Feb 29th, or leap days, are always occasions to finagle a holiday where none exists. In other words, it’s a perfect oppurtunity for people who are looking for a coat-rack to hang a celebration on. This year, the Gods seem to be smiling kindly on these party animals. It’s extra special this year because Feb 29th 2008 falls on a Friday, which won’t happen again until 2036, and which is also an irresistible invitation for an extended weekend and a reason to paint the town red.

A lot of savvy hotels are quite aware of this occasion, and have in place Leap Day sweetheart deals. The LA Times’ Daily Travel & Deal Blog has a collection of listings for leap day 2008 hotel deals and special offers. Some of the Kimpton hotels — 29 of them, in fact — are offering special deals for guests during the week surrounding Feb. 29. In Portland, Oregon, at Hotel Monaco, you can get 29% off your room on Feb. 29, or, if you happen to have been born on a Leap Day, pay just $29 (pre-tax) for your room. Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco offers 29% off for three-night stays between Feb. 23 and Mar. 2.

The Sheraton Universal in Universal City is offering a “Leap of Faith Package” this entire month to those celebrating a wedding anniversary on Feb. 29. For $279 per night (pre-tax), you get a room and all the usual mod-cons, with extras including in-room breakfast, chocolate or fruit along with a bottle of Champagne and a late checkout of 4 p.m. Use booking code “SIROMPKG.”

For the record, The Sheraton Universal hotel, located at 333 Universal Hollywood Drive,  Universal City, California 91608, is an excellent place to chill out, or more correctly - wallow in the heat of the outdoor  swimming pool. It also has a magnificient roof-top ballroom, in addition to a discrete patio, for you to enjoy a meal wrapped in luxury and served with taste. The Sheraton Universal also has an unusually (for LA) businesslike conference room and business suites.

Guest rooms are spacious with every thing perfectly arranged and in it’s place, including the creamy decor and lamp shades and the balcony view which paints a stark and vivid contrast against the clear and bright blue California sky.

Question time. How do people born on Feb 29th, also known as leaplings, celebrate their birthdays? Do they simply celebrate on Feb 28th or March 1st? There’s two answers - One technically correct, and one which just feels so right.

The technically correct answer is March 1st, in between leap years. That’s because your birthday comes once every 365 days. So if you were born on Feb 29th, your first birthday would land on March 1st for the next 3 years, and then again on feb 29th for the next leap year, and continue in the same fashion. That said, some nations, like the nutty Brits, have legally settled this issue by setting the birthday of leaplings on Feb 28th, except on leap years. Yes, I know, the British are crazy.

But the right answer to the question of how leaplings born on leap days celebrate their birthdays is that they simply go wild whenever Feb 29th drops in. It’s pretty simple. What would you do if your birth date happens to exist in the calender only once in 4 years? Enjoy it to the hilt. Take a vacation. Get drunk. Go get married. Or divorced.  Tell your boss to take his reminder emails and stuff them up his virtual a**-ho**.

For history buffs, did you know that in 1712, February 29 was followed by february 30 in Sweden, in an attempt to abolish the Sewdish calender and return back to the old style Julian calender (introduced by Julius Ceaser) ? Yes, I know, Julius Ceaser was also crazy.

Anyway, I wish all leaplings a happy birthday one week in advance, and may your much awaited Feb 29th be a birthday to remember, one that you celebrate once in a leap year. Ok, you can hit me now with a nerf bat (thank you, Linda).

Posted on February 24th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Hotels