchase a voucher on a Travelzoo website and redeem them at the hotel or resort.
For example, Travelzoo was offering a one-night stay today for two people in the four-star The Chelsea hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., with a 3-course dinner for two at The Chelsea Prime restaurant for $189. Also included are spa and gym passes, free Wi-Fi and chairs, towels and use of umbrellas at the beach.
That price, which Travelzoo touts as a 56% discount, was good for Sunday to Thursday arrivals through Sept. 1. Or you could go for the Friday arrivals option at $299.
With so much negative publicity about Groupon's generous IPO valuation and value to suppliers, Travelzoo's announcement about Getaways sought to distance itself from Groupon with statements from hoteliers about the high-quality of guests generated from Getaways and how they were ready to spend extra money at the properties.
Chris Loughlin, Travelzoo CEO, says Getaways is geared toward subscribers who might not have considered staying at a nearby hotel, but would be tempted to do so if the offer is right.
Travelzoo's launch of Getaways as an extension of Local Deals comes as Groupon is poised this month to implement Groupon Getaways with Expedia.
Travelzoo has been piloting Getaways since March with 40 properties in North America and Europe.
Unlike a hotel stay listed in Travelzoo's Top 20 emails, Getaways are targeted to subscribers in particular markets and vouchers aer purchased on Travelzoo.com instead of referring customers to the hotel website for bookings.
The company claims they have generated 28,000 "incremental room nights" with the program.