Luxury Trips for Less

WHEN IT COMES TO beach getaways, it doesn't get much more exclusive than Mustique. The 1,400-acre privately owned Caribbean island has long been a playground for boldface names like Mick Jagger and Tommy Hilfiger. The posh retreat has no traffic lights, one food market — and a single hotel: the five-star Cotton House. The airy former cotton plantation, whose 20 rooms and suites include muslin-draped four-poster beds, private decks with plunge pools and stunning ocean views, was just the kind of high-end hideaway that had been on Connie and Michael Beck's vacation wish list for a long time. But while the Lancaster, Pa., couple travel to luxury spots at least four times a year, their recent resort getaways have never topped $350 a night, and certainly, none had the VIP vibe of a celebrity-studded private island. They said they'd always thought of Cotton House as "out of our range."

Maybe not.

Call it a silver-lining steal. With the dollar still in the doldrums and the credit crunch melting the financial markets, now might seem like the worst possible time to splurge on a luxury trip. But high-end-travel companies are quietly beginning to offer the kinds of discounts usually associated with the bargain-basement side of the industry. The old deal-hound standby, the buy-one-get-one, is going upscale, with venerable outfitter Abercrombie & Kent offering two-for-one river cruises. And online booking sites are muscling into the five-star market: SkyAuction.com has increased its luxury-package offerings by about 25 percent in the past six months. For their part the Becks used LuxuryLink.com to score five nights at the Cotton House-in a hillside cottage with a private veranda-for less than half the usual $800 per night.

But with occupancy rates at U.S. luxury hotels taking their first significant slip in five years this past winter, according to Smith Travel Research, and developers throwing up fancy new hotels at blistering speed, keeping properties packed and rates sky-high is only getting tougher.

Companies hoping to woo upscale travelers have to offer far more than the standard penthouse room and five-star dinner. Today a "luxury" trip can take almost any form, with high-end providers specializing in everything from private islands to wilderness "tent suites." To help unleash your inner VIP vacationer, we've polled travel agents, tour operators and, of course, luxury globetrotters themselves about how and where to find the best deals.

Contributing to the safari boom is the growing number of lodges now welcoming children. Outfitter Micato Safaris says families now make up about 40 percent of its customers, up from about 5 percent in 2001. But families sometimes pay a penalty, with many outfitters still requiring those with small children to book private game drives rather than go with the group. Opting for a kid-friendly trip, like CC Africa's 10-day Sea & Safari Family Fun, for $3,358, can help families dodge those price bumps.