A recent survey indicated that Mother's Day spending will be down by 14.7 percent this year. Purchases of electronics, jewelry, books and other items are all expected to fall. And fewer mothers will be taken out for a good meal. It is predicted that spending on dinner and brunch outings will fall 9.6 percent.

For those still planning to take mom out for a meal or even for a weekend there are some great hotel and restaurant packages out there. The Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, California offers a great package for a family that includes accommodations, a Mother's Day brunch and a treasure hunt adventure. Rates start at $449. Check out more great options in the gallery below.

Holidays in New York City can be a lot of things: charming, classic, thrilling ... overwhelming, chaotic, expensive. While some travelers arrive in search of the quintessential Silver Bells experience, others may want to discover something new or stick within a budget. Luxist's friends at Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations, Gabrielle Etrog Cohen and Gina Masullo, came up with a comprehensive list of places to go and things to do for all NYC travelers as well as package deals, including hotels.

THE FAMILY: Crowd-pleasers for all ages-within a budget.

The show: The Off-Broadway production of The Gazillion Bubble Show is the first and only interactive stage production of its kind, complete with fantastic light effects, lasers, and jaw-dropping masterpieces of bubble artistry.

The sites: Gawking at the Macy's displays, a visit with the polar bears in Central Park, photo ops at the Rockefeller Center tree.

The meal: Dim Sum Go Go offers more than 24 kinds of dumplings, plus four variations on the dough-wrapper theme, four sauces, and microwave-safe takeout containers. Kids will love the creative finger food and parents will love the dim sum delicacies (beet flavored dumplings?).

The hotel: Apple Core Hotels -- a family-friendly vibe in the city's most exciting neighborhood.

The deal: Apple Core Hotels invites guests to explore New York -- including a trip to Toys "R" Us Times Square to create a stuffed animal at the Filled-With-Love interactive design shop. Apple Core's "Filled with Love" package is available January 2 - February 14, starts at $159.99 and includes accommodations in the heart of New York City, stuffed animal and breakfast, and in-room coffee. Children under 13 stay free.

For more packages, click on the continued link.

In beautiful Tuscany sits Villa Mangiacane, a hotel that in addition to beautiful scenery and luxury sleep accommodations offers its own wine, olive oil, and now cooking classes.

As part of the "Flavours of Chianti" package you're treated the first night to a 4 course candlelit dinner prepared by Mangiacane's acclaimed Chef Massimo Bocus, which prepares you for the following day's cooking lesson with the Chef and a Villa Mangiacane wine and olive oil tasting. Among other treats (like cooking aprons, daily spa access, and fresh fruit in your room) you'll also get a Tuscan Cookbook and a bottle of Villa Mangiacane Chianti. €1270-€2450

Taking a vacation can be about so much more than just treating yourself -- what about getting away from it all in a way that's not only fun for you but also helps others? Marriott is offering a "Big Easy Spirit to Serve Getaway" package that offers luxurious amenities combined with charitable donations and volunteerism. The package includes a room at a Marriott hotel with breakfast for two in the morning, a "Care Concierge" who will help hook you up with volunteer organizations in the area and help you find a way to help that is meaningful to you, and then $50 of every night's room rate will be donated to Habitat for Humanity. All for rates of $159-$259/night.


Via LA Times Travel Blog

The Mandarin Oriental always rolls out the blockbuster packages. This one, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mandarin Oriental's first U.S. property, Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco is called Fantastic San Francisco and is a four-day, three-night stay in the two-bedroom Oriental Suite. Along with your gorgeous suite you also get a three-day use of a 2007 Ferrari F430 or a 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo; one-hour private helicopter tour of San Francisco and an exclusive in-suite lunch or dinner prepared by Silks Chef de Cuisine Joel Huff with a bottle of Cristal. Other goodies in the package include a bottle of the 1987 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot, 20 long-stemmed roses, daily breakfast and a 20th anniversary keepsake. The package costs an even $20,000 and is available through December.

$175,000 for a seven night stay at a Marriott. Hotel Chatter rightly dubs this the most insane hotel package they have come across. The package at the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Club and Spa in Florida was created to celebrate the resort's $175 million renovation. $175,000 gets you a two-bedroom suite, a private flight in, a Mercedes convertible rental car, helicopter ride and private dive in Key Largo, a couple of shopping gift certificates and a variety of private experiences including dinners and cruises. The package also includes lifetime membership to the Rookery Golf Club and Marco Island's Balinese Spa.

