Luxury on a budget

Visitors can experience the state's only two 5-Star and 5-Diamond hotels on a relative shoestring.

From June 3 to Sept. 7, The Jefferson Hotel is offering its "Shoestring Package" of a night's stay in the grand hotel, a traditional Southern breakfast for two, breakfast gratuities, valet parking, complimentary transportation and a $25 hotel gift card, all for $205 plus taxes.

For $225, guests can upgrade to a deluxe room, said The Jefferson's Jennifer Crisp. And visitors can book more than one night -- when they do, "we'll increase the gift card to $50 for each additional night," she said.

The Jefferson's normal rate for a room alone is $335 a night, Crisp said, and $355 for its deluxe accommodation.

"We wanted to try to offer a package, particularly in these economic conditions, where you really could come to The Jefferson and that was all you needed to spend," Crisp said, "and you've got a nice little vacation."

And the Inn at Little Washington in Rappahannock County has begun hosting its Singles Sunday Supper for just 12 guests at the Chef's Tables in the inn's famed kitchen one Sunday a month. The all-inclusive price is $165.

"It's usually $300 for the table for six alone during week, $450 for Saturday," said the Inn's Rachel Hayden, "and the cost of dinner and wine, gratuities and tax is all extra.

"People are seeing it as a special value and a chance to come and experience the Inn," she said. -- Peter Bacqué