For pregnant couples needing one last getaway before the baby arrives, the Claremont Resort & Spa in San Francisco offers the Great Expectations package. The two-night package includes "virgin-tini" cocktails, a prenatal massage for two, pedicure, a "crave-calming" dinner and a Tiffany silver baby rattle. The vintage hotel is located in the Berkeley Hills and has beautiful bay views. The package starts at $950.

You've heard of man-dates, where two heterosexual men meet for dinner or an event. Now get ready for the man'cation.  It's the Fairmont hotels new way to attract men to their hotels. They have created a variety of man-friendly packages including a stay at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston that includes daily breakfast. dinner at the Oak Room steakhouse and your own "Entourage" DVD. On July 28, the Fairmont Chicago will offer a man'cation night that includes a Woodford Reserve whiskey tasting. a three-course steak dinner and a post-dinner cocktail seminar . The event costs $150 and hotel rooms start at $249. The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has a Play Where the Pros Stay package that includes two rounds of golf. There is also a racing school package at the The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa and for the metro boys, a spa break package at The Fairmont Royal York and the Elizabeth Milan Day Spa. Do men need a special hotel package just to encourage them to hang out together?  I've heard of men meeting for golf weekends or hiking trips but spa dates?

Leave it to the Ritz-Carleton in Battery Park to come up with one of the world's most luxe hotel packages. The Can't Buy Me Love, But You Can Try is a one-night visit that costs you $40,000.

But don't worry, you'll get your money's worth. For the handsome fee, this package includes:

• limo service to and from the airport
• accommodations in the Presidential Suite.
• a personal fireworks show by the famous Grucci family set to the soundtrack of your choice
  
• private helicopter ride over the city
• private bath prepared by a personal butler
• Dom Perignon and strawberries
• candlelight dinner
• in-room breakfast

According to the hotel's director of guest relations, not surprisingly, only one person has taken advantage of this high-priced hotel package.

Sure, fireworks are fab as is staying at the Ritz, but if you really want to show your special someone that you are at the same pyrotechnically inspired and frugal, here's a slightly lower-budget version of the package:

• One pack of roman candles from a road side stand in South Carolina: $7.50
• One romantic Celine Dion album: $15
• One bottle of pink Andre's "champagne": $5
  
• One night at a Super 8: $65

And finally:

• Not having to fork out $40,000 to get the Ritz to do the work for you: Priceless!

We thought the Booty Parlor kits at the Mondrian were saucy but the the tiny Mezzanine restaurant/bar/hotel, a unique retreat of only four suites in Tulum, Mexico, now offers Kama Sutra products to their amorous guests. The hotel has a live DJ lounge and Thai restaurant and a swank yet spare look that combines island design with contemporary furnishings for a hipster-on-the-beach appeal. The suites have Japapnese-style low beds, bathrooms with rain showers and wood staircases that lead up to private lofts. The Kama Sutra products, including chocolate body paint or honey dust, massage oil and flavored pleasure balm are part of the Mezzanine's Lovers Package which includes three nights accommodations, breakfast, a three-course dinner for two, a massage for each person and a bottle of  Moet & Chandon champagne on arrival. The package costs $885 during low season (May 1 to Dec 15).

A month ago we mentioned that a London hotel is offering a Maserati Quattroporte to lure customers into a stay, now the Scotsman reports that the Macdonald Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh is offering a chance to take a Lamborghini Gallardo for a spin. The £600 per person package makes the hotel the only one in Britain to offer a Lamborghini to its guests. The Lamborghini package includes a double room on the hotel's  butler service floor  with  complimentary champagne 24 hours a day and access to a private library. There have already been five bookings for the package.

The Hastings House, a charming country inn on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a couple of special packages. The three night package includes three nights in a deluxe suite overlooking Ganges Harbor, welcome champagne, breakfast and afternoon tea, two three-course dinners, a picnic lunch, two massages at the resort spa and a copy of the Hastings House anniversary cookbook. A five day package includes two nights at the Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver with dinner at Lumiere, a tour of Vancouver and a seaplane flight over to the Hastings House. The five day package costs $3,720 CAD per couple